Question about Bilstein struts

So I think driver side front strut is going, it is starting to creak just a bit when I go over big bumps slowly, drives me crazy going through ****ty paved residential areas. I was looking on the Bilstein website as well as Pelican parts and wanted to make sure I am ordering the right struts. On the sites they do not specifically identify the C4S, they have C2 fronts, C4/turbo fronts, C2/4 rears and turbo rears. I am believe that the C4/turbo fronts are what I need but was unsure about the rears, it is just the s version of the C4, but it is the wide body like a turbo which makes me unsure. Also if it is just the single strut that seems to have problems can I just replace one of them or are they like tires where you should do at minimum two and recommended 4. Thanks Jordan

You can get them rebuilt by Bilstein for around $100 each with expedited shipping. Something like $65 each with regular service. Good as new when returned. IMO, there is no reason to order new ones unless you just want new ones. -td

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How long is turn around time? with expedited shipping? is it any different with Canada? It's summer time and even though I have my truck, it is only insured as a work vehicle, not for personal use, I could drive it, but between insurance, and it being summer, I am hoping for as little downtime as possible. Thanks Jordan

About a week turn around with expedited. I have the number here somewhere, but you can dig it up on the internet. I remember calling their general help line and telling them I needed rebuilt OEM shocks and they gave me the right number. -td

So I called a tech at bilstein about getting my strut rebuilt, and they seem to think that it wouldn't be a worn strut. When I drive over bumps at low speeds, or jump on the driver side I get a squeaking/creaking sound. when jumping on the side it still compresses and returns right to normal like it should doesn't bounce around like a worn strut should. the bilstein guy said that you will notice the suspension bouncing around before any noise would come from it, but said he couldn't say one way or the other, especially without seeing the car in front of him. I am now thinking that it may be a bushing, is there any way to identify which bushing it may be? Thanks Jordan

check the drop links of the sway bars.... grab the links and tug on it, if it clunks... just tighten her back up.

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That call saved you ~$500! Nice! There are plenty of things that make your suspension creak. Springs, links, mounts, worn bushings, who knows. Plenty of folks have gone through the troubleshooting process on this, you might start a new thread to get different traffic. -td

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I am fairly happy about it Its kinda hard to identify where exactly the sound is coming from so I am going to pull apart the driver side front corner and look for anything that is loose, dried out, lacking grease, cracked, or generally worn tonight, if I can't see anything obviously worn I will start a new thread. Thanks again for the recommendation. I came here planning on buying $1500 in new struts and now am just looking at bushings. edit: On a side note is that your GT3 in your avatar? did you do the Dinoc or 3m yourself? I was thinking of doing a matte wrap but was unsure about the difficulty. I called a shop for a quote and they said $5000-6000 for a wrap, but I think I can get materials for around $1000 and don't really want to pay $4-5000 for labor.

There are places in Toronto that do 3M wraps for around $3000......$6K is stupid! sean

On C4's both the C4 and C4S there is a bearing built into the top plate. C2's don't have this. Turbos, that are 4 wheel drive also have these bearings. They allow the springs to turn slightly. Note sure of the reason for this but all the 4 wheel drive cars have this top plate with the bearing. And these bearings can cause some noise. When I did my PSS10 install I took the bearings apart and cleaned them, then greased them. You can also replace them. This might be the source of the noise.

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Wrap was done by Skinzwraps in Dallas. It's not the 3M material, it's something new(ish). My GT3 was the first Porsche in the US with the material. I forget the name. I posted a few pics of the car somewhere on this forum - the wrap is pretty sweet. It's lasted over a year already, and it looks like it will make it a couple more. -td

My first reaction when I read your post, was that it was in the linkage, and not the strut. I'm new to Porsche, but slow speed creaks are almost always bushings, loose parts, or lube. BTW, do 996 chassis need to be lubed? I just thought of that.

So I pulled out every suspension bolt, greased all the bushings and everything else etc. I think the problem seems to have been that the pad between the top of the spring and top of the spring mount seemed to have shifted out of place slightly, so after greasing and realigning that pad seems to have eliminated the squeaking.

I Had your Creaking... Most often turning but also straight line low speed poor road surface. Turned out to be Bar Drop Links. Mine were TechArt and I could not find replacements so I purchased Tarrett adjustables. Expensive but they work. Now my next fix is to the "Klunk" - for which we will replase the Strut Bearings and hopefully be rid of all suspension noise. Coilovers are great but at 75,000 miles my local expert Chris doubts the Bilstien PSS struts are to blame, as they more often last into 100,000 range I am told.