Maintenance and Suspension Refresh 2004 C4S

2004 C4S MT Coupe I usually haven't posted my maintenance work, but I think I'm going to on my suspension refresh this winter. So I'll post pictures, but with family, holidays, etc. I'm very, very slow. Don't hold your breath waiting for updates! **Questions at the bottom!** I bought this car with almost no maintenance history, although it has always seemed in pretty good shape. And doing the work, for me, is almost as enjoyable as driving the car. So, to get up to speed, this is what I have DIY'd so far in the last three winters. (ALREADY DONE): Battery Tray repair Front Lid Struts Cabin / Engine Air Filters Oil Change Drop and clean sump Transmission/Front differential Fluid Change New Tail Lights New center 3rd tail light Replace Spark Plugs and Coils New Clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, throw out bearing, etc. Intermediate Shaft Bearing (LN Dual Row) Rear Main Seal Drive belt Front level sensor New exhaust tip clamps Front Swaybar drop links Washer fluid fitting GT3 Console Delete Side skirt replace/repair New gas cap New Oil pressure sender Radiator Cleaning LN Screw on oil filter adapter New Catalytic Converters (TopGear 200 cell) Four new O2 sensors Misc. new exhaust clamps, clean exhaust tips New Water Pump (Pierburg, LN kit) New Low Temperature Thermostat (LN) New Coolant Temperature Sensor Replace misc Coolant Hoses and Clamps Drain and add all new coolant (Uulift vacuum) Remove heater core, fix foam on diverter flap Brake Fluid Replace/Flush Ultimate AOS New Fuel Injectors New Vacuum Lines New Porsche Sport Exhaust Vacuum Lines New Antigravity LiFePo Battery New Battery Cables New Cables to Starter and Alternator New 997 Alternator New Engine Ground Cable New Engine Mounts (Rein) Starter Motor Rebuild New Oil Filler Tube Replace all interior lights with LED So, this winter I will be doing a complete suspension refresh of all rubber bits: Feal 441+ coilovers https://fealsuspensionstore.com/feal...rsche-996-awd/ FCP Euro Porsche Control Arm Kit - Front https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/clo...er-trw-997kit1 FCP Euro Porsche Control Arm Kit - Rear https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...le-996rrctrlkt Powerflex Porsche Subframe Bushing Set (all 6) for rear subframe https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...flex-pfr57-512 https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...flex-pfr57-511 Questions: The FCP Euro front kit has backordered steering rack boots. So I won't be getting those. My current ones look okay. But do I really want to take this all apart and not replace the boots? I think I have to remove the axle nuts to remove the knuckles (all four corners!) Should I replace wheel bearings? Seems like I would want to, but pressing them out and back in is a little daunting for me right now. I don't know what it takes to do that. Thanks! Ohh, obligatory picture:

Holy Cow... Huge project! Your 996 will be in awesome shape once you are finished!

After this, I will have touched most every major area of the car, except for the engine internals, and some interior cosmetics. So I could still end up with a very expensive roller...

That's true. But it will be a well maintained roller!

I am sure you have done your research on coilovers for the C4S, based upon your post. I recently replaced my X73 suspension with Ohlins. Amazing the difference both on back roads and at the track. I can adjust from compliant to full stiff in a few minutes. It�s a long term investment but oh so worth it.

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That's a good point. I definitely did a lot of research and was considering Ohlins, Bilstein PSS10, and Feal 441+. Ohlins (~$2800) definitely seem to be the best option, but for the C4S they are unavailable everywhere that I've looked right now. As far as I can guess, they haven't started reselling since the recall; and they're the most expensive. Bilstein PSS10 ($2700, but onsale at TireRack for $2580). The OEM vendor, and they seem like a really respected quality option. Feal ($1800 for the 411+ with Swift springs and radial bearing upgrades). Definitely a newcomer company in comparison, but I've yet to find a negative review anywhere. Everyone seems very positive. Saving $1000, while also getting the radial bearings and new hats, also allows me to do all of the other suspension work, which I think collectively will be the best route overall. Besides, my Black car can't compete with your Speed Yellow anyway.

Not enough compare and contrasts available. I put on a set of the Bilstein PSS9s on my 996 in 2007, way before Ohlins and PSS10s were available. They are still going strong 14 years later.

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I recently refreshed the front suspension on my 2003 C4S and did not want to mess with removing the axle nuts and axles from the wheel carrier. I chose to remove the axles from the differential flanges by removing the 6 bolts on each side, leaving the axle attached to the wheel carrier. It was a bit cumbersome when handling the wheel carrier, but I thought it easier than messing with the high torque axle nuts. I�m excited to follow along see how it all turns out.

Parts! (No Feal Coilovers yet) Loosened all the wheel nuts and lugs on the ground. I decided to just remove the knuckles and replace the bearings. Car on the lift. Oh ya, as an extra degree of difficulty, I have a tiny garage. Before. All pics are from the Driver's Front, which I did today. Before Removed bracket holding brake lines and wheel speed sensor wire. Caliper off and hanging. Next I took off the sway bar drop link. Finish loosening the axle nut. It wasn't as loose as I thought, so had to stop it from spinning with the screw driver. I counted turns removing the outer tie rod (24.5), but took a measurement here just to double check later. Since I don't have a new steering rack boot, and don't think I need one, I may not remove the inner tie rod. I was able to just push the axle back, so once I pull the knuckle off, the axle will pull out the back (once I fully remove the axle nut of course). Cheap $20 Amazon/Chinese ball joint tool worked really well on both ball joints. Amazon Amazon Next removed the wishbone, and lower control arm. Lower control arm ball joint was torn and leaking. Prior owner/mechanic loved zip ties. I already replaced one on the passenger side outer ball joint previously, now just saw this on the front driver inner ball joint. It's obviously leaking. I have a small needle for my grease gun, so I'll try to inject a bunch of grease between the shaft and the rubber, then use the correct type of crimp clamp (which I have extra from the last time doing this). Marked the shock mount bolt locations. But since I'm changing the entire shock/spring and hat, I'm not sure how much this will help to preserve alignment. And they're out. I thought since I'm replacing the bearing, I would just pound the hub/spindle out the back. My 26mm impact socket fits on the spindle perfectly. NOPE. Need to make a press like these: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...oval-tool.html https://986forum.com/forums/performa...tml#post638442 Still need to check sway bar bushings, but otherwise driver-front is ready to be cleaned up and for new parts.

�Finish loosening the axle nut. It wasn't as loose as I thought, so had to stop it from spinning with the screw driver.� Remember those nuts are 1x use - you�ll need new ones when you put it back together. Torque them to 340 ft lbs...

Are you planning to maintain the stock ride height?

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Yes, FCP Euro sells a bearing kit with new caliper bolts and axle nuts. Rear: Porsche Wheel Bearing Kit - NTN WE60371KT1 Front: Porsche Wheel Bearing Kit - *** 805394CKT The front was tough, as they don't list this for the C4S, but I've cross referenced the original porsche part number from AutoAtlanta, and FCP lists this one for the 2004 Turbo, so it should be right (?), but I'll check when I get it. I think I want to go ROW height. I have the alignment and height numbers from the Bentley book. I'll post them here later.

C4,C4S & Turbo all use the same front wheel geometry & parts...

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I think ROW Sport height (dropped about 20mm front, 10mm rear, from USA), coilovers may force that a little lower. Not sure on the alignment numbers yet. I have 18" GT3 wheels. That's what I thought. Thanks!

Progress update. Front passenger side went uneventfully, except for this broken bolt. But I'm replacing coilovers and hats anyway. But, foreshadowing... ? Two knuckles ready to pull the hub and bearings out of. Two threads on making tools to remove the hubs. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...oval-tool.html https://986forum.com/forums/performa...tml#post638442 But I can't weld. I tried a smaller simpler version first, but the 3/8" bolts just bent. So... Took me about 2.5 hours to build (ugh). The 1" box steel and some 3/8" and 1/2" hardware I had around. But of course none of the holes were big enough or lined up, so it took alot of cutting and drilling. Another angle. My 32mm socket was just the right size for the hub. And it worked. But the hub took half the bearing out with it! On both knuckles!!! Ugh. So now I get to figure out how to get this off the hub. Not sure yet. The contraption. Driver side. Taking off the bearing retainer. I broke the lower bolt on the caliper side. It had been soaking in PB Blaster for almost a week. It wouldn't budge. I had just thought, maybe I should get out the torch and apply some heat... No, I'll just try one more time. Damn. Did I mention I can't weld? I could drill it out, but I might end up at a machine shop for this one. We'll see. Passenger side. Guess which bolt won't come out? Lower bolt on caliper side. Ton's of PB, heat on the knuckle body, tapping with a hammer, hand socket wrench, impact wrench, repeat, repeat, repeat, nothing, not a budge. I finally give up get out the breaker bar, ready to deal with the consequences. And it comes out. There's corrosion all the way down the threads. And this car has lived in the south, and is really clean underneath. Cheap Amazon bearing puller worked great. But they weren't easy. I had to put as much tension on the puller as I could with no movement. Then heat the knuckle around the bearing with the torch. Just a little heat, and I could hear them both pop loose. Then the bearing could be pulled out. Success! (on the passenger side anyway). On the bearing retainer the threads start halfway down, but the corroded one had actually cut threads into the corrosion on the way out, and was a mess. A 3/8" drill bit fit loosely in the upper half of the clean holes, so I used that, by hand only, to clean out the upper half of the corroded one. Then I have an M8 thread chaser that I ran through the bottom threads several times. It's pretty clean now. So. 1) Remove broken bolt on driver knuckle. (advice welcome) 2) Remove bearing halves from both hubs (advice really welcome!!) 3) Clean up everything to spotless. 4) Install all new bearings, bits, etc.! (yes I have new bolts on order)

On #2. U need to get a bearing seperator and the correct puller. Its probably $2-250 in tools for decent quality stuff. The hf tools may not be good enough. Since they are off the car i would pay a shop $100 to remove them. Another way would be a carbide tip on a die grinder. U get 9/10th through it and smack with a cold chisel. Once its cracked it will tap off. https://www.matcotools.com/catalog/p...ing-separator/ For the broken bolt, let the pros do it. Not saying u cant fix it but it doesnt seem like u have the tools. U can use a drill but if u get off center u can ruin it. The 2 popular ways to remove it would be to chuck it up in a mill so its a very accurate drill out or to tig weld a nut to it. The heat from the tig welding usually breaks the corosion.

Of course! A bearing seperator. Somehow I had seen those, but never realized that's exactly what they were for. Thanks. I'm going to take apart the back now, collect all of my failures, and hit up a machine shop. Maybe I'll do better and only have the one broken bolt?

Wow !!! That is some contraption you came up with - congrats on that ! It looks like something out of an erector set - that's some real perseverance. Id definitely bring the knuckle with the snapped bolt to a machine shop for removal. They'll probably clamp it in a drill press or something similar so they can be sure to be on center when drilling - it should be pretty simple to remove. Hang in there and Good Luck :-)