Barbancourt?s Suspension Refresh

Almost done with my complete suspension refresh. Did quite a few parts last weekend. Very easy to do... nothing stood out as a difficult job. My front drop links were toast. The diagonal arms (tuning forks) were all shot, too. I could easily move around the arms� pivot joints with no resistance. All stuff removed seemed to be the original 20 year old parts. Aside from replacement arms/bushings, I installed Powergrid drop links up front, as well as Eibach sways front and rear. I already added Feal coilovers, GT3 rear LCAs, rear Powergrid drop links and Tarrett adjustable rear toe arms a year ago, so all I have left is the front LCAs and tie rods, both which I already have ready to install this weekend. Car feels really good. It�s not really transformative, because I did some other big things already, as I said above. But, it definitely was worth it. Whole car is tighter overall. I feel like the ride quality slightly improved over rough road, but maybe it�s placebo effect. The steering feels sharper, and the car is more planted. I don�t feel as much of a rear end shimmy as I did before. The rear stays consistent under load, where as previously I felt a slight nudge mid turn. I�m looking forward to even more improvement as I add the last two components and have a complete new suspension.

i just did mine 2 weeks ago, such a big improvement the biggest by far though was replacing the inner and outer tie rods, no more tram-lining and steering is nice and precise now

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Good to hear. I don�t have any tram-lining right now, but I know my outer tie rods are done and I�m just doing those. I don�t have any sounds or symptoms other than maybe decreased precision. I don�t have anything to compare it to, though, so maybe it already steers as it should. It�s definitely not �bad� as is, but I hope to get a more precise front steering from doing it. Fingers crossed.

All my steering slop was in the inner tie rods, I thought is was fine until I had it apart and was able to move the joint in and out (it shouldn’t move like that)

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Good to hear. Maybe I need to reconsider doing them as well. My steering isn�t sloppy, but I might not know what I�m missing due to lacking proper frame of reference on what a fully sorted inner and outer tie rod feels like.

I thought my steering was fine, I had no clue what I was missing. oddly enough, it also reduced my understeer. But that could have been from the combination of all freshened parts

I�ll be venturing down this path soon. Where did you source the new arms and bushings from?

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FCP Euro. Great pricing and packages on that site. Fast shipping as well. Parts were as described and installed without issue. Everything looked exactly like the OEM Part it was replacing. The package I bought had a combination of Meyle and TRW parts.

Can someone define �tram lining� so I can relate to how mine is handling. Still getting used to the car and will likely be a stock rebuild as far as the suspension goes. A possible exception would be shocks and springs. As far as the bits you�ve sourced, roughly how much was it?

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I didn�t do it all now, as I mentioned in the OP. It�s hard to answer that question without knowing what you want to do and whether you want OEM parts, or OE parts. If you�re just doing all the arms with new bushings... I�d estimate somewhere around $1,000-1,200 for OEM, but a lot more if you want OE. I did more things like coilovers, sway bars, and adjustable rear toe links and sway bar drop links. Tramlining refers to the car following ruts and/or imperfections in the road. In my experience this is mostly corrected by new tires, but I�m sure that others have had different reasons why it happened to them.

I don�t know that I need real Porsche suspension bits, just decent quality replacements. Won�t happen this year but maybe next. Some mechanical engine related things need to be dealt with first.

i used FCP Euro for my front refresh - most of their parts are TRW, which is the OEM they have a package deal that has all the parts except the sway bar links and bushings - i got those from Pelican i think the front kit from FCP was less than $600, I purchased an inner tie rod tool from Harbor Fraught Tools, best $40 spent there, made the job a breeze. I think you can also rent them from some auto parts stores

Full refresh is now complete. Finally got the new front LCAs and tie rods done, as well as an alignment. Front also lowered about an inch more to get rid of a bit of reverse rake I had going on. No rubbing. I didn�t notice a huge difference in the car driving in a straight line, but when I hit a familiar curve, it was a very noticeable difference. Almost feels like a different car. Could really feel the suspension working. Anyone driving on the 20 year old bushings should consider a refresh.