MCS remote coilover hose routing on a Cayman R (2012 987.2)

I picked up a set of used MCS remote reservoir coilovers and had them rebuilt this winter. After struggling to find posts that showed how to route the hoses cleanly, I think I've come up with a method that works pretty well. I'm sharing in hopes that 1) it will help at least one other person and 2) to get feedback about potential downsides to this method. My criteria for the install: The setup has to be 100% removable without a single trace. That means no drilling holes in the body, drilling/tapping holes to secure the lines, etc. There has to be zero rubbing anywhere. Having experienced full brake failure at the end of Summit Point's straightaway due to a braided stainless brake line that rubbed a suspension component... lesson learned hard but never forgotten. The banjo bolt at the bottom of the strut/damper that connects the remote reservoir line/hose to the damper body needed to be as isolated as possible. In countless pics I saw in online auctions, most of the racecars or track cars I poured over (not just Porsche) were weeping oil from that banjo bolt. Pretty severly in some case. I suspect they leaked because they weren't isolated, and were allowed to move freely as the suspension cycled. Where ever possible, avoid zip ties, especially near heat sources (brakes, exhaust). I haven't completely acheived that goal on the rear, but I have plans with SendCutSend that haven't materialized yet. To that end... here's the pics of the front . I'll take pics of the rear in the coming days. Pics are of the front passenger side. Here are a couple of shots that show the banjo bolt oriented so the hose leaves the bottom of the strut and heads backwards (towards rear of car). The MCS reservoir hose is held in place by 2 opposing high-temp silicone covered adel clamps (or "Vibration-Damping Loop Clamps" on McMaster-Carr). There is an adel clamp that attaches to the base of the brake line. It's quite solid here, and there is zero pressure on the flexible brake line itself. These adel clamps wrap around the metal base/hose termination points of the flexible lines. The remote reservoir line follows the same general arc as the brake line. However, they are pointed slightly inward towards the centerline of the car so they will not contact the wheel when at full lock. On the passenger side, that's the rearward inside of the front wheel. With the car on jackstands, I put the wheel on the car, cycled the suspension at various points to look for contact. I did this by effectively removing the spring, stuck a jack under the control arm, and cycled it up and down. Then turned the wheel left and right to full lock. I again used 2 opposing adel clamps and mounted to where the flexible brake line mounts to the body of the car. The remote reservoir line then routes down through the [unused] bracket on the chassis before making a sharp turn up and into the body. And here is a short video I made to show the articulation at full droop. I'll post more pics of mounting the reservoirs once I figure that out. I'll also get the rear pics posted once I take them! Happy to take feeback, critiques! This is a significantly more technical install than I thought it would be. -Casa

Onto the rears. Turns out I already have some halfway decent photos and a fresh cup of coffee so here goes. For the rears, my goals were similar to the fronts: Completely reversible - no drilling, tapping, cutting, etc. No rubbing. Must allow fully articulation while also minimizing movement of the banjo fitting at the bottom of the shock. Route as far away from the exhaust as possible. Minimal zip ties. I'm currently failing here... but am drawing up some custom brackets that will attach to the rear toe arms. I'll then place an order with SendCutSend: Custom Sheet Metal Fabrication - more to come here. I decided to run the the hose along the top of the rear toe arm. The hose follows the toe arm the entire length, then turns sharply upward towards an existing body hole in the "floor pan". That hole allows the hose to route through an interior chassis channel that then goes to another body hole in the interior trunk space. On the driver side, that interior hole is directly below the DME/main engine computer. On the passenger side, it's directly below the oil & coolant fill cover. Admittedly, this setup is not the best for mounting the reservoirs/canisters in place. There is not a lot of extra hose in the cabin, so you're limited in the placement of the canisters. I still need to figure this out. However, I believe the benefits of meeting all my goals above (mostly goals 1-4) far outweigh the cons associated with finding a home for the canisters. So what are the benefits? I think they are: Minimal-to-no movement at the banjo fitting (that mounts at the bottom of the shock). The hose moves in the same plane as the toe arm. In the rear, this install is much simpler than the front because you only need to worry about up and down, rather than also adding in the left and right twisting motion of the front. For what it's worth and after installing the rears first, I tried a similar setup in the front by running the hose along the top of the lower control arm. It worked perfectly in the vertical plane (cycling the suspension up and down). Then I turned the steering wheel and was amazed by how much slack was needed in the hose to prevent tugging / allow the hose to articulate. That slack ended up moving the banjo fitting a great deal and again, I wanted to prevent that movement. It's far away from the exhaust. Because it is attached near the inner pivot point of the toe arm, the flexing motion on the hose is minimal. Very little slack is required. I'll be able to easily inspect the hose during routine maintenance. If it were hidden behind wheel well plastic shields, I wouldn't immediately see potential failures brewing. Again, I welcome feedback and critiques here. With remote reservoirs, this is my first rodeo so I don't know what I don't know... Hose coming out the bottom of the damper body, following an arc towards the rear toe arm. Note there is heat shield sleeving around the hose (because exhaust): Attached to the rear toe arm. Currently I have some adhesive-backed neoprene rubber protecting the upper and lower surfaces of the toe arm (as well as the hose). Here is the hose mounted towards the inner pivot point of the toe arm. You can more clearly see the adhesive backed neoprene. Also worth mentioning - at this junction point, the hose itself has some extra thick heat-shrink tubing designed for anti-chaffing ( McMaster-Carr ), then some fabric heat shrink over that ( McMaster-Carr ), plus also then the heat shield sleeve ( Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Sleeves - 18050 - race-parts.com <-- had this "lying around", pretty sure it is 3/4" ID). This layered setup is probably likely overkill. There is plenty of clearance between the hose and the suspension carrier (the cast aluminum bit stamped with part number 987.331.051.24), even at full compression. A shot from the rear looking forward. This shows the hose routing through the suspension cross member, turning upward and slightly forward heading toward the floor pan hole. The amount of forward travel the hose undertakes is exaggerated by this photo angle. Same shot except with my incredible photo editing skills on display: Hose turns upward and into the floor pan hole, isolated by a grommet. And here is a pic showing the quick disconnect fitting at the end of the hose being routed into the chassis. Once snaked through this hole, there is about 2-3" of the hose coming into the interior, despite what these pics show. I'll get better pics. Note that it is possible to leave the DME in place to route the hose, but it makes the job a lot easier to just move it out of the way. -Casa

I’ve never had to do this sort of hose management in an automotive application, but have done a fair amount in others - first off, this looks very intentional and thoughtful. Nice job. Secondly, is there anything preventing you routing the remote reservoir hose in such a way that it does not cross under the brake line? It seems like it would be cleaner if it ran parallel to the brake line. I would then think about a soft connection at the apex of the loop between the two lines to keep things tidy and well spaced through the range of motion as the suspension cycles during more chaotic external forces bouncing things around. take the above comment with a big grain of salt, though!

That looks very nice and clean. I recently got a set of MCS with remote reservoirs. I didn’t do the install myself, but I will have the wheels off my car in the next day or two. So I can take a look at how the shop ran everything.

Thank you. It took me much longer than I'd like to admit to figure out this routing. Once I figured out this general route for the hose, that is actually the first thing I tried before I ordered hardware (clamps, stainless bolts, washers and nylock nuts). Below are some progression pics on the drivers side. I used the double zip tie method run the line perfectly parallel, even though these pics don't fully show that. The issues I ran into when running the lines parallel to each other: I couldn't prevent the lines from chaffing on each other when turning the wheel left/right. When turning the wheel fully left on the driver side (see pics below), the remote reservoir hose contacted the wheel. That is, with a wheel attached and turned fully left (driver side), the wheel would move farther inward (rearward edge of the wheel) than the arc of the suspension hose would. While attached to the brake line, it prevented the suspension hose from "tucking in" towards the body/chassis. It wasn't a lot of rub, but any rub broke my 2nd rule from my first post above (no rubbing). With it fixed to the brake hose, the much thicker suspension hose overwhelms the brake line. The thicker damper hose contorts the brake line at every point where they are joined. It started putting strong bends where the flexible brake line terminated at the stainless hose ends. In the 2nd picture below after installing the adel clamps (I ordered the wrong size! ...hence the double silicone layers, let's call it R&D ), I then removed the double-zip ties that hold the hoses apart - the ones toward the top of the arc. In this setup, the suspension hose contacted the wheel more and also rubbed the brake line pretty significantly when turning right / left. Thus... no matter how I tried it, running the suspension hose in parallel just eats up too much free space at different suspension articulation points. Once I figured out that running a slightly shorter run on the suspension hose allows it to tuck neatly under the brake line, game changer. At full left (driver side), the brake line ends up rolling backward and towards the wheel. There is still plenty of clearance for the brake line and the wheel, while the suspension hose nests perfectly under the brake line. Initial concept "mockup". Note that the main spring collar is as far down on the damper body I could get it - this allowed me to cycle the suspension up and down: Moving in the right direction, but still too many attachment points between the two hoses: I would absolutely love to see how the pros are doing this. Please post the pics when you get a chance! Thanks for the feedback! -Casa

I added the rear damper hose routing / install to the 2nd post.

I'm very glad to have run across your posting Casa. I hadn't looked at my dampers with the wheels off since the shop installed them. I did 2 track days with them and have another track weekend next weekend (Summit Point). As I was inspecting the hose routing, I found some chaffing that could easily have gotten worse if not addressed. Here are a few pics of my install. It's hard for me to tell without removing grommets, but I suspect the shop added some holes. In my case that's fine as it has become a 90% track car. A 987.2 Cayman S . In the one pic with the red brake line in the foreground, you can see that the MCS hose has a small chunk of plastic that was chaffed away by the brake hose shield. I have rearranged the zip ties to be a bit more accomodating. Overall, this setup is far less elegant than yours. But the performance difference on the track compared to my previous Ohlins R&T is night and day. Let me know if you would like any pics from specific angles. I will have the wheels off for a few days.

Hi Greg - thanks for posting these shots! It does look like they created some new holes in the tub for the front canisters to be mounted inside the frunk storage area, I presume (rather than in the stock battery compartment location). That's a great spot for them and I wanted to get them into the frunk but didn't want to drill holes, so I went the route I described. Can you get pics of how the front lines are coming out of the dampers? I'm curious how they routed and secured the lines. It looks like they ran them in parallel to the lower control arms, then secured them to the inner pivot point, but it's hard to see. I'm also on my mobile so... Here's an example shot of my driver side front, but not the best photo.

They did put the reservoirs in the frunk. And those required a couple more holes. They used some very nice mounting brackets to secure them. Here is a 1 min video they made highlighting the dampers which shows the front and back inside mounting. 21 reactions | We set this Porsche Cayman S for dual duties, street and track driving, thanks to Motion Control Suspension we can set up their 3way adjustments to work well both on the roads and on the track with a few clicks of a few knobs. #porsche #gtpessex | GT Performance Inc We set this Porsche Cayman S for dual duties, street and track driving, thanks to Motion Control Suspension we can set up their 3way adjustments to work well both on the roads and on the track with a... www.facebook.com And here are pics of both sides showing the whole hose in it's fully extended position with the wheel turned all the way. Your install is top notch. It will preserve the value of your vehicle nicely. Cayman R's are in high demand and a well looked after example without permanent track alterations is very desirable. I will have the wheels off for another day, let me know if you want anything else.

Thank you for these shots! It certainly makes me think I over thought and/or over engineered my solution, as it looks like they ran the hose directly into the tub without any zip ties or other. I couldn't get comfortable with all the various spots the wheel needs to articulate to, as nearly every spot I tried, I ran into rubbing or contact with something. But I don't know what I don't know, and this is my first install of remote dampers so I could be solving a problem that doesn't exist! Thanks again for the input and for the pics! Great looking CS you have. Enjoy it! Summit is one of my favorite tracks. Much more technical than it sometimes gets credit for. Also, T1 is a bitch without brakes 🤣

It's been slow going (haven't had much wrenching time) but here is the completed project, specifically how I mounted the reservoirs. For reservoir / canister mounts, I found most solutions to be ridiculously overpriced for what you get. I landed on TheBuildJournal 3D printed mounts which have exceeded my expectations: MCS Remote Reservoir Mounts • Buildjournal They mount at the specific mounting spots on the ends of the canisters where MCS put a groove in them for a zip tie. Mounting to the center of the canister can deform the aluminum body of the reservoir and interfere with internal piston movement. So these TheBuildJournal mounts are perfect solutions. Front canisters: On the passenger side , there is a perfect place on the strut tower to take a flat piece of aluminum stock (1" x 1/8"), drill a couple of holes, and run some M6 nylock nuts down to secure it in place. Then drill 2 more holes for the TheBuildJournal mounts and you're done. I also bent the aluminum stock downward to bring the canister lower, which allows clearing the plastic shroud. The hose at the bottom is supported using the double-zip tie method. On the driver side I took a similar approach, using the windshield wiper mount hole for the rearward mounting point and an unused body ground for the forward point. I cut a small piece of angle aluminum to mount to the forward body ground, which then allowed me to take the same 1" x 1/8" aluminum bar to span the gap between the windshield wiper mount and the body ground. However, the only issue with this setup is that is was too high and interfered with the plastic shroud that is supposed to cover this area. So I fabbed up a new piece of 1" x 1/8" and bent 45 degree angles to recess the canister mounts so they'd sit lower. See pics. Rear canisters: Here are some better shots of how I routed the hoses: I purchased 3 carpet sections off eBay. I found a company that was building Cayman racecars right from the showroom and had a bunch of "used" but brand new sections of carpet. Since I would be drilling holes through them, I wanted to have my originals in well... original condition! The 1st section is the piece that runs under the "aluminum" trim piece that sits between the rear shock towers. You can see where I drilled holes to route the quick disconnects through (pics down below). The 2nd and 3rd pieces are the ones that are the corner pieces that bump up against the 1st piece I mentioned. I mounted the TheBuilldJournal mounts to carpet pieces, using some 1/4" thick ABS plastic (black) washer plates I fabbed up. The canisters are very secure in this spot with the 2 canister mounts per canister. I'm very pleased with how this turned out. Can't wait to thrash these MCS shocks now! EDIT: Fixed the post to indicate the "black washers" on the backside of the rear canister mounts are made from ABS plastic. I bought a 12" x 8" x 1/4" sheet off Amazon for $10. Once cut to size, they offer plenty of surface area so as to distribute the [minimal] load of the reservoir mounts across the carpet section. Cheap, lightweight, easy to work with and get the job done nicely.

Casa, Very nice job. Cleverly installed to preserve the look and functionality of the trunk and frunk. I’ve had 2 track weekends on mine so far and my next (also last for the season) is coming up this weekend at Summit. I’m curious to see how things go as I’ve had the alignment adjusted. Specifically, I had a slight bit of toe out in the front. That’s now set to zero. The rear has a bit of toe in still. I made these adjustments to improve stability under braking. We will see if it helps. I also have a set of Hoosier R8’s on one set of wheels. It will be my first time driving on slicks. I’m feeling both cautious and excited about that. Probably a good combination. Will you have an opportunity to track your car anytime soon?

Appreciate it Greg! My track season is most likely over this year, but I am taking it on a 4-day rally at the end of the week. Hitting Western NC and Eastern TN mostly, so I should have some time to mess around with the settings at least a little bit. Looking forward to putting these through a proper workout though - I've heard they are magic on track! -Casa (Bryan)

What a wonderful DIY! I know how much of a pain it is to stop and take photos that you'll need to do a complete detailed DIY like this (which is why mine often are more of a story format.. I did this and that..) Congratulations on the Technical Excellence Award - it's well deserved. And I'm really curious how the new suspension works for you. I've thought of doing adjustable suspension, but I know from my motorcycle days, once I got it dialed-in I'd forget about ever adjusting it again.. but the ability to get it dialed-in probably makes it well worthwhile. And this isn't a brand I've heard of before, so I'm super curious how it works for you and how difficult it is to get dialed in. My WAG - you'll have two sets of settings, one for street and one for track. I did this for my last BMW bike - one setting for local riding with no luggage, one setting for touring when I added 60lbs of crap to the saddlebags. I had hydraulic preload adjusters which had a click on the control knob, so ## clicks clockwise for increased load, XX clicks counter-clockwise for solo riding. The damping adjustment I generally left alone, partly because there were three adjustments for each end of the bike (hi/low-speed compression damping adjusters - 2 of them, and 1 adjustment for rebound.) - those always took the longest to get dialed in after getting the shocks serviced (about every 3-4 years/50k miles, they'd lose gas pressure..)

Oh wow, thank you Don! Unexpected to get that, I was just trying to help the next person out. Not gonna lie - this was one of the toughest "single part" installs I've ever done, mostly because of the shadetree engineering I had to do. For sure this was a, "I'm not an engineer but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night" kinda thing. MCS is a motorsport quality damper made in the US. It was founded by some really strong industry names. Their customer service is amazing and they were an absolute pleasure to work with through and after the rebuild process, especially since I got these 2nd hand and not from one of their dealers (which is how their business model primarily works). These are an older style damper, but they upgraded the remote canisters to their latest internals so effectively they are the same tech as their new stuff. I too am anxious to try the settings out! When I was racing (road racing), I had settings for each track - sway bar, shock rebound/compression, tire pressure, alignment, etc. I found the macro stuff like tire pressure and sway bars were a good place to start, then dialing in the dampers took a long time for my plebian brain to understand. I'm confident I never got it right. All that to say, I can't wait to mess around with these and get the settings all wrong 😂