Well that was a "moment"

[eltax91]

Hi all

I have a problem with my recently acquired 996 in which there is a squeak coming from the front suspension. A bit of forum research and it quickly became obvious that this squeak is most likely the famous "coffin" arms on which the rubber bushes perish and start to squeak. I took it to a mate of mine today to get it up in the air and see if we could confirm said arms before i made a purchase.

I was just taking him on a quick test run to listen to it, doing about 50mph and when i braked, there was a massive bang from the front end, huge tyre squeal and no steering and very little braking. Car eventually came to a stop (narrowly missing a parked car), with one wheel pointing straight and the other as pictured. It's on the jack at this point, but it was pointing this way on the ground.



After removing the wheel, the fault became obvious, the Track Rod End has completely sheared off.



I haven't heard a knocking, or any untoward noises, and not felt any issues, but it being a new to me car, i don't know what normal/ abnormal feels like specifically. If this was on the motorway or track day then i can't begin to imagine the world of pain i could be in! Thankfully, Euro Car Parts had a TRW one in stock, so fitted it at the side of the road and got moving again. I've then driven home like miss daisy and ordered all new bottom arms (now confirmed to be causing the squeak) and another TRW rod end for the other side.

Two points to the thread i guess:-

1. Be careful out there folks, these things can jump up on you!

2. Is this likely to be just a freak incident, or could something else be up to cause this?

[eltax91]

KungFuPanda said:

When I had my 996 C4S, I got my coffin arms and suspension forks from ECP too. All made by TRW with the original Porsche part numbers ground off them!

In this case I've ordered the rest form Design 911. TRW on the track rod and Meyle on the Coffin arm

[eltax91]

SirSquidalot said:

How much poo came out?

it was most definitely a 5p - 50p moment!

[eltax91]

ambuletz said:

Right next steps aren't to repair it but make a thread about possible compensation from the previous owner you bought it off or from porsche directly.

Hahahaha. The PO is actually a PH'er, so as we know, he's an upstanding pillar of the community and a goatee toting well built director, if i take it back he will throw a can of red bull at me.

I'm not sure on the whole chinese parts though. i have every invoice forever for the car, it's only ever been to Porsche and/ or a specialist, so i don't see them using moody parts. Just completely one-off freak I think

[eltax91]

Mr2Mike said:

Bloody lucky you managed to stop without hitting anything. It's a bit hard to tell from in the pic, but I'm guessing it's broken between the top of the taper and bottom of the threaded part? If so then that could point to the TRE not being properly tightened into the upright which would apply bending forces to this part of the TRE which should normally have a static tensile force applied to it.

Interesting. You are quite right, it has snapped in that location. I've checked/ tightened all of the bolts on all the arms etc, both sides. They are all fully tight, can't shift any of them with a token one handed yank on a standard 1/2" ratchet.

Most of them will be coming undone at the weekend when my new suspension parts arrive.

[eltax91]

Loyly said:

Sounds like a full suspension check would be money well spent.

Quite. As soon as I've replaced the worn parts it'll go into the local Porsche specialist for a full alignment and safety check

[eltax91]

MrJingles705 said:

Just saw this..... will give you a call.

Thanks for the text exchange MrJ.

Chaps, to those of you who get frustrated with the car buying experience, this chap sold me the car 6 weeks ago. He's been so honest and humble as to offer to split the parts cost on the car with me (and pay for new pants!)

Of course, I've turned the offer down, this was a freak incident to my mind and caveat emptor applies and all that. And as I suspected, no cheapo parts used on the car, MrJingles only ever used the genuine Porsche ones or the OEM TRW.

Just thought anyone reading this should know, there are true gentleman out there selling cars privately, you just have to be lucky enough to find one.

[eltax91]

Bit of an update here. I have a mate who works in aerospace engineering, who i gave the broken part to (along with the one from the other side for comparison). Now, I'm not mechanical genius, but he tells me he can "x-ray" the parts at work and try to ascertain what might have happened.

I saw him on the school run this morning and he has had a good luck at them. Now he stressed this was a best guess of the most likely scenario, and for those mechanical experts out there i apologise for my translations and layman's terms, if i get something wrong then it's likely chinese whispers.

There is evidence of damage/ rust on the taper part of the TRE, this should be totally clean (and indeed the other side is). He believes it's likely some dirt or debris got into the taper and the hole in the hub upon fitted, and cause it to not seat properly. This led to some slack in the joint, which meant that as the steering moved, the stress is transferred to the top of the taper where the threaded part starts.

On the break itself, there are striations each side of the eventual break, right across the circumference of the metal. This is where the movement has been, this theory is backed up by the fact the striations run "front to back" as the part would be positioned on the car, which is consistent with the "side to side" motion of the steering. The part has slowly but surely broken from both sides towards the middle, a hairline at a time and then eventually snapped as i used the breaks and transferred the weight forward.

So, there you go, not a great description by me, but i'm a mere normo and don't speak his industry language.