Cayman - "Judder" on Full Steering Lock

[77ajs]

First off apologies…I realise this is a serious car expert type forum and I am neither serious nor an expert but could really do with a 2nd opinion hence my posting (then I’ll go away)…

My 2008 Cayman has recently started “juddering” on a full steering lock. I spoke to Porsche who told me it is a characteristic of the car because when it is cold the rubber on the tyres freezes and when on full lock the wheels slip across the ground. Does this sound about right?

Also the car has started to wheel spin and fish tail a bit more readily – my tyre depth is around the 3mm mark – a bit over in the front and a bit under on the back (Michelin pilot sport 19inch). Again Porsche tell me I should replace the tyres at 3mm….

Thanks in advance….

[911hoddle]

mine does exactly the same on full lock, feels like the wheels are skidding. dont think its anything to worry about...not sure about the second problem though..

[chris_w]

The first is a result of the steering geometry, no expert myself but believe it is basically due to the front wheels ending up at different angles on full lock so one 'drags' resulting in the noise you are hearing.

As for more wheel spin, probably just the result of the colder temperatures, amazing the difference this will have on grip.

[98C4S]

chris_w said:

The first is a result of the steering geometry, no expert myself but believe it is basically due to the front wheels ending up at different angles on full lock so one 'drags' resulting in the noise you are hearing.

As for more wheel spin, probably just the result of the colder temperatures, amazing the difference this will have on grip.

That's it.. Same thing happens to mine

[squeezebm]

98C4S said:

chris_w said:

The first is a result of the steering geometry, no expert myself but believe it is basically due to the front wheels ending up at different angles on full lock so one 'drags' resulting in the noise you are hearing.

As for more wheel spin, probably just the result of the colder temperatures, amazing the difference this will have on grip.

That's it.. Same thing happens to mine

and me! noticed it loads more over the last cold few days
must be the low temps then.......

[chris_w]

squeezebm said:

and me! noticed it loads more over the last cold few days
must be the low temps then.......

Yep, my Jag has started doing it in the colder weather too. And the wheelspin, well that's just worse than normal!

[forest07]

I noticed this clunking at low speeds & tight lock on my 2006 Cayman S which I bought last September
Had it on the ramps at a mates garage and found nothing wrong, he says it maybe the Ackerman angle (something to do with castor angles)which may be just the way the Caymans are set up.

I have noticed it has got worse over the last couple of weeks, not sure if its weather related or tyre wear.

Edited by forest07 on Wednesday 30th December 18:04

[Carl_Docklands]

Mine judder's also on full lock. I am on 19's and Pilot Sport 2's.

[squeezebm]

Carl_Docklands said:

Mine judder's also on full lock. I am on 19's and Pilot Sport 2's.

+1

must pop into OPC.........problem with that is I always end up with a new bloody car!!!

[77ajs]

Thanks all for the feedback - I feel less worried about it now and can also explain to my husband that it is all down to geometry and cold weather and not the fact that I am a bad driver (his disgnosis of the problem not mine).

[squeezebm]

77ajs said:

Thanks all for the feedback - I feel less worried about it now and can also explain to my husband that it is all down to geometry and cold weather and not the fact that I am a bad driver (his disgnosis of the problem not mine).

Ah well he could have a point there you know !!;)

[telford_mike]

Noticed mine (2009 Cayman) doing it during the cold weather when reversing out of the garage. Combination of cold weather and geometry I think.

[petelong]

Hi, our CaymanS (07) sometimes does the same, but only when the road surface is slippery and it's cold. We have the same Michelin Pilotsport tyres that you mentioned, what mileage have you done? We've only done just over 10K and, when we had the first service a couple of months ago, our Porsche dealer told me that we need new tyres as they down to 3-4mm. I was pretty unimpressed with the tyre wear on the Michelins.

We also have an annoying rattle in the back somewhere, I can't track it down. It sounds like the tailgate, but I'm not sure. Anybody have a similar problem? Sod' law, it's just out of warranty!

[paddyhasneeds]

petelong said:

Hi, our CaymanS (07) sometimes does the same, but only when the road surface is slippery and it's cold. We have the same Michelin Pilotsport tyres that you mentioned, what mileage have you done? We've only done just over 10K and, when we had the first service a couple of months ago, our Porsche dealer told me that we need new tyres as they down to 3-4mm. I was pretty unimpressed with the tyre wear on the Michelins.

We also have an annoying rattle in the back somewhere, I can't track it down. It sounds like the tailgate, but I'm not sure. Anybody have a similar problem? Sod' law, it's just out of warranty!

Not sure you've done too bad if that's the rears you're talking about. If it's the fronts, well I'll probably get some stick for this but I got 40k from the front PS2's on my Boxster so 10k doesn't sound right there IMO.

[RatBoy 997GT3]

My 997GT3 does this too, I put it down to the car having a tight LSD causing the front end to not want to turn..! as far as I know the Caymans don't come with an LSD rear end tho'..

[forest07]

petelong said:

Hi, .

We also have an annoying rattle in the back somewhere, I can't track it down. It sounds like the tailgate, but I'm not sure. Anybody have a similar problem? Sod' law, it's just out of warranty!

My Cayman develeloped an annoying rattle on the tailgate. There are two adjusters in the tailgate and I screwed them out a couple of turns and it resolved the problem. I do believe Porsche changed the type of adjusters sometime back.
TonyR

Edited by forest07 on Friday 1st January 13:38

[bananapieface]

My 911 used to do that coming to the end of my driveway you had to do full lock to get onto the street, it felt like the car was pushing the front end on.

Never caused any problems though.

[77ajs]

paddyhasneeds said:

petelong said:

Hi, our CaymanS (07) sometimes does the same, but only when the road surface is slippery and it's cold. We have the same Michelin Pilotsport tyres that you mentioned, what mileage have you done? We've only done just over 10K and, when we had the first service a couple of months ago, our Porsche dealer told me that we need new tyres as they down to 3-4mm. I was pretty unimpressed with the tyre wear on the Michelins.

We also have an annoying rattle in the back somewhere, I can't track it down. It sounds like the tailgate, but I'm not sure. Anybody have a similar problem? Sod' law, it's just out of warranty!

Not sure you've done too bad if that's the rears you're talking about. If it's the fronts, well I'll probably get some stick for this but I got 40k from the front PS2's on my Boxster so 10k doesn't sound right there IMO.

I’ve done 12500. The fronts are just over 3mm the backs just under. I thought that 12k on a set of tyres wasn’t very good as my husband got 25k out of the last set he had on his BMW but perhaps this about standard on caymans/boxsters??? Is another tyre manufacturer any better – a Bridgestone or Pirelli perhaps?

[TryHarder]

I noticed this yesterday, full lock and the car felt like the back wheels were pushing the front along causing a judder, take a tad of lock off and all is well.

[x12yhp]

I have a Boxster and have wondered at this same thing. I guess it is just the norm for Porsche.