Another lower control arm replacement

[the head]

Replaced mine with the Turbo S pieces. Here are some pics. I'll add a warning for anyone else who wants to tackle this. You must remove the nuts on the control arm prior to moving the bolts. What I mean by that is the bolts that hold it to the frame (the bushing side) have a groove cut into them to position the eccentrics on the "nut" side. And the eccentric washer is one piece with the bolt on the head side. So if you were to loosen it on the bolt side, because it's easier to get to, it will damage the adjuster. I almost did just that based on the experience with other cars where the bolt was just a bolt, or the eccentric was the bolt itself in the middle.

All in all I think it took me two hours to do both sides working at a leisurely pace. I used a "pickle fork" to separate the ball joint but be warned that it may push up against the brake dust shield by doing so. No damage to mine but something to be aware of if you don't use a jaw-puller. This was on the easier side of things I've done on this particular car. After putting the adjusters back where the stock arms were set, I had it aligned and the toe was the most significant change.

In the pics, the piece that is being held up by the screwdriver was visible while still on the car so I knew that side (passenger) was bad. The other side is the one with the tear in it so bother were due for replacement. I have about 94,100 miles on mine. Next up is to deal with another squeaking/chirping blower motor gone bad after two years...

[ekstroemtj]

Very helpful. Did you use the "old" bolts and nuts when you connect everything back or is it neccessary to use new ones?

[dan87951]

Do you have any pictures of pressing in the new bushings? What did the Porsche bushing costs? I thought Porsche only sold the control arms. 

[wrinkledpants]

Very helpful. Did you use the "old" bolts and nuts when you connect everything back or is it neccessary to use new ones?

Gotta use new ones.  

[clarksongli]

Did you notice the difference with the new ones? Mine are cracked too but I'm not convinced yet if replacing them will make any difference.

[RLHornbeck]

What brand control arms are people using?  Are you going OEM or other?  I am in need of doing this but trying to figure out what arms to go with.

[hahnmgh63]

My OEM arms are made by Lemforder ('06 CTTS) but someone else on here said there OEM arms were TRW, I think it was another Turbo but can't remember what year.  So it looks like Porsche may have used more than one supplier over the years. I've been happy with Lemforder quality on other cars as well as Meyle HD (not the regular Meyle though). Heard good things about TRW but haven't used them.

[RLHornbeck]

hahnmgh63 thanks for the brands.

 

What about other items for preventive maintenance while you are in there?  Should the sway bar bushings, sway bar links or upper control arms be done?

[ALEV8]

ECS Turbo S arms.

$265 labor incl alignment.

Now I need uppers replacing and I went and bought halfshafts for the clicking fronts.

 

Looks like upper arms are pretty **** straightforward and halfshafts as well....any other Porsches/VW/Audi DIYs cross ref?