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X74 Suspension Installed


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I am installing the X74, engine protection plate, tequipment roll bar, GT3 seats and harnesses myself with the help of a friend.

The X74 suspension, sway bars and protection plate were easy. The hard part we are stuck on is the roll bar. Once we get that in, the seats, harnesses and fire extinquisher bracket should be easy.

The roll bar really sucks to install.

I was quoted $1600, $1200 and $1100 with alignment included in all three for the X74 suspension. What a rip off for 3 hours of labor. Insane. Not sure if that is CT markup or "because I own a Porsche" mark up. Another C2 owner I know who goes by AdamB on the Porsche forums just got his X74 installed by a dealer in NJ for ~$600, but I think he already had the sway bars so they didn't have to do that step.

I gave my friend $300 for his help and will probably spend $200-$300 for an alignment.

-Jenner

Edited by jenner
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I've heard various reports regarding whether you need to either compress the front strut, or break the balljoint loose to do the front suspension. What did you guys do?

I've done suspension replacements on 4 or 5 of my most recent cars, and this one looks pretty simple...

Thanks,

Scott.

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Jenner,

Just in case you didn't catch it on the other forum. I'll pull my taillights this weekend and take pictures of where the reinforcements were installed in case you don't find out by then.

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I figured out how to install the rear tail light support pieces that came with the X74 suspension:

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/showthr...=&threadid=8529

DaveMo: "You need to remove the tail lights. There is a bolt inside the engine area that you can loosen and the lights slip out. You will then see two other small bolts attached to the side of the engine on one side and tail light on the other side. These brackets go on the taillight side of the frame. If you look at the contour of the bracket, it's pretty easy to determine how they fit in. The top of the bracket is curved to fit the contour of the frame."

As for the roll/harness bar I got some help from Wolfgang, but each time it was a day late! I am guessing because of the time zone difference(he is in Germany and I am on the East Coast USA).

The first night we tried Rockitmans guide (found here: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=695) as we didn't have instructions or template from Porsche. The front and rear seats came out no problems. The bar went in, without removing mirror but we couldn't fit it in place. Our plan was to bolt in the fronts and then rotate the bar back, but the new bolts that came with the roll/harness bar wouldn't thread!

That night I got an email from Wolfgang warning us about that very issue! So we picked up a tap(strange that the bolt threads are US not metric. 7/16th I believe) and started again. Got the bar in last night after cutting the plastic panel without a template(it's easy to see what needs to be cut). The GT3 seats went in, but we ended up having to do a bit of work on the first one since the lap harness' didn't fit as planned. We finished up at midnight, with only the 2 pairs of shoulder harnesses and the actual fire extinguisher left to install(the bracket is in).

Of course this morning I check my email and find an email from Wolfgang telling me what to cut and other advice! Figures! But thanks for your help Wolfgang! I have no idea how Rockitman A) installed it himself and B) installed it without cutting the panels. I have a 2003 so maybe there are some differences? I also didn't like how the bolts stuck out on rockitmans rear bars so I installed it with the spacer on the side. Still sits flush and looks MUCH cleaner.

In the last few days my friend and I installed the following ourselves:

Bypass Exhaust (easy)

X74 Suspension (easy except for jack points and figuring out where rear tail light parts go)

Instrument Cowl painted in Seal Grey (easy)

Tequipment Roll/Harness bar (hard)

Pair of GT3 Seats(easy, but medium to hard when you add in harnesses, anti sub belt cross member and brey-krause fire extinguisher bracket)

Pair of DEIST 6 point harnesses in red (easy)

Fabspeed cold air intake (easy)

All set for an alignment, tech inspection and to get the airbag warning turned off next week at the dealer.(I turned on car to put down windows as I forgot I could do it with key in door)

I'll post pics to this thread when I get a chance. Hope this info can help others out in the future.

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Hey Jenner: re my question above:

"I've heard various reports regarding whether you need to either compress the front strut, or break the balljoint loose to do the front suspension. What did you guys do?"

Thoughts? Anything tricky to worry about?

Thanks,

Scott.

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I believe we just jacked up the strut with the jack. I followed these instructions:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/show...ghlight=install

The Front is the hard part. Jack up the car and remove the wheel. You may nee a spring compressor to remove the old spring but not the new ones.

1. Remove the shorud on the trunk with a torx screwdriver. t-20

2. Loosen the 18mm sway bar bolt that is in strut and remove

3. Loosen and remove the nuts that connect abs wires and brake line so you can move the arm more up and down. You might have to take out the caliper off the hub.

4. remove the 3 13mm bolts from the top of the trunk that holds the strut to the body.

5. Push down the arm and the strut will be in the wheel well.

6. this is the hard part push down the strut and pull it towards you to pull out of the wheel well. Becareful not to hit your fender`. You might need to remove the 18 mm blot that conects the cross arm in the front to the main A arm so the arm has more movement. I did not need to.

7. once cleared you can slide out the strut from the spindle assembly and prepare the new one.

8. Remove the 21mm nut on top of the strut. Becareful I used a impact air wrench and push your weight down so the spring dosenot pop up in your face. The stock spring are not that strong so you can do this. Pay attention to how it comes appart. Put all the necessary parts on the new strut( bumpstop washer housing) and assemeble back wards. The new springs are shorter so the assemble may not have any tension.

9. If your car has Xenon lights remove the little sensor nuts that is hook up to the A arm. This is in the driver side.

Rear easy

1. Remove the long 18mm bolt connecting the strut to the arm.

2. Disconnect both sides of the sway bar. 17mm open end and 15mm nut

the bar should swing easy on the mounts.

3.Use pry bar, screwdriver to force the shock of its mount.

4. Go in the car remove the pannel behind the rear seat. It has no clips.

5. Remove the 3 15mm nuts to drop the strut. Once the strut is droped you can prepare the new one. It is similar to preparing the front. Use the new bump stops. The nut on top is 18MM.

6. install the strut back in the housing and don't tighten yet.

7. place a jack under the shock to compress it so you can put it on the arm. It kind of hard. You need to be a little strong. Once on the arm the bolt wont align. Use a screw driver to lift up the shock just a little on the arm so you can push the bolt through. Once through assemble every thing back.

Remember you need jack stands, and impact wrench. I use air tools so I could do it faster. I imagine a first timer need about 4-5 hours. The sway bar were done already. The rear is easy, the front is kind of a pain. You have to unbolt a lot to get the bar out. I imagine the bars take at least 1 hour for the front and 15 minutes for the back.

We noticed there are some bolt size differences with my 2003 vs his 2001 and we had to take the caliper off, no question that on the 2002-2004 that the calipers have to come off.

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  • 3 years later...

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