Rob Clarke
Bristol, UK @rob911_ltl @ROB996LTL The transformation of the car after the suspension repairs and full geo set-up at Center Gravity is incredible. The
996 has regained its composure: no more frantic direction changes and the car has reinstated the confidence in me so I can drive it. Having the confidence back with the car is a significant milestone, as over the last few months I had lost confidence in the cars abilities, so was not covering ground with the alacrity that I once was. Having the car back to ‘A1’ suspension is a significant achievement!
There were a number of repairs required first as I had opted to get Center Gravity to do all the work. They wanted me there when they opened so it was an early start for me to travel the 103 miles to get there for 8:30! After a brief chat with Chris and Pete over a coffee, Chris set to work on the car. With new top mounts replacing my previous aftermarket Hamburg mounts – that were less than six months old – Chris demonstrated how poor the aftermarket mounts were by clamping them in a vice and with a weight gauge applying force to deflect the mount by 10mm. The Hamburg units only took 10kg of force to deflect by 10mm; the OEM mounts after 20kg of force had only deflected by half that amount, showing the difference. Even though the Hamburg units were new they were deflecting more than a set of worn OEM mounts.
Next Chris moved to the rear of the car – this is where the fun began. The passenger-side rear toe arm was seized so the eccentric bolt would not move, so this had to be extracted with force! The original plan was to only replace the one toe arm with an OEM unit to maintain the balance left to right, but before a new unit could be installed Chris moved to check the offside toe arm to see if the eccentric bolt was seized or not – in my case it was! I was now glad I had gone to Center Gravity as it has the parts and know-how to replace both toe arms and bolts. A lesson here is don’t mix OEM and aftermarket suspension parts: either replace single with OEM or replace as a pair aftermarket. The rear wheels went back on and Chris finished the driver’s side front with a new diagonal arm.
Next it was set-up time, and Chris went to loosen all the eccentric bolts ready to adjust to the suspension. This is where the final issue of the day hit us. The rear suspension arms had very minor adjustment: just enough to enable the rear wheels to be made even, but not to the desired camber to deliver the more compliant ride I was after.
This surprised both Chris and myself, Chris since from an initial inspection the bolts looked fine, as he could see the arms were only a few years old. I was surprised as I was told the rear had been adjusted recently. After a conversation I decided that I had come here to get the car right, so didn’t want to compromise. Chris got two new arms out of the stores and set to work. Both arms had to be cut out due to seized bolts. All of the bolts had suffered from corrosion. As the aluminium had corroded aluminium salt deposits had built up, filling the voids where the bolts sit in the bushing and also the adjustment slots, thus stopping any of the adjustment. The built-up material was tough, and had to be removed with a file!
Once the corrosion was removed, new parts went in and the car was put back together for the set-up. Chris set up the car and we went out for a test drive. This is a significant difference to other companies who do wheel alignment; they don’t actually drive the car! Not even my local OPC does this! Chris set the car to be within the defined Porsche parameters, but specifically set it up to increase the car’s compliance, dial out some of the harsh nature of the M030 and try and lighten the feel of the car.
On the test drive he went through all his tests, and the car passed with flying colours. Then it was my turn! I opted for bumpy B roads, as this was the type of road I had felt least confident with before, and it was soon apparent that the car was far better, far more compliant, less wayward and inspired confidence – I was covering the ground at a far more rapid pace than I have been. I did notice some slight movement with the tyres, so I think I will put an extra PSI in the front and back to try and correct this, but in summary the car is transformed, more enjoyable and well worth the 200-mile round trip – and the associated bill.