Dial 911

[Nick M3]

For the record, aligning a 993 rear suspension is miserable. Toe, "Kinematic Toe," camber, and ride height are all in play. All of the adjusters have a huge influence on the others (for example, correcting toe changed camber by more than a degree!), so you have to basically align it several times.

On the plus side, it's back together and runs. And I think I really do have the oil level gauge adjusted so that it matches with the dipstick.

[FC]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

And I think I really do have the oil level gauge adjusted so that it matches with the dipstick.

That seems helpful.

That alignment sounds like PITA. Well done!

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by FC

That seems helpful.

That alignment sounds like PITA. Well done!

It's a brilliant bit of engineering on Porsche's part. If you fill the oil above the bottom of the dipstick, the cars will puke out the excess. And the cockpit oil level gauge won't register any oil at all until you're at the top of the dipstick range, or higher. To correct this, you have to find the correct fill level and then bend the float arm until the gauge reads accurately.

(And I'm not done yet with the alignment. The first iteration was just to ballpark it. Unfortunately, the KT adjuster looks like a camber adjuster to most alignment techs, so I'm basically having to align the car from scratch. And since "KT" basically means adjustable bump steer, screwing that up really screws up the handling.)

[Nick M3]

Coda: Alignment is complete. You basically have to align the rear three or four times to get it right.

Ended up exactly where I started for toe (could sure have save a lot of effort there...), but camber and kinematic toe were wildly off. Whoever aligned it last before me had no idea what the eccentrics were for.

The steering is also actually pretty good now. I installed much stiffer steering rack bushings, and bump steer compensating tie rods that are also not rubber isolated. (I still don’t understand why Porsche thought any of this was a good idea????)

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Coda: Alignment is complete. You basically have to align the rear three or four times to get it right.

Ended up exactly where I started for toe (could sure have save a lot of effort there...), but camber and kinematic toe were wildly off. Whoever aligned it last before me had no idea what the eccentrics were for.

The steering is also actually pretty good now. I installed much stiffer steering rack bushings, and bump steer compensating tie rods that are also not rubber isolated. (I still don’t understand why Porsche thought any of this was a good idea????)

What an ordeal! Glad you got her put back to rights. But how long will it last?

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

What an ordeal! Glad you got her put back to rights. But how long will it last?

I mean, it’s an air cooled Porsche. Something’s always going wrong.

I feel good about the rear suspension. I started from a place where the wheels were visibly asymmetric in the body, and the eccentrics made no sense and ended up with the eccentrics more or less in the area where they are supposed to be, and the wheels look right. And it drives straight and well.

Basically, the last person to align the car before me clearly decided to align the camber with the kinematic toe eccentrics. That leads to weirdness.

[Alan]

That picture just looks so cool, you need to post some more pictures of your garage and cars ... I literally just stared at that picture for a solid 5 minutes looking at all the details including the statue with the towel on its head.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by Alan

That picture just looks so cool, you need to post some more pictures of your garage and cars ... I literally just stared at that picture for a solid 5 minutes looking at all the details including the statue with the towel on its head.

Courtesy of wdc, you can see it here:
https://www.residentialdesignmagazin...-architecture/

Our architect hid almost all of our possessions, of course.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Courtesy of wdc, you can see it here:
https://www.residentialdesignmagazin...-architecture/

Our architect hid almost all of our possessions, of course.

One may notice the dog creeping from a distance in many of the photos. I can verify this is not some kind of effect, manipulation, or some kind of trick photography. It’s in an accurate real life depiction of reality.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Courtesy of wdc, you can see it here:
https://www.residentialdesignmagazin...-architecture/

Our architect hid almost all of our possessions, of course.

I have personally cleaned dishes and houses with Anice, plus hid all the owners' clutter.