987 Cayman Control/Coffin Arm Conundrum

[George_Mayson]

Hi folks,

I'm having a real hard time trying to identify what coffin arms I need for the front of my Cayman. There are a myriad of options and I can't find any clear answers, on this forum or others.

My car is a December 2006 build, 987 Cayman 2.7L. I believe the current arms are the originals, car has just done 50,000 miles.

So, I have found these arms to be the cheapest (not necessarily best) online - https://www.spyderperformance.co.uk/shop/suspensions/rear-axle/porsche-spyder-performance-rear-suspension-lower-track-coffin-control-arm/2-x-porsche-987-gen1-boxster-spyder-performance-suspension-rear-lower-track-control-arm-with-ball-joint-99634105318/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw5PGFBhC2ARIsAIFIMNfWUBAY3qoQ65rkhawY3sWtCVa9RJ4fdkkhNjVMdueEoPuKkF3ATIoaAueAEALw_wcB&fbclid=IwAR37ZhoWAMJiOspHxjcUgQY3up0tNR5iFc9jsmM8OCTL4VQTmjSnIFZ-TSM

These are advertised as 987 Boxster Gen 1 rear arms. However in the text it mentions they fit front or rear. They certainly look like my front arms.

This leads me to some questions;

• Are front and rear coffin (control) arms the same on a Gen 1 987 Cayman?
• Are 987 Cayman arms identical to 987 Boxster & 997 Arms? (I thought the answer to this was yes but am now doubting myself)

If the answer to these questions are both YES, then those £90 a pair bargain arms should fit, and according to the ad they supposedly come out of the same factory as other arms..

My failsafe is the Meyle arms from Design911 at £130.95 each - https://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod149392/Control-arm-FRONT-Porsche-987---Cayman---997/

I'm usually not one for scrimping, buy cheap and buy twice and all that, but at £90 a pair vs. £262 a pair it's hard to walk past without investigating..

Cheers!
George

 

[Motorhead]

Hi George,

I’m not sure about the Gen1 cars but the part number for the ‘wishbone’ as it’s called in the PET is (slightly) different for front and rear on the Gen2, but probably that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not the same. Have a look for yours using this link:

https://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/classic/genuineparts/originalpartscatalogue/

The part numbers are ‘997’ and of course from the A-pillar forward the 987 and 997 are identical structurally. I think that the Boxster and Cayman wishbones are identical, but you may want to confirm by checking the PETs. Like you I have a suspicion that the front and rear wishbones are the same.

Meyle seem to be a popular brand but I think that Hartech might offer refurbished units, so it’s worth contacting them.

Jeff

Edit: Just to satisfy my own curiosity I decided to research this myself.

For the Cayman 987 Gen1 and 2 the front wishbone part number is 997 341 053 03 (and also 04 for the Gen2). Unsurprisingly the 997.2 shares the same part numbers with those for the 987.2. Note that there’s an additional part number showing for the Gen1 of 996 341 053 17.

The rear wishbone part number for the Cayman is 997 331 053 01 for the Gen1 and 997 331 053 03 for the Gen2.

I’ve not checked but I would imagine that the equivalent Boxster part numbers are the same as those for the Cayman.

Make of all that what you will George. It seems likely that all wishbones use the same casting, but it may be that the stiffness of the elastomeric mounts differ according to Gen and suspension location. Anecdotally, when the 986 Boxster was being developed they just used front suspension components for the rear suspension to reduce costs.

Jeff

 

[COD981]

George according to autodoc the boxster has all four the same but caymans are different front/rear and side to side

 

[Motorhead]

Chris,

Different front to rear I can understand but surely not side to side?

The part numbers I gave above were from Porsche’s PETs and weren’t handed.

Jeff

 

[COD981]

Hi Jeff

You are right my mistake just rechecked and the part number is the same side to side I need to go to specs avers

 

[Motorhead]

Chaps,

Just to close the loop on this I’ve looked at the part numbers for the Gen1 Boxster and they’re identical to those for the Gen1 Cayman according to the PET, but there’s an additional part number for the front wishbone of 997 341 053 00.

Oddly enough the 996 341 053 17 part number is showing for the Boxster’s rear suspension and not the front as for the Cayman. All very confusing! []

Jeff