Lower Front Suspension Busted! LOWER control arms replacement in my 2015 Porsche Macan

[@stevelazar4433]

What an accomplishment! Not only removing and replacing all the front upper AND lower control arms, and associated components - but videotaping the process clearly and noting torque values and tips!!! You are an Inspiration; I can only hope the temps in my neighborhood drop below 100° in my lifetime to allow me to attempt this. I'm closing in on 85K miles and want to renew these components at 100K or when the coasting vibrations become annoying. How many miles are on your Macan when you did this? Thank YOU for this video!😅😂😊

[@porscheDIY]

@@stevelazar4433 Hey man! Thanks for your kind words. I noticed issues at around 120K miles, and replaced them at 130K miles. One thing that may have accelerated the failure is that I lowered my Macan by about 25mm. It is a good practice to loosen and retorque the control arms at the new riding height. I didn’t do that. Probably the bushings would’ve fail anyway… I think 130K miles is really a healthy time to change the control arms. At least the bushings. For the rear, I opted to change bushings only, when I replaced my rear subframe… I was already hearing a lot of squeaking from the rear bushings.

[@MGreen-pp5nw]

I’ve been looking for these videos for about six months and finally someone that does the whole front end both videos thanks

[@porscheDIY]

That’s what this channel is all about! I hope you subscribe. Tons of more content in the channel already, and tons more coming… I can’t seem to stop modding my Macan and making repairs to make it better…. 😊. Thank you for your kind words…

[@davidmiller1938]

The feelings of accomplishment and pride of workmanship must be spectacular. The ride has to feel great when you’re done!

[@porscheDIY]

@@davidmiller1938 It felt like the new Macan I picked up back in Nov 2014… ride was and is spectacular. Solid!

[@JasonOBrienThinksHeCan]

Thank you for documenting and sharing this video! I have a '17 GTS with ~90k miles and I feel like the jolts with the suspension are a bit more harsh than they used to be and they certainly look worn with a visual inspection. First time watcher and I have already subscribed; really appreciated this overview.

[@porscheDIY]

Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@shadowone247]

Awesome video. Love your content. I have learnt so much.

[@porscheDIY]

Glad to hear, and thanks so much for your kind words. More content coming…

[@ewoo]

So satisfying watching you work and slowly upgrade all these critical components. I'm also very glad I got rid of my Macan S before it got too old! Thank you for sharing--and keep up the great work!

[@porscheDIY]

Thanks man! Even though you don’t have your Macan anymore, I do hope you are subscribed to the channel… did you get another Macan?

[@ewoo]

@@porscheDIY subscribed! Unfortunately no. I couldn't wait for the Macan EV!

[@MGreen-pp5nw]

Yes already subscribed subscribed!

[@porscheDIY]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@woozieewu]

Thank you so much for uploading this!! I'm doing this for my 17 GTS -- really appreciate the camera angles and fast forward so I can see exactly all the details ;) I noticed you bought the upper+lower kit but only installed the lowers in this video? Was the upper so simple that you chose not to include it? haha

[@porscheDIY]

Thanks for your kind words. I replaced the upper control arms a week after. I’m in the process of editing for a 2nd part video… stay tuned, and subscribe to the channel so that you get notified.

[@thedoble]

Awesome job and thanks for filming and providing all the parts info! Can I ask why did you replace the tie rod boot too? Just because its convenient and cheap?

[@porscheDIY]

@@thedoble yes… I was already there and it was cheap. My Macan was 135K miles at the time, so, I’m kind of replacing wear parts if I’m going to be around the part…. Thanks for watching. Hope you subscribed!

[@thedoble]

@@porscheDIY Cool, yes I subscribed! Thanks :)

[@woozieewu]

What is the socket you used to remove the tie rod at 2:04? 😊

[@porscheDIY]

@@woozieewu a normal spline socket… in socket kits you would have hex and spline-type sockets… use a spline-type.

[@woozieewu]

Do you happen to know what that piece of plastic air diverter is called at 1:45? I realize my macan is missing this item!

[@porscheDIY]

Part Numbers: 95B615447C (Left) / 95B615448C (Right)

[@porscheDIY]

You will also need this part number, which is the clip to attach it to the steering tie rod: 95B699011C

[@eddielloret4670]

thank you Santrix.. as always great video and details. I just came from mechanic stated I need to replace upper and lower front control arms for roughly 3500.00 and have a couple of questions. I have done some work to my own Macan S, 2016, simple things and am mechanically inclined and wanted to know how long did it take to complete both sides and should i do the job myself. not sure if any special tools needed other then torque wrench, ratchet, mallet. your thoughts and or special tools that I may need?

[@eddielloret4670]

not to mention rear shocks need replacing as well

[@porscheDIY]

Thanks for your kind words. Please read the description in the video. I go through all parts and special tools I used (other than the normal wrenches and torque wrenches). It took about 3 to 4 hours to do the lower control arms (both sides). It is a bit tricky to remove some of the bolts. Refer to video so that you can see how I did it. The trickiest part for me was torquing because I don’t have a large platform where I can raise the car with wheels in driving height, and torque should be done at riding height. Using ramps with car at riding (normal) height gives limited space… so needed to be patient. The upper control arms are easier to do… probably about 2-3 hours. The hardest part is removing the pinch bolt. I was lucky because one side was loose, but the other side was frozen welded in place and I had to remove using heat… also would be good to have an air hammer tool to loosen the arms from the knuckle bearing carrier. But, it is doable as a DIY. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Thanks for your support and hope you are subscribed.

[@petershephard9248]

I’ll bet she drives way better now! Q: your steering rack gaiter, outer spring clamp, is it tight or has it loosened? Mine needs renewing, wish to stop water being sucked in and the big downside of that.

[@porscheDIY]

It drives like new again… on the steering rack question, mine is fine, but I’ll check again when I’m down there in the future….

[@RubenSegura]

What sway bar are you using? Back too? What about that red undercarriage brace? What brand is it? How was the combo change feel after install compared to stock?

[@porscheDIY]

The sway bar is H&R, but I had to swap it back to OEM. It was a failed experiment. I will make a video on that in the future. But OEM sway bar has a bend that this one doesn’t have… hence, it was slightly touching the bottom of the engine… creating a lot of vibration. It took me some time to figure it out… but this sway bar will work well with Macan 2.0L, but not 3.0/3.6L engines… I installed the rear one as well, and this one is working fine… is staying. The X-Brace is from ECS Tuning. Is an aluminum billet X-Brace. My control arms were so bad that when I installed these ones, the car felt like new again. They are working fantastically well… Funny story (maybe not that funny), the day after I finished this job… went to supermarket… it was Winter… it snowed, roads were bad… I ended up slipping into a curb… bent all lower control arms on passenger side… had to re-do them again… this time adding the strut fork…😂

[@vo2098]

Ouch!

[@MrNanah38]

I have the same project to do and i was wondering how you got the bolt out without removing heat sheild?

[@porscheDIY]

Removing the heat shield will probably make it easier. I kept pushing the bolt out…. The heat shield bent a little, but nothing you can’t get back to original shape or leave as is… I didn’t want the hassle of removing that heat shield as it seems like a PITA to remove. So, I decided to try without removing it….

[@MrNanah38]

Thanks ​@@porscheDIY

[@vo2098]

How many hours of work was that in total? Considering your experience.

[@porscheDIY]

@@vo2098 Considering I have never done this front arms replacement before, I took probably about 6 hours total when combining lower and upper control arms. Thanks for watching, and I truly hope you are subscribed…. Thanks.