Top mounts and coffin arms 996 C4S

[Roger12345]

Hello all
Just had annual service and health check and its advised replacing the top mounts and all the coffin arms as they are starting to unbond. my local OPC has quoted £2500 and Autofarm are in at £2300. Has anyone one done this themselves and has any tips? and any knowledge of after market parts such as the Meyle coffin arms and Hamburg top mounts or should these be avoided?

All help and advice gratefully received.

 

[matsleight]

That seems a bit pricey, might be worth calling Chris at Center gravity. When my turbo was done it wasn't near that much albeit a few years back now.

 

[PORKA]

Just had 1 new coffin arm (aftermarket) on O/S, supply and fitted at £180 if that's any use. I was charged 2 hours labour for fitting the arm.

 

[PORKA]

Hi again,
Just been on the Euro Car Parts site for 2 coffin arms and 2 top mounts £645.88 the lot incl. VAT if you use the codes that regularly come up then you can get up to 30% off that price!

 

[Pieman7]

ive changed mine with after mart ones and there fine trouble is your op will only fit genuine parts. top mounts would have to have the geometry checked after wards i think.

 

[C2dweller]

First off - don't be afraid to get a second opinion. We see a lot of enthusiastic condemning of top mounts - when raised on a ramp they will have some play.
I think there are savings to be had by using OEM top mounts and pattern part coffin arms.
The OEM top mounts normally have the Porsche marks machined off! - so you know you are getting good quality. Remember to add in top mount bearings, top mount nuts, bump stops, dust covers - these are all cheap items that are probably long past their best.
OE Coffin arms are best and sadly TRW can't sell them as OEM anymore. CTE and Meyle are widely used parts. They do look inferior, but they cost about a quarter of the real thing. I'd say it's a financial consideration - two for the price of one! - but at the expense of quality. Don't forget you will need the suspension alignment checked afterwards.
kr Lee

 

[JuliusF]

Recon coffin arms from Hartech £75 plus VAT each - they claim they are OEM (or better) standard - no issue so far, but only time will tell.

Extraction and fitting (all 4) 4 hours labour at Grease Junky (Ed Chinas garage in Bracknell) circa £300 plus VAT - so all in all a £600 plus VAT job all around.

The changeover of the coffin arms is fairly straightforward, most competent mechanics could handle it imho - likely need a geo check afterwards so add another £150 plus vat for that

J.

 

[T911UK]

Correct C4S front top mounts are Porsche only, no OEM, no aftermarket so expensive at just over £300 for the pair. 4 OEM coffin arms about the same £300 ish, so £600 + vat for parts. Those quotes seem steep!

Why one would think about a recon part when a perfectly good new OEM quality one is available for less I dont quite know, its up yo you of course!