Hey guys once in a while (and this was a long while!) things do get fixed/solved in our industry. I'm sure many of you remember the back and forth discussions between certain companies/vendors concerning the drop links on Bilstein Coil over kits breaking. Many of you with this coil over kit installed on widebody 997TT/C4S' have come on here to report your frustrations at breaking your drop link ends (they would pop out due to a poor choice of materials) in the front. Some companies would blame the installation incorrectly etc... due to a denial of any issue from the manufacturer but the fact remained that it was a problem that was serious enough to where we actually stopped selling/installing these kits unless we installed our own upgraded drop links.

On the 996TT PSS9 kits and later PSS10s the ends used to be made from a non-plastic material which was stronger and never really failed. We don't know why they didn't keep with that end design as a lot of problems would have been avoided. Fast forward a couple of years and _finally_ it seems as though Bilstein has realized/recognized and thankfully addressed the problem:

Here are the new curved/kinked drop links that come with these kits (as of today which is the first time I've seen them included):


Older version (the crap one) vs the revised:


Basically if you have one of these it's only a matter of time. They are weak at the ends and the geometry is such that they also bind under full lock. You guys should check the attachment points to the shock and to the sway bar in case one end is completely loose (sometimes you'll hear noise that's a clue):


If you recently bought a kit be sure to check which ones you have. Those of you with older kits I'd suggest getting them warrantied and replaced with this version:


Ok phew! Back to installing a set of these on a 997TT

 

You guys are one of the best out there, always love to read your posts!

 

Very informative post! Thanks for the heads-up.

 

Do the drop links only need to be changed in the front, or both front and rear?

 

The kit only comes with replacement drop links for the front. I use stock parts for the rear - no issues with those in 15k miles thus far...

 

Thanks for the kind words Glad someone (except for my mum!) reads our weird stuff
My pleasure mate and pass it around...
Only the fronts. The rears use the stock ones and no issues there.

 

Bilstein UK have refused to replace my old type drop-links as a precautionary measure saying they will only replace faulty parts. Surely the design is faulty though so this is negligent on their part?

 

Hmm that's a bummer. Maybe you can work with the shop that you bought them from perhaps and they can go to bat for ya?

 

My suspension tuner was who communicated this to me

 

Ah understood... Hmmm it depends how much sway they have but I dunno if it was me I'd just go to bat for you or just get them for you. I'd hate for them to break (and they will).