Winding down the springs ended up bring pretty easy. I rented a spring compressor from AutoZone to take some of the tension off of the bottom mount and then used a pry bar to pop it out.

I got the bolts off the tie rod end but its not budging out even when I put a jack under the control arm to release some of the tension on it and a few good whacks with a punch and hammer. Guess Im going to have to go get a puller to pop it out.

 

I take it you mean nuts? not bolts? Use the nut to protect the thread and give it a sharp blow. Often a well placed blow 90 degrees and to the side of the tapered pin will shock it loose. Reading through the last few pages of the suspension removal, coilover install, it seems that you all may be making it more difficult than it needs to be.

I read several threads on this and determined it's best just to dig in and use my intuitive wrenching skills. I bought a couple of pullers and spring compressors, just in case and didn't need any of them. I unbolted the outer stub axle and pushed it through the hub. Everything went pretty quick, easier than expected. I also made some adjustable dogbones for the rear and installed them to help get proper alignment and eliminate possible bump steer issues. I did a drive way alignment with household tools and tested it to 130 mph, all good. A pro alignment finished off the project a couple of weeks later.

Good luck!

 

Yes, I meant nuts.. little exhausted.

I went ahead and got the Napa tool and modified it for the tie rod ends. Took 30 minutes of filing and a snap ring tool and it was good to go. The ends popped right on out. I would recommend supporting the control arm to give the end some slack when it is popped out.

Did you unbolt the axle from the diff or the nut at the carrier?

 

as above, "I unbolted the outer stub axle and pushed it through the hub."

I left the axle bolted to the diff. I used a 1 1/4" socket and a long breaker bar with a cheater (4' pipe). Wife stepped on the brakes and I removed the axle nut, 300 something ft lbs of torque. I did have a new nut, btw as called for. I also removed the caliper, rotor. Don't remember it all, just moved everything down and outward.

 

Gotcha. Yeah, Im doing the other method and removing the axle at the diff. Too late to do it the other way.

 

Update:
- Removing the allen bolts at the diff was pretty easy. Have one person hold the rotor so it doesnt spin and then rotate it as you move on to the next one.
- If you are not removing the caliper, you must take the bolt and nut off and dislodge the bracket holding the brake line and sensor wires on the back of the wheel carrier. This will give you enough slack to be able to get the shocks in and out.
- Supporting the control arm with a jack (I used a scissor out of my daily) is highly recommended. This allows you to support it so you dont risk the assembly banging into anything as you work it around.

I am pretty sure I assembled everything as per the instructions but the ones from Bilstein are pretty vague. Here is a pic of one of the fronts put into the car. It has not been fully compressed as of yet.

 

Looks like you are mostly back together? Monterrey weekend was great! Test drive it yet?

 

Sadly, I think I assembled it missing a piece. After reviewing the thread it seems that there is a piece or two that the Bilstein instructions left out. At least I know the full procedure now so it should go a lot faster. Hoping to get this finally over with by the end of the week.

 

Ok, pulled apart the strut that I had previously done based on some information previously in this thread. Does anyone have some information on how to assemble the top hat with the updated one piece strut bearings? I tried it with and without the bottom metal piece that was part of the old two piece bearings and found it moves much better without and just the rubber piece that was from the old strut. Any experience here?

(you can see the metal piece between the rubber and the new one piece bearing in the pictures below)

 

I looked back at page 2 pictures from Skermese And his shows using the metal bearing retainer in the rubber cup. I used factory bearings so not sure if they are different than yours. I would think once loaded and with power steering it will rotate easily.

 

Not sure if this helps at all since I'm not sure if the Bilsteins go together the same way. Below is the assembly for the Front and Rear Ohlins R&T. Looks like a pretty good diagram showing what they re-use of the stock parts. Just for reference:

 

I found this thread pretty helpful so adding some additional notes, since Bilstein's instructions are really bad.

I have installed PSS9s on a stock 986 Boxster, so I was somewhat familiar with the install. In this case I was adjusting Bilstein B16 PSS10s that were in my 996 prior to purchase.

The 996 PSS10 shocks have a wedge shaped spring plate, see in the photo below. This plate seemed to be pointed in the wrong direction in my car, and it was unclear how these plates are kept in the right position. As usual, Bilstein's web site, their tiny manual, and terrible youtube presence meant looking elsewhere for information. Information that in my opinion should have been clearly stated in Bilstein's B16 PSS10 product documentation.



After reading these posts I realized I was not setting the adjustable locking rings at the base of the springs correctly, I had the locking rings too high. Noob mistake, I know.
I also saw from the photos here that the wedge shaped spring plate at the top of the PSS10 faces forward, with the thickest part of the wedge about 20 to 30 degrees from front facing, outward towards the wheel.
As we lowered the locking rings, the wedge would move around, but generally come back to position stated above. The porsche suspension design includes a bearing in the top mount, so the wedge floats on the bearing.

Setting the B16 PSS10 fronts to spec on the 996.

Below: Locking rings on the front are set to 83mm, basically at the bottom, maybe had 1mm additional space. We set it near the bottom of the 80mm-90mm range Bilstein specifies. The car is rear heavy with an LS3 so I want to increase rake to improve weight distribution and handling.




Setting the B16 PSS10 rears to spec.
The rear PSS10 locking rings sit substantially higher on the rear shocks.



We set the rear locking rings are set to 210 mm, the maximum of the 205 to 210mm range specified in the Bilstein manual.



I will post a picture of the car later, I don't have one since this adjustment on the weekend.
My impression of the Bilstein B16 PSS10 is not a good choice if you want to lower the car. The PSS10 is a good choice if you want to stiffen the dampers from 1-10 or 1-9 for the PSS9.

Still learning, but stiffening the dampers seems to have limited benefit for autocross. A softer suspension allows more weight shift to the front tires, and since these cars are prone to understeering and then spinning from the backend coming around, getting more weight shift onto the front tires helps quite a bit with traction and control. Still need to run more tests with different damper settings. The wife definitely feels 5/9 on the PSS9s is too stiff and rough for cruising. Interested in other's experiences with these struts.