Restoring the suspension of my 90K mile 360 Spider - what to replace?

Engine mounts

Ball joints

 

Engine mounts, ball joints, bushings. Springs should be ok. Shocks only if they show signs of leaking but you probably will see some improvement if you change them anyway.

 

+1. Start here...

 

Just changed my engine mounts at 29k....

 

Uprated engine mounts help and visually inspect the rubber bushings on the shocks and the suspension arms. If they look rotted, you may want to have them changed out. I've also heard that the shocks and springs on these cars are near bulletproof. So unless you have an accident, chance are they are going to last the car. That being said. I just swapped my entire suspension out for one off a CS.

 

Everything bolts right on with no problems. Even the suspension computer is a plug and play. I did all the work over two nights after work in the garage. It seemed intimidating at first but turned out to be quite straight forward. I have not had the car on the alignment rack yet. My TCU was out for a reflash so it's been killing me just seeing it sit in the garage. The suspension was removed straight off a CS, so it retained the same ride height. Camber may have to be adjusted to give it a little more. I should have the computer back in the next few days. I'll take some pics when I get it out.

 

I would add anti roll bar bushes, wishbone bushes, have a look at the steering rack while you're in there - may be up for rebuild.

 

90,000 miles.... that's impossible!!!

 

At 90k- dump the springs - they are not the same rate as new and make the single biggest difference in the ride. high quality H&R can be found for $450.

 

Love to see these cars enjoyed and worked on by owners. I laugh when I see 7 year old cars with 57 miles or even 2000 on the clock. Such a shame and waste. Why own them as the newer ones are a poor financial investment? Just to say you have one.....

 

Agree with changing springs.

 

Play in steering wheel is the first sign, ask me how I know.

 

Tell me how? I have a 2008 F430 coupe and have some significant play in the steering wheel while the car is off, key out. What should I look at replacing? Any bump and the steering wheel jiggles like crazy. I've had the front ball joints replaced, wheels balanced, car aligned, Rossellis in SJ CA tells me tie rods are good. -still can't figure it out, so Ferrari of Silicon Valley is my next stop at my appt. on Oct 25, '17. Any tips /insights would be greatly appreciated. It's driving me nuts!!!

 

Will be interested to hear the outcome of this...I have a similar symptom. Though it might be the track rod ends?

 

Jack each wheel off the ground and grab the wheel at 3 and 9 o clock-see if any play in it- then change the steering ball joints if needed. Similar on the back and their joints

 

It's been over 2 years since I posted that, and in the end my car didn't need a steering rack rebuild. We did however replace pretty much everything else suspension-related: ball joints, track rod ends, shock bushes, ARB bushes, spring perches, rebuilt the shocks and reconditioned the springs, etc. etc. etc. Total bill was close to $15k.
My mechanic was pretty certain the steering rack needs a rebuild based on the excessive play in the steering wheel, but once he pulled the suspension apart the rack turned out to be fine.

 

Thank you for the quick reply on an old thread! Good to know, my car only had 10.8K miles when I got two months ago and have since put another 2K miles on it.

The forum in Ferrari Life had some chap "tightening" the nut located near the steering angle sensor slightly underneath the dash. It seemed to do the trick for him. I tried it, but that nut in my car is already as tight as ever and wouldn't budge at all (22 mm by the way).

So. I believe in my car it's a combination of what you experience + something in the upper part of the steering column: with an adjustable wrench, I immobilized the lower part of the steering column, and the steering wheel still had quite a bit of play in the section above the steering angle sensor....where there seems to be some sort of adjustable coupling. So the excess steering wheel movement is not entirely from the lower part of the steering column.

I will update once I get a firm diagnosis. In the meantime. I welcome any suggestions from the community.

 

Update: the collared nut is 27mm. I was looking at the wrong nut!! In any case, I ended up tightening the nut about a 1/4 turn and most of the play disappeared. Laying down on the floorboard, looking up underneath the dash, I used a short-handled, open end wrench to turn the collared nut clockwise while holding the steering wheel with my left hand.

Though, as posted previously, the CST fault indicator turned "on," so I will need to go and get it reset at Rossellis next week. Thank you all for your input!!

 

Does anyone make bushing kit?

 

is it possible to get the CS complete bushing for our 360?



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