rnln

I have search many times on shock/strut but could not find how would my car lowered. Please let me know on how to lowered these car? Shorter sport shock/strut? or by other technique?
Thanks.

KC911

Try searching on 'lowering car / torsion bars, etc.' or something like that both here and on Pelican. For the rear (even though you have some spring plate adjustment, it comes from the factory at it's lowest setting), you'll need to reindex your torsion bars (can be a PITA if your suspension has never been apart). The front is very easy, as all you have to do is change the adjustment at the rear of the torsion bars. Hope this helps...

Edward

Hi rnln,

I suggest that you get a few good books on 911 ownership as these cars are not difficult to work on and modify (for the most part), but "mistakes" can be very costly.

For maintenance, I'd suggest the service manual from Bentley Publishers.
For mods and some general upkeep, get "101 Projects for your Porsche" and "The 911 Performance Handbook" by Bruce Anderson ...(exact titles may be a bit off).

In the end, doing it right the first time results in a very satisfying car to drive! Hoep this helps.

Edward

rnln

Thanks guys,

Edward,
Does't the "101 Projects for your Porsche" alone enough to cover service? Well, I know those simple stuff such as oil, brake, etc already

rnln

KC911,
Don't laugh at my english, I can't really picture what you meant by reindex. Please explain, do you mean adjust?
Thanks

S2TGART

He meant re-index. When I took my car to the local dealer, the mechanic said that my car was lowered, which I had been suspecting. Anyways, the mechanic said they showed 7 hr labor time to do the rear end alone. Not a cheap mod, if one is paying for it.

HarryD

The 101 Projects book gives you a good outline on how to lower your car. After it is lowered, you will need to get it aligned and corner balanced. When mine was done, I had to address bump steer as well.

While some disagree, I felt this was best left to the pros. After consultation with Steve Weiner, I ended up paying Jeff Gamroth (Rothsport, Tualatin, Oregon) to do this work. Jeff told me not to woory about the lowering as he would most likely change it during the cornaer balance anyway. If you are going to pay for this work, your should consider if you need to refresh your suspension bushes and shocks at the same time to get the most out the fee you paid to lower and corner balance.

It made a significant difference in how my car handled.

rbcsaver

From experience, stay away from the dealer for older 911 work. They do not know the cars. 7 hours to lower the rear is a travisty. A dealer near Harrisburg, PA worked "all day" to align my 84, couldn't do it and still charged me $350.

Turned out the car was too low, they kept getting it lower and the geometry kept getting worse.

A nearby, shop that knows the older P-cars got it all sorted out.

regards,
Steve

rnln

actually, I am not thinking of getting my car lowered. In fact, I am thinking of getting it a little higher. It is lowered now and WAY TOO LOWED to the point I scape the front lip, hit the front bar all over the place. The car is already lowered like a "show car". I am not trying to get it high back to the stock spec (I don't like the stock height anyway) but I think raise it back up just slightly bit is not that complicated, just guessing.

PS: I have been lowered many other car manufactures many times and I can be able to do it myself, sometimes with help. All involve springs and shocks/struts. Now when it come to P, I have no idea what is it involved.

Anyone know what is it involve in lowering it? I still have not get the answer to clear my head yet. Is it only about adjusting some parts/components, or replacing some parts such as shock/strut or torsion bar etc etc?
Can it be just as simple as replacing the shock with shorter shock?

Thanks guys.

imcarthur

Not a 911. Its "springs" are torsion bars & very simply put, height adjustment involves changing the suspension relative to them. Note that any change in height, will also change your alignment camber settings.

You should buy a Bentley manual. It is the best DIY manual for older Porsches. Well worth the expense. Dempsey's 101 Projects would be the second book to buy. These will answer many of your questions.

Once you understand the basic suspension parts & their relationships, we can answer your questions better. But once you DO understand, you can change the height in a couple of hours.

Ian

KC911

Hey Rnln, I would never laugh at your english (where are you from anyways?), since I'm from the southern US, and many folks think 'we southerners' talk funny anyways . I lowered my car myself when doing a complete suspension refresh (which made her a MUCH improved handling car) to euro height. (That is: roughly, when measuring from the top of the fender arch straight down to the ground as 25" in the rear and 25 1/2" in the front). If you want to raise your car back to stock height, that shouldn't be that difficult since our cars have adjustable spring plates which should let you raise it approximately an inch without much difficulty. There is a limit to adjusting the spring plates however, and to get past that, you have to pull out the torsion bars and re-index (or rotate the torsion bars a bit) in order to change the angle of the spring plates in order to get it 'close', then you get it exactly where you want it by adjusting the eccentric bolts on the spring plates. This is a very general explanation, and you should be able to find more specifics if you search the archives both here and on Pelicanparts.com. Get one of the Bentley manuals too, they are very good and provide much more detail in some areas than the 101 Projects book. Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask any questions here...we all started somewhere. I had never done much work on my own cars before I acquired my 911, and now I find working on her (and learning all about her) is just about as much fun as driving. It saves a bunch of $$$ and is very self satisfiying. With the aid of a few manuals, and the guidance of the experts on both of these boards, I look back and am amazed at the things I've done over the past few years. I'm still very much a 'rookie' compared to many on these boards, but they've given me to confidence to do things I couldn't have imagined doing totally on my own. Hope this helps...

Keith Craver
'88 Coupe

HarryD

Plan a day or two of fun while you adjust your suspension. It will involve turning the torsion bars. Since you arer raising the car, you need not worry about the shock bump stops. What are your distances from the grond to the top of your fender arches anyway? You may need to remove the rack spacers to control your bump steer as well. It is in the books.

Like the others said, the Bentley Manual and Dempsey's 101 Projects have most of the info you need to do the job. If you have the skills/tools, you can even do the alignment and corner balnce at home. If you search at Pelican Parts (www://forums.pelicanparts.com) for the "Tripod Method" you should find a way to corner balance your car at home without scales.

Good luck.

rnln

Thanks all,

KC911,
Thanks much. I always have the service manual on my previous cars and they are helpfull but the board's guys used to be better for me, of course combining with the manual. Once I have a japanese classic, the 240z first generation. I restore it almost completely and the book didn't help much. Well, back to P, thanks much. I plan to get the book but I want to have time and search a little more see which book is best for me. I don't want to get all of them, either bentley as usual or 101 project.. as most people on this board.
I copied down your writing, will take an attemp when have time.
Thanks much.

HarryD,
hehe.. I was thinking of adding spacer to the steering rack since I feel a little jerking when going uneven surface road, but not much. Well, will have to get under there more to get familiar with her bottom.

Here how lowed it is, doesn't look that lowed, feel good but I scape almost any payment. Well, sometimes feel a little too hard.


I used to do the alignment myself with one of my car is the past. To make the story short, I lowered my BMW with H&R and bilstein (love it) and had an alignment to the medium spec do to the jerking. After the first alignment, all my 4 tires were completely bald in 2 months with normal daily driving, a little agressive. I came back the same place 6 times and were not happy with it. My car jerk a lot to the point I couldn't drive fast on freeway. Fianlly, I adjusted the steering and alignment myself and very happy with it. I drove that car around 3 years with that alignment. Actually I didn't do much alignment, just adjustment base on my feeling after the guy did the alignment. No tools involved. I just get it to the level by putting stuff unthe tires and level the cars by the leveler on wheel lips to wheel lips, adjusted and test drove.
Thanks

HarryD

Well, do what you like. I would suggest both books as each contains info that the other lacks.

For aligniment, there was a book published by Ray Scruggs "Home Alignment of Porsche 911" that will help you do your alignment at home. A search here or at Pelican may turn up a way to get a copy.

ked

rnln,
you seem to have a good deal of native talent, some wealth & the desire to improve your 911. great!
at this point, I'd invest in my own education if I were you, so that your inquiries are based upon informed study & a shared knowledge base. the manuals that have been suggested (Bentley, 101 & Frere, for a start) are of great value without being too expensive - you can't go wrong buying them if you plan to be a 911 owner for more than a short time. good luck on making your way ahead w/ the slantnose.