2qwik4u

I dont think it is as simples as it looks and im not certain I want to attempt.

Bought my car 2 years ago, i've been dying to get this task done. When I bought car it already had bilsteins and ride height is stock(looks like its on stilts)

please advise.

thanks, leo

Driver8

I have lowered 2 911's and it is not very difficult. You need to start with a good manual explaining the process. The front is very straight forward, the rear can take some work as you will have to reindex the torsion bars. Lastly you will need a good alignment shop to realign the car when you are done.

Wayne's Dempseys 101 projects for your porsche 911 is a good book that explains the process, or do a search.

ricster

As Driver 8 says...not difficult but the rear is more difficult than the front. I would also change the bushings while your there. I ended up doing 8 inch fuch's in the rear as the 7's look way to small now. But you know..it can become a slippery slope

Peter Zimmermann

Leo, where are you in the states?

2qwik4u

Nyc

Peter Zimmermann

Rats! There's a guy in SoCal who would do a perfect job for you, but that won't help. Sorry!

rusnak

It's not hard. Buy a thin wrench to set the ride height (McMaster Carr has a good one. It helps to have an impact wrench to unfreeze the pinch bolts on the spring plate. Other than that, the factory spring plate system is very easy. 3 degrees per spline, and you can counter-rotate the spring plate splines to get a 1.5 degree adjustment. Final adjustment with the ride height eccentric. Easy.

2qwik4u

rusnak,

The most challenging DIY i've done was replace oil turn tubes(with your help actually)and that wasnt to difficult.
How would you compare the lowering DIY with replacing oil return tubes as far as difficulty?

thanks, leo

2qwik4u

BTW mine is an 88 coupe.

rusnak

Hi Leo....I don't remember helping you, but I'm glad that I did!!

Honestly, the rear was not difficult. The most difficult part was the really stuck bolts that pinch the springplate halves together. I'd recommend reading the Bentley manual on the rears (the front is so easy a blind chicken could do it), and if you have Wayne's book, that too. If you want to proceed, I'll take pictures of all the tools that I used.

Ride height wrench, pneumatic impact wrench, ride height wrench, 19mm allen wrench for the toe and camber eccentric bolts, digital angle gauge (you can use an inexpensive analog one from Sears or Harbor Freight), a set of metric sockets and ratchets, and if you really want to gild the lilly so to speak, you can replace the spring plate cover bolts with longer ones of the same grade as stock.

It's probably slightly harder than the oil return tubes, but it's doable, and your level of confidence and experience will grow to match the job.

2qwik4u

any pics you have would be great.

If I dont run into any problems, how long should this take?

thanks, leo

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Leo,

JMHO,......

If you don't have your car corner-weighted after lowering and before alignment, you are throwing away the whole effort.

This operation is critical to having a proper handling 911 since the car can be sitting level and still be a hundred pounds+ off, either side to side or worse, diagonally. These cars came cornerweighted from the factory and I'd strongly recommend finding someone in your area who can do this at the same time its realigned.

2qwik4u

I will definetly get that done professionally. Do alignment shops usually corner balance as well?

Waynes book says "if you have a later model 911, you're in luck, as you dont have to remove the torsion bar covers and radius arms to get at least some degree of adjustment"

Which years of 911 is the book referring to? Mine is an 88.

thanks

rusnak

Your '88 does have some adjustment. If you look at the spring plate (radius arm), there are two large nuts. The forward one is the clamp bolt, and the rear one is the ride height eccentric. Both need to be loosened, and the rear turned so that the offset portion of the bolt moves the spring plate up or down. In your case, you want to move it up.

I agree, get an alignment and corner balance. I've been cheating the process with the tripod and strings, but I know that's not the proper way. We could probably calculate the amount of angle needed if you want to. Measure the distance from the torsion tube to the rear hub, and let us know how far you want to lower the rear.

Ed Hughes

Your average alignment shop will be of no use for an alignment or corner balance on a 911. You need to find a shop set up for this with the proper knowledge. My guess is you can find this in NYC.

The other side of this is whether you need to refresh your suspension bushings. If they've not been done ever, they need it now. This will make it much more of an involved project. Plan on a weekend for the front and weekend for the rear without trying to kill yourself.