83 944

so i searched the forum (maybe not well enough) but from what i have read there isnt rear coilovers for early cars? i need to replace the rear end for 86 suspension?

if you can get rear coilovers where do i get them? if none what do i do. i really dont want to try and reindex the t-bars right now.

help!?!?

flosho

You can swap your trailing arms to aluminum ones.

I know ground control was supposedly making a set for steel arms but they don't seem to be coming out any time soon. Email / call them.

roman944

yup

but so far, only promises

what else would be needed with swapping in late trailing arms?

flosho

Basically you need the whole setup.. I think your best bet is to go get the entire rear assembly from an 86 951. This should allow you to keep early offset wheels.

Otherwise you'll be looking for early fronts/late rears.


**I'm not positive on this info as I haven't really looked in to it yet.

ideola

Not directly bolt-on, but fairly easy to adapt: Here's a thread on 924board regarding the QA1 rear coilovers. Should be identical issues for your 83 944, as both cars used identical steel rear trailing arms.
http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=25272

Incidentally, Huntley Racing made a kit for the QA1 that made it a direct bolt on. HR are now defunct, but I managed to snag a used setup of theirs a while back which will be going onto one of my projects. Also keep your eye out for some of the used Koni-based rear coil over setups. They're out there if you look for 'em, and the Koni shocks are rebuildable, so a decent alternative.

M758

new spring plates.



The steel ones don't have space to locate the aluminums. Of course once you do that you might as well change the t-bars and not even do rear coils.


I get so frustrated when people thing rear coil overs are good idea. Heck just do to the t-bars an be done with it. Unless you need 400lbs effective rear spring rates t-bars work great and are not that hard to do.

flosho

Coilover shocks are more work up front but allow you more options down the road.

I'm sure once you do the T-bar reindex a few times it goes much quicker and smoother but it is still more work than adjusting the CO. Can you corner balance easily with t-bars?

krystar

well u get height adjustability...but effort depends how often u think you're going to be doing height adjustments out of the range of the spring plate adjuster.

944CS

QA-1 shocks are junk, don't waste your money on them. In a road racing situation they will need to be taken apart and possibly rebuilt more than once a year

83 944

lots of good info thank you to everyone!

well i have a bone stock 83 944 and i want front coilovers and lower the rear.

i was going to buy the coilover kit(front) and bilstein HD strut inserts from paragon. can i rebuild my stock struts. like take out the old strut insert and put in the new? and will the coilover kit work right?

next is the t-bars. im up for the task. but can i reindex stock one to were there is no gap from the fender to the tires. or do i need to buy the t-bars paragon sells as well?

any help would be greatly appreciated since i plan on making my purchase this week.

flosho

You can reindex the stock t-bars to the point that it is on the bump stops but it wouldn't be drivable.

The t-bars paragon sells are thicker and produce a more effective spring rate. You may want to look into these if you go with stiffer springs in the front. 220 or 250 lb MAX is really what you want in the front, any more and your car will be mismatched and unbalanced, probably push hard through corners.

You may be able to lower the rear using just the eccentric bolt in the rear (do a search for eccentric lowering) and that will lower the rear up to an inch.

krystar

for fronts, it SHOULD be that simple. but u need to take a look and see that u have the gland nut style strut. 83's should have it.

u can reindex...but you'd be riding so hard on the bumpstops. why are u taking it that low and not getting replacement tbars? stock ones are soft. u take them lower, and they bottom out and you get a really crappy ride and really crappy performance. lower is not better if it bottoms out all the time!

M758

yes..you use the spring plate.


You can lower the rear about 1/2 to 1" on spring plate. How much depends on where it is now. Once past that adjustment range you need to re-index.

If you run 16" wheels or stock diameter tires with a stock weight car you can get a good stance with spring plate alone. My 944 Turbo S is lowered about 3/4 with the spring plate and stock the turbo S has adjustable front coils. So it sits nice and level. No need to go lower on the street.


If you do go lower you should bump up the spring rate.

About rear coil overs.. if you combine t-bars any quick adjustment is gone since you also the t-bar working together. Both need to be adjusted together to make it work right. If you remove the t-bars entirely it becomes a bigger job and you put alot more stress in the shock mountings. If not done right this can cause problems.

83 944

so you guys are saying get the coilover kit with 250 to 300 lb springs. get 30mm t-bars and reindex those correct? along with bilstein HDs all the way around.

krystar

i think 350-400 is supposed to be better match for 30mm