Help - I built a 4x4
 

So I completed the '88 S4 front suspension swap to the '84. Yikes, check out the ride height.

Yep, I know it needs to be driven and bounce around some before settling.

Yep, I know that having the radiator, alternator, A/C compressor and A/C radiator out will have it sit higher but not THAT high.

Any ideas for me - kind of hard to put it together wrong....not that I couldn't find a way mind you.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...55cd2212c6.jpg

Thanks!

Do what youve been told. Drive it.

Yep. That's a normal height after lifting. She'll settle down.

I wish, need an engine that runs first!

Thanks for the response.

Phew, thanks Nate!

You are aware that there are several pieces in the front suspension that can't be tightened (actually they get barely "snugged") until the car is pulled down to the proper ride height, right?

Greg, You mind expanding upon that thought...? I've heard there's a few bolts that we're not supposed to torque until the car is on the ground and settled. Can't for the life of me figure out which ones and I'm sure my front end is not where it needs to be... :banghead: Any assistance you may provide us novices would be GREATLY appreciated!

BTW, crack that whip on the young whipper-snapper you got working for you and let Jake know I said "Hello Youngin'... hope you're doing well" :biggulp:

Thanks,

Joel

Hi Greg!

Hope you are sitting down, but yes, I am and they are still not fully torqued down in that picture.

Just for grins I put the '84s Koni/spring on the driver side and it is about 1/2 lower on that side.

Would the S4 springs be stiffer to help handle the extra weight and thus have the car be extra high (pending that swap)?

Thanks!

Hi Joel, get other input before relying on me but the UCA and LCA are the two I believe are in question here.

Anything with a rubber bushing should not be tightened until the car is pulled down or pushed up to near ride height.

Thanks

Think of it this way - when the car is lifted up with the suspension off the ground, it naturally settles to a really strange angle. The front wheels alone have a ton of POSITIVE camber when lifted and hanging free in the air.

When you set the car down, that same posture is more or less retained and the springs compress very little until the car is driven a ways.

Oh, so when are you running the Dakar?:-)

This is a very common conversion, for me, with the exception that I never do all this work and install the old worn out shocks. Therefore, I'm not 100% sure about what you are going to end up with.

With the adjustment purchases cranked all the way down (with new Bilsteins), the cars end up looking like a "Paris to Dakar" 928, in the front.

I end up doing some machining to get the ride height down and get back some height adjustability from the perches.

Have you already lowered your perches with the adjustment collar? That would be where I would start.

Now that is just mean

:-)

Hi Greg, I've got other fish to fry now to get these things out of my drive way, I know I've created more work in all likelihood if these shocks don't turn out to be ok. The shell they came from only has 76k on it.

I have not tried to adjust the perches yet, but will need to. Will start there after I press on with the engine removal x2. Seems like a good idea to get the final weight on the suspension and bounce it around some before I freak out (anymore) on the ride height.

Thank you for all of the support and coaching!

1. Rear of lower control arm must be left very loose, so outer portion of rubber bushing can turn in the hole.

2. Lower shock mounting bolt (which is also upper sway bar link attachment) left loose enough so that the metal insert inside the bottom rubber in the shock can easily pivot....along with the upper sway bar link.

3. Lower sway bar link to sway bar bolt.

4. Upper control arm outer nuts.

Never switch lower A-arms from side to side. Never replace only one of the lower control arms. The front bushing is vulcanized to both the inner and outer pieces of aluminum. Because this is a "hard" attachment, that piece of rubber becomes a part of the spring rate of the car!

+1

This is not unique to the 928, every car ever made with rubber bushings this applies. Control arms, sway bars etc... Any suspension piece held in place by rubber (versus a solid type heim joint which is almost never found in production cars).

The idea is rubber bushings should be torqued at the "neutral" location. Some cars it's impossible to do this once dropped so you have to "best guess" and hold up the pieces while torqing the fastener.

True. You should see the preload on the rubber bushings on a 997TT. Bolt it up hard without the car on the ground and expect a 1-2" extra ride height....

Thanks guys... will check / re-torque with the weight on the car. Learn something new every day :)