928 suspension height adjustment instructions
04-04-2004, 03:11 AM
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928 suspension height adjustment instructions
(using all the title words I FAILED to hit on in search mode today, delaying the project a good two hours...<grumble>....
I finally did find a hit on this in the "newbies please read" admin post. Thanks to the folks at 928.org.uk, a wonderful set of detailed instructions is available at http://www.928.org.uk/height.html
This is nowhere near as daunting as it sounds, in my experience today. I would even go so far as to say it was easy, compared to what I was expecting, reading some posts about how much of an exhausting job it was. I was very surprised to find that the factory service manuals, of which I have all 4 volumes, didn't even describe the procedure!!! I had trouble finding this in the archives, and attempted to rely on these manuals, and was just flabbergasted that it wasn't in there.
Anyway, I'm a meticulous, but not a quick, worker; even so, I was able to accomplish the first adjustment in only about an hour on both sides (front only). I'll go back one more time to make it the way I want it. I think that the people who have stated that eight turns equate to an inch of travel have understated the results slightly; my eight turns was more like an inch and a half. (For those wondering, I did drive the car 30 miles after adjustment. Gawd, it was high at first.)
I'd have come back home and finished if my TIMING BELT TENSION light hadn't ignited at the end of my test drive (it was just replaced...)
Dolphins? Screw the dolphins. Save the sharks.
(playing the Jaws theme...)
I finally did find a hit on this in the "newbies please read" admin post. Thanks to the folks at 928.org.uk, a wonderful set of detailed instructions is available at http://www.928.org.uk/height.html
This is nowhere near as daunting as it sounds, in my experience today. I would even go so far as to say it was easy, compared to what I was expecting, reading some posts about how much of an exhausting job it was. I was very surprised to find that the factory service manuals, of which I have all 4 volumes, didn't even describe the procedure!!! I had trouble finding this in the archives, and attempted to rely on these manuals, and was just flabbergasted that it wasn't in there.
Anyway, I'm a meticulous, but not a quick, worker; even so, I was able to accomplish the first adjustment in only about an hour on both sides (front only). I'll go back one more time to make it the way I want it. I think that the people who have stated that eight turns equate to an inch of travel have understated the results slightly; my eight turns was more like an inch and a half. (For those wondering, I did drive the car 30 miles after adjustment. Gawd, it was high at first.)
I'd have come back home and finished if my TIMING BELT TENSION light hadn't ignited at the end of my test drive (it was just replaced...)
Dolphins? Screw the dolphins. Save the sharks.
(playing the Jaws theme...)
04-04-2004, 03:51 AM
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Are you lowering or raising? Hope you are setting to factory range of specs - everything else would be asking for trouble. Ask me how I know...
PS: Get the proper alignment done ASAP after finishing your adjustments - you are likely wearing your tires pretty heavily until you get it done. You've probably read enough about this and the importance of not lifting the beast in the alignment process.
PS: Get the proper alignment done ASAP after finishing your adjustments - you are likely wearing your tires pretty heavily until you get it done. You've probably read enough about this and the importance of not lifting the beast in the alignment process.
04-05-2004, 12:08 AM
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Nicole -
Was raising. Mine's an 85 Euro, and I guess those old springs were getting a bit saggy. It was dragging on most driveways and such...and I just spent lots at the body shop getting the front end all cherried out again, I didn't wanna be draggng that new front spoiler around...
Yes, I did plan to set to factory specs. Got sidetracked when belt tension light came on, @#$%&* .....I had a local mechanic replace the timing belt last week, along with everything that could be replaced reasonably at that level of disassembly, including seals etc. The tensioner probably needs oil or something. But at any rate, I think I have the front end too high now. I haven't measured.
OK, you baited. How do you know??
Clay
Was raising. Mine's an 85 Euro, and I guess those old springs were getting a bit saggy. It was dragging on most driveways and such...and I just spent lots at the body shop getting the front end all cherried out again, I didn't wanna be draggng that new front spoiler around...
Yes, I did plan to set to factory specs. Got sidetracked when belt tension light came on, @#$%&* .....I had a local mechanic replace the timing belt last week, along with everything that could be replaced reasonably at that level of disassembly, including seals etc. The tensioner probably needs oil or something. But at any rate, I think I have the front end too high now. I haven't measured.
OK, you baited. How do you know??
Clay
04-05-2004, 01:59 AM
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Hi Clay:
My car was lowered to the bone when I bought it. I craped spoiler and belly pan all the time, and in bumpy turns it handled like a Yug:. Very hard to control, hopping around like a rabbit. Sometimes I scraped the outer edge of the front spoiler on the road!
First I thought it was the old shocks, so I had them replaced. That helped with the overall ride, but not in the bumpy turns. Then came the proper ride height adjustment with corner balancing - and the car was totally tansformed. Now it is very precise and still a lot more comfortable.
A friend of mine who works in Weissach for the chassis engineering group told me that the car was probably hopping around because it kept reaching the end of suspension travel. He told me that if you want to lower the car, you must have a shock/spring combination designed for the new ride height (plus adjust the alignment, etc), otherwise the handling goes down the drain...
Hope you can get everything right on your car. If the shocks have more than 60k on them, you should replace them while you're working on this.
My car was lowered to the bone when I bought it. I craped spoiler and belly pan all the time, and in bumpy turns it handled like a Yug:. Very hard to control, hopping around like a rabbit. Sometimes I scraped the outer edge of the front spoiler on the road!
First I thought it was the old shocks, so I had them replaced. That helped with the overall ride, but not in the bumpy turns. Then came the proper ride height adjustment with corner balancing - and the car was totally tansformed. Now it is very precise and still a lot more comfortable.
A friend of mine who works in Weissach for the chassis engineering group told me that the car was probably hopping around because it kept reaching the end of suspension travel. He told me that if you want to lower the car, you must have a shock/spring combination designed for the new ride height (plus adjust the alignment, etc), otherwise the handling goes down the drain...
Hope you can get everything right on your car. If the shocks have more than 60k on them, you should replace them while you're working on this.
04-05-2004, 04:35 AM
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Clay,
Sounds like your manuals might be missing some updates. In VOL IV (Chassis, Heating, Air Conditioning) you should find section 44 which gives procedures for ride height adjustment and suspension settings.
Let me know if you need to photocopy that data, or anything else. I'm in STL as well.
Greg
Sounds like your manuals might be missing some updates. In VOL IV (Chassis, Heating, Air Conditioning) you should find section 44 which gives procedures for ride height adjustment and suspension settings.
Let me know if you need to photocopy that data, or anything else. I'm in STL as well.
Greg
04-09-2004, 06:28 AM
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Greg - thanks a lot! I'd like very much to copy those supplements, if in fact you have any that I don't...I discovered last night that some madman has disassembled the volumes of the manual and relocated items, some entire chapters, sometimes just single pages or a couple of pages. I did indeed find the part about ride height adjustment, hidden in the engine section [and NOT in chapter 44]...I spent about an hour and a half fixing them before I had to go to bed. I'm sure more is deranged, and parts may be missing too. Let me try to figure out what's/what's not there. Is there a way to tell if supplements exist which I don't have? You are very kind to offer to help. Thanks again.
04-09-2004, 07:39 AM
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" very surprised to find that the factory service manuals, of which I have all 4 volumes, didn't even describe the procedure!!! " - quote
Clay,
The 4 volume set clearly covers the earlier cars; however, I don't know where the cut off point is regards model year. My set is 8 vol., and the latest sets are 9 vol. If yours details MY '85 components, great: if not, there is an available CD 'manual' that has been well recomended to fill in any gaps.
Re. the belt tension alarm - how many miles since the belt was installed? The tension needs to be verified at ~1000 miles. Sometimes, a belt 'relaxes' a bit early, demanding to be retensioned.
Clay,
The 4 volume set clearly covers the earlier cars; however, I don't know where the cut off point is regards model year. My set is 8 vol., and the latest sets are 9 vol. If yours details MY '85 components, great: if not, there is an available CD 'manual' that has been well recomended to fill in any gaps.
Re. the belt tension alarm - how many miles since the belt was installed? The tension needs to be verified at ~1000 miles. Sometimes, a belt 'relaxes' a bit early, demanding to be retensioned.
