anonymousagain

Bill, when we looked at it, the bushing movement seemed more flex than movement...recall, when you moved the wheel while my finger was on the bushing/arm from the inside, there was a slight flex against the rubber as if minutely squishy but NOT axially like Dave indicated.

Seemed acceptable, but sounding here like we shouldn't have been able to produce any "squish" of the bushing at mere by-hand leverage.

SharkSkin

Dumb question here, but does the spring perch sit lower on the Konis? It looks like that's the case in Jim's pics above and in his "shock replacement question" thread.

Also, don't lose sight of the fact that loose bushings have nothing whatsoever to do with the first problem that you noted, bottoming out. A large pizza sez something is amiss with the front springs.

BTW Jim, I don't know if it's possible to swap springs F <-> R. Just a thought that I tossed out there, based on asking myself "What can go wrong if you take all 4 shocks apart at the same time".

pmotts

Much lower, just measured- 3 1/2", was sure it was 7

Bill Ball

Dave:

Funny thing, we had a bunch of big pizzas tonight at the karting event. You could have collected your prize.

While I was eating my pizza, Mark Kibort went out and pushed on the front fender of my car and then Nicole's and a few others. When he pushed quickly, he demonstrated that my shocks were firmer than the other cars, as the shocks dampened the sudden oscillations. When he pushed very slowly but with full weight, he demonstrated that all the other cars had higher spring rates than mine, as mine compressed further. Aha! No wonder the car feels decent over sharp bumps but cannot handle the gradual application of pressure in a long high-speed sweeper!

This explains why I began to wallow and bottom out as soon as my shocks were changed three years ago - the wrong springs were mated to my shocks, at least on the front. It is evident that I do not and have not had sport springs on the front of my car for the last three years. Some fortunate soul is running around with a nice, firm suspension with my springs. Or perhaps he is having equally screwed up handling because his springs are too firm on the front. All the bitching and moaning about my car's handling since the day those shocks were swapped by the shop is now completely explained to my satisfaction.

With the change to a stiffer front swaybar last year, the problem with the low spring rate was exaggerated. I nearly killed myself out on the road this weekend trying to push this poor excuse for a suspension beyond its capabilities.

You simply would not believe how out of control the car felt when pushed around a weaving two-lane country road at 130-170 MPH. I honestly think I could drive anything after that experience.

I will evaluate the bushings, but the first thing I will do is swap in the Eibach springs. I now expect a major improvement. I did not appreciate the weakness of the current springs until Mark's simple but revealing test. It helps to have several stock 928s around for comparison.

We had a nice time at the event, but I went home with a prize better than a driving trophy - the satisfaction that most of the mystery of my sh*t poor handling has been explained. Thanks, Mark! If this was only 3 years ago, I'd have a lot more hair left now.

SharkSkin

Well, it's good to have that mystery solved! To be able to tell the difference with less than 200 lbs on it, it must be a significant difference. And all of the symptoms make perfect sense now. Wasn't there a guy posting in here a couple years ago that couldn't get his front ride height down to spec, even with the adjusters ready to come off? I can't remember the name -- but maybe he has your springs.

Anyway, I'm really glad you figured this out before you lost more than hair...

Ron_H

Me too. Now we can all stop worrying. I am really curious to know how you like Eibachs.

worf928

I believe that was Ernest ("ew928" in NYC) and what he eventually discovered was that his Eibachs had an extra coil IIRC.

Bill, (and folks) this has been a very interesting thread. Glad you localized the problem.

Rick Carter

I've followed this thread with interest; Bill I'm glad it looks like it will be sorted out, good obervation Sharkskin and Mark K.

IcemanG17

Bill
Sweet you got it figured out!

heinrich

Agreed this is a very interesting thread. Lots i never thought of.

the flyin' scotsman

Great to hear Bill...............need some help with the spring swap out? I need some A/C help.

Bill Ball

Malcolm:

If you need advice, get a thread going. If you need assistance, I wouldn't be able to get up there for awhile, but you're welcome to come down to my garage. AC equipment is ready and waiting. So far we're batting 6/7 with one system having a pesky leak that we found but have not had a chance to fix.

Do you have spare sport springs? How do the Eibach's compare?

anonymousagain

Well Bill, you were looking forward to trying out the Bilstiens anyway , right?

Great simple test for static rate Marc!!

...so when you thinkin' about diggin' in?
[gotta figure out how to fenagle a ride out of you during the test run after the swap ]

Bill Ball

Anon:

Maybe over this holiday weekend. Perhaps Sunday.

SharkSkin

Dave, I was mostly kidding -- I know where the springs got mixed up on Bill's car, and IIRC it wasn't Ernest that was having the problem. I seem to recall a dark colored shark, pics were of the car in a carport. And, IIRC that guy was far away from Bill's original sport springs.

Shane makes a good point about the Eibachs -- the softer initial rate is probably great on the street, but do you really want a soft initial rate when diving into a corner at 140+? Is that softer initial rate anything like the front spring rate you have now? Or is it analagous to the stock rate, getting stiffer from there? I'd suggest you ask pointed questions of folks that know a lot more about the specifics than I do, and give it some thought before you jump into anything.