Greggles

You may want to order & replace the dense foam bumper (number 5) Mine were really chewed up

RichS 1986928

Dropped the car off Sat. I didn't exactly get a warm fuzzy feeling... just writing this now is
making me re-think this. After all I've already had a horrible experience with one mechanic
on this car, that was a money issue though. I guess I'll wait for his estimate and decide then,
I got the usual: "What have you got in that thing?" question when I pulled up... Maybe I'm
just asking for trouble trying to save $500. ($55/hr vs. $100/hr). He had a few BMWs and Mercedes there but I still only have one reference on him.

They didn't want to let me do the A-Arm Bushings myself, I wasn't that
surprised. They didn't want to tie up the lift.

I'm definitely taking it to my 928 guy after this shock and alignment job, just to check stuff out before summer (which seems to have started this weekend).

Thanks for that tip Greg, I actually ordered the Shock Snubbers from Carl F.
when I was gettting the shocks and bushings.

RichS 1986928

So much for trying to save money that way... They want $950 for the job.. That's over 17hrs
at $55/hr.

I already rented the spring compressors from Autozone. So I guess I'm going to try and tackle this
myself. I'd rather put that money towards new tools to do this job.

Wish me luck!

Bill Ball

17 hours just to replace shocks?

This is not a complicated job. There are only a few potential gotchas.

From memory:

- Pay attention to the washers and spacers on the long lower rear shock bolt (actually it's a shaft with nuts on each end). There are some conical washers that go into a specific locations. If you look closely, you will see the shaped indentations into which the cone sides fit. A few digital photos pre-disassembly will help later. Anyway, break the nuts free on that shaft. I have found it much easier to remove and reinstall the shaft in the forward direction - easier to line up on re-insertion. BUT you have to remove the nut and large end washer from that forward end as well as the washer will not clear the hub housing as you try to remove it. So this technique requires both ends to be free, if I recall correctly. That can be a challenge with hand tools. If you can only get one side free, that should be the front and you will remove the bolt to the rear in that case. Removal and reinserting can require some gentle persuasion with a 3 lb sledge and drift. Levering the parts into good alignment makes it far easier to reinsert that bolt and takes a little trial and error until you get the alignment close enough for the bolt to slip in all the way. The bolt is sturdy, but you don't want to mooch the threads. A little lube can help too.

- Note that the top mount bolts (er, studs, rather), at least in the rear, are eccentric. It will only go in one way. Working alone, it can be a bit of a challenge to get the shock up into the body mount and a nut on one of the bolts. Far better to have a helper to guide the top end and slip a nut on.

In the front, study the geometry before you decide how to remove the coilovers. Some say that in early cars, the shocks will come out from the top if the wheel well cover is removed. Otherwise, the procedure is to loosen the lower a-arm from the chassis - that's done by removing the large inside mount bolts and the front skid plates - and swing the lower A-arm completely out of the way (of course, the wheel and calipers [hang the calipers with wire] and rotor are removed to make this feasible). You can leave the lower balljoint on. If you raise the upper arm to horizontal the shock will almost drop out - maybe a little twisting to thread the coils through the upper A-arm opening. After you install the new shock, getting the lower A-arm back up so you can reinstall the A-arm bolts requires a jack to push it up and compress the shock a bit.

If you get a good spring compressor, not the cheap $12 one from Harbor Freight, disassembling the coilover can be done safely if you are careful to make sure the hardware is snug and the two compression arms are exactly 180 degrees spaced. There will be some skewing of the arms due to the coil angles, but the spacing being even is the important thing. It can be a bit disconcerting with all that potential energy sitting there. I have a $60 Lisle brand compressor that is solid. Oil the compressor nuts and screw shafts to make turning easier. Some spring compressors will not fit between the coils of the 928 coilovers. Getting the compressor to span enough coils for adequate compression is important - clamp across as many coils as you can.

Addendum:

If you end up removing the front lower A-arm bolts, note the torque technique as described in the WSM.
Coat bolt threads with copper antiseize.
- Front bolts 62 ftlb
- Assemble rear bolts with 2 threads showing, then lower the car so the suspension settles and torque to 88 ftlb.

Richard S

After you remove the coil/shock assesmbly, take them to a local tire-brake-shock shop (like Big-O) and have them dis-assemble/re-assemble them. I had the shop dis-assemble them (took less than 5 minutes on their wall-mount unit), took them home to clean everything up, then returned with the new parts in the correct assembly order. Cost me $40, saved a lot of hassle and worry.

Rich

ZEUS+

I'm sure this will generate many different opinions. A shop that charges 55 an hour and more than doubles book time should not touch your car. 55 an hour is cheap, if they are qualified. Listen to Bill Ball and others on the list. Do it yourself, it will be very rewarding.

Larry Velk

Restating Bill's comment.... on an early '86 or '85 the front units WILL come out the top, but... you still must remove the lower arm bolts (all 8), but... no need to remove the rotor and caliper. Of course the set up will be heavy, so moving stuff around is harder. The fender liner is a tight fit, ease it out so you don't rip it as German plastic is not very good.
I never believed the ride height took ~ 100 miles to settle, but the experts were near right. On these cold days mine took some 50 miles on less than perfect roads to settle down.

blown 87

You found a shop that works on European cars that only charges $55/hr.??????

That is very cheap for this area, it is more like 75-120 arouynd here.

blown 87

I agree with you on this.

UKKid35

$55 an hour???

Most main dealers for just any German make will charge nearly £100/hr plus tax. Thats well over $200/hr.

Plus any part that can't be easily removed will be destructively removed and then charged at list price. That rear pin is £130 here in the UK, equivalent to $250, it took me 6 hours to remove one of them. When the other one only took 2 hours I was really pleased.

Mike Frye

x2.

I just took my car to a muffler shop I trust(ed) to see if they could get my 02 sensor out. I thought if I had the gaskets and new sensor in hand, 20 minutes on the lift and I'd be on my way. WRONG. When the guy started talking about cutting and welding instead of just taking the bolts out I bolted.

I don't know what I was thinking.

Took me more time at home on the stands, but it was MY time and I know it was done with care and correctly.

Tampa 928s

Do you have to align the car after 4-shock replacment?

Tampa 928s

Is there a way to get the front end off the ground to place the car on stands. The rear is no problem but I can't find a way to place the jacks and lift at the same time.

Charley B

You can charge $55/hr if you double the hours of each job on your billing.

RichS 1986928

If you distribute the weight by using a 2x4 or piece of 1/2" plywood you can use the rail section of
the undercarriage to lift one side of the car enough to get a jack stand on the proper jack post.
I learned the hard way that it wasn't a good place by itself to put a jack... dented it up really good
but I guess it's not a real concern other than asthetics.

928 Motorsports also sells metal plates you can mount to your car or jack to distribute the weight.
But a good strong piece of wood works fine.