rickjaffe

going to have my new bogle shocks installed tomorrow by a local guy (not a porsche or 928 specialist);

anything special to know or watch out for? did a search and didn't come up with much other than making sure they're installed correctly and something about the orientation of the conical washer.

going to do a wheel alignment later and I got that the car shouldn't be raised. Any comparable biggie with the shocks?

abbzer0

Not sure on the shocks. Yeah - don't let them raise the car. FWIW I know many of us have had very good luck taking our cars to Sears for allignments. Best of luck.

kaptnknemo

I found that I could not remove the ride height adjustment nuts off the old rear shocks and had to get two used ones fed exed overnight from 928intl. The shipping cost more than the parts!

Good luck!
KK

hupp

Some things to note:

-The ride height adjusters will more than likely be stuck (as mentioned in an earlier post)
-Ensure that the tech. pays close attention to the stops and washers at the top of the shock and that things are replaced in the exact order and orientation as they were removed
-Ensure that upon reassembly that the coil springs "sit" in the perches correctly. A divot is pressed into the perchs for the spring ends.
-The tech may be tempted to use a pry-bar to guide the shock rod through the top perch assembly when compressing. When doing this he may use the dust cover for leverage and break the plastic dust cover. Do not let him do this.
-Also pay close attention to the spring perch orientations relative to the lower mount (where the shock mounts to the suspension). Do this before disassembling the shocks. This orientation must be matched so the shock assembly can be mounted back into the car.

By the sound of it you may not have access to a work shop manual, but it would be good to read through it to help you visualize how the shocks come apart and go back together.

Bill Ball

You may run into the stuck adjuster issue as mentioned. Knocking or pressing the old threaded collar off without mooching it takes some patience and proper sized pressing tools. Make sure the collars are fully seated all the way to the stops on the new shock body.

Copy the pages from the WSM that show the coilover exploded view for help with assembly.

You may find other parts deteriorated, such as the internal rubber bump stop referred to as the extra spring in the WSM, or the plastic washers that help to vent air from the dust cover. Note the direction of these parts (washer with radial slots facing down). Bilsteins come with a new vent washer but no shocks come with the rubber bumper. Hope yours are good or you will face delays as they are important parts.

Also, there is a metal cap on the top of the Boge shock body that must be transferred to the new Boges.

In the rear, the large shock mount shaft nut torque is 103 ft lbs.
The center shaft nut on the top of each shock is 43 ft lbs.
The three upper shock mount lock nuts are supposed to be replaced (single use) and torque to 33 ft lbs.

In the front, the way I remove the coilovers is to unbolt the lower A-arm from the body, swing it out of the way, raising the upper A-arm to above horizontal, and work the coilover down through the upper A-arm. Getting the lower A-arm back in place can be a chore. The 4 large bolts that hold it are different front to rear. The arm needs to be jacked up into a position so the lower shock mount bolt can be inserted, then jacked further until the body mounts line up. This may require some persuasion to get it to where it was mounted before. It tends to sit a 1/4 inch or so too far forward to line up. Once lined up, loosely install all 4 bolts. Most often the factory antiseize is still on the threads. If not, put some on - threads only. They should go in easily if it is lined up. Tighten the front ones to 62 ft lbs, but leave the rears hand tight. After everything else is finished and the wheels are back on, drop the car to the ground roll it and bounce it some to settle the suspension a bit, then torque the rear bolts on the front lower A-arm to 88 ft lbs. It is likely that your front alignment will be lightly off. If your mechanic finds another way to remove the coliover without distrubing the lower A-arm alignment, let us know. On some model years it is apparently possible to remove the coilover upwards with the fender liner removed and not disturb the lower A-arm mounting bolts. I haven't been successful in doing this.

Ron_H

I presume that Bill did not disturb his eccentrics (?) which would maintain a close approximation of the original alignment settings. I jumped right in and unbolted them but not before marking their original position to aid in reinstallation. I used masking tape to mark their position relative to the body of the lower A arm I wish I could find a way to save the alignment settings before removing those shocks. I would be tempted to try various combination until I found the right one, as Bill has done. Sometimes my Konis don't seem to be all they are made out to be, but I live with it, while I remember the struggle of changing them. A small scissors jack helps with the reinstall of the A arm as Bill suggests

Bill Ball

Ron:

Right, I leave the eccentrics untouched, but I have still found the toe, at least, to have changed sometimes, as the steering wheel was no longer quite straight after a shock change. There is enough leeway in the A-arm mounting brackets such that alignment will differ. It has been hard for me to get the A-arm settled all the way back, judging by the way the front bracket aligns with the mount on the body. This will throw off toe and caster.