aaddpp

I am in the process of getting my new shocks and springs into the car. I found a place not to far from me that was willing to assemble them using a proper spring compressor. As a plus the guys used to race cars, so he understood what I was dropping off, and even had some base knowledge of the 928.

He did one shock / spring, and asked me to try it in the car. One issue is that I have the car apart down to the oil pan, so I an not really able to set them fully. Regardless, I attached the top three screws, and the bottom of the shock to the lower control arm, but when I tried to set the inner front and back lower control arm points it was very difficult to maneuver them into position. When I tried a floor jack for some light leverage, it seemed like the shock / spring assembly was not compressing at all. In fact it looked like the car might be lifting slightly on the jack stands, so I stopped at that point let everything settle, and rechecked the cars stability...which was OK.

Is this possible for the shock to lock up, or does the car need to be setup and have full weight on it compress with new springs. I know with the old set up, I was able to jack up the lower control arm a good 4-6 inches with a floor jack to seat the ball joint. This has not budge, but two of the three points on the lower control arm are not secured.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave

P.S. As an aside, the guys has an old spring compression tester from his racing days, and said he would put the old and new ones in and give me the numbers - will post when I have them.

Mrmerlin

first fit the inner control arm clamps then jack up the control arm to fit the lower shock mount

aaddpp

Thanks Mr. Merlin, I'll go back and have another crack at getting it loosely seated. Otherwise I will have a full go at it when I get the pan, mounts, and cross member back on the car.

Hopefully it just comes down to doing things in the right order.

Much appreciated,
Dave

dr bob

Dave--

What springs are you installing? The Eibach's from 928 International are marked front and rear; if they get mixed up, like rear springs on the fronts, it will cause the symptoms you state at the front. The rears on mine didn't need the compressor on install, BTW.

Bill Ball

I'm not sure why he would want you to "try" one before finishing the others. Hopefully they are assembled correctly. There are very nice exploded views of the coilover assemblies in the WSM that should help you verify this. But, yes, it can be a chore to get the bottom fittings to line up, especially if you haven't done this before. I've done it the way you tried and that can work as well as Stan's suggestion. It just requires a little direction with some prybars as you jack up the lower control arm to get the mounts to line up. Either way should work.

As Dr. Bob mentions, if these are Eibachs, I didn't need a compressor on either end to assemble them.

aaddpp

Dr. Bob,

Yes they are the Eibach's from the 928 Intl group purchase, matched with a set of Boge shocks from Roger. I did see they were marked with front and rear, so I am pretty sure they ended up where they should be :-) - though now you make me want to double check. I will be picking up the second setup today, so I will have a go at putting it back together, and see if there are any differences between the two.

Thanks,
Dave

aaddpp

Bill, sorry, I should have mentioned that in my initial write up. He asked me to try it because he had line marked each component so as to be able to reassemble in the same alignment. One mark was rubbed off, so he was concerned the lower end of the shock could be off by a couple of degrees and possibly complicate mounting. It seems to have aligned properly, but its tough for me to tell with all the associated parts not being in the car at this time.

Thanks,
Dave

Dave

Bill Ball

The alignment of the lower shock mounts should not have been a concern at all. You can easily twist the mount to align correctly with a large screwdriver inserted in the bushing. So, I mount the top and then twist the bottom to line up. No biggie.

aaddpp

Awesome, thanks. Hopefully the other issue will take care of itself and I'll be back in business.

Dave

NoVector

Dave - Please post your ride/handling results when you're finished. I'm also thinking about Boge shocks for my new springs. Thanks! / Bruce

aaddpp

Bruce, will do. It may be a little while since l have a lot to put together, and little time - life's proverbial story!

Dave