Ian928

Hello,

I am sure it's time to change at least the rear shocks on my girlfriends 951. It has the M030 option. This is her everyday car, with child seat and everything, so I guess she do not want the car lower. As for stiffer shocks and maybe springs, she has now a set of 18" speedline replicas, maybe lower tire height mean she should get a stiffer aftermarket setup?

We are looking for opinions here, you are welcome to offer you experiences and thoughts!

Scott H

Replace the rears with new Konis. The fronts are insanely expensive, so you have those rebuilt for around ~200-250 a piece. Really no way to "cheap out" on an M030, everything costs money. Aftermarket, for something coming anywhere close in quality to the OE setup, will be $$$$. The cheapest way out will be the way I described above.

I just looked at Paragon for the rears, they have them on sale for $120 ea ( http://www.paragon-products.com/Koni...8040-1035s.htm ). I'd snap up a pair, install them on the car (make sure you keep them adjusted on the soft side, near full hard you might turn a child's brains to mush by hitting a pot hole...), go out for a ride and then see if you need the fronts.

I wouldn't recommend a stiffer setup with shorter sidewalls. You're going to be getting a lot more NVH and will be able to feel more road irregularities with those shorter sidewalls, you want something to absorb those bumps.

Ian928

I am pulling this thread back up!

We have found out that the M030 has a specific shock, and this is different from the other yellow konis. Apparently there are three "options" with different part numbers, we wonder wich shock is the correct one for her 1989 951 with M030 option:

M474 option: Part number 951-333-032-01
M030, M758 option: Part number 951-333-032-04

As we understand PET, the correct shock is 951-333-032-04, and we tried to order a set of those from Pelican parts, but they tell us that Porsche is no longer supplying these!

Are these the correct shocks, and are there any sources that has them?

Jason @ Paragon Products

The difference between those two shocks is small....just use:

http://www.paragon-products.com/Koni...8040-1035s.htm

and you'll be good to go.

Ian928

Thank you Jason. I did some additional searching about the shocks you refer to, is it true that these are about the same settings as the M030? I have read here that the M474 shocks are "much softer" than the M030 shocks. I have also read here that you know what you are talking about!

This car has done 175.000miles on the original shocks, so I guess the front ones should be done also, do you have any suggestion for that? It seems they need to be rebuilt?

Jason @ Paragon Products

The difference between the M030, M474 and the current 8040-1035 Sport will be very subtle. Certainly with 175,000 miles on the car, you'll look like a hero bolting on a new set of Sport Yellows for her. On the fronts, you can either send them to Koni for rebuild, or install the 8641-1414 Sport "cut-the-strut" insert:

http://www.paragon-products.com/Koni...-1414s-xdo.htm

mr965

Jason, should Ian consider doing bushings also?

JohnKoaWood

While I respect you in every possible respect.... I disagree with the recommendation to hacksaw the factory m030 struts... The M030struts can be rebuilt and sold, or sold as is and replaced with the hacksaw inserts applied to any strut housing.

Pm oddjob if you want to sell the M030 struts as opposed to having them rebuilt by Koni. I have a pair of Sachs struts that can be used for the hacksaw mod if interested.

And yes the bushings should be replaced, just doing the shocks and struts would be doing the car a disservice IMHO!

Oddjob

Yep, I am just sorting thru koni strut bodies trying to match pairs for rebuilding. Bent a right front strut in an off-track incident last season, and need to get a matched pair rebuilt for this coming year.

Jason @ Paragon Products

I don't disagree, but it is an option that some folks use on the M030 cars. I kind of cringe too but many times the object is to just get the car back on the road. I like the option of making this strut double adjustable and stiffening the valving but that's not real attractive for folks just using the car for a daily driver. All of this applies to the M474 struts as well. Certainly installing Sachs struts is an option as ride height adjustment may not be a big deal to the owner....you'll need the springs too. Selling the M030 struts will help finance some of these new parts. Certainly they'll want to replace the bump rubbers, dust covers and likely the upper strut bearings with that kind of miles. The factory upper strut bushings are crazy $ these days so some good used units or one of the aftermarket options may be considered.

CurtP

Jason - can the M030 struts be converted to the double-adjustable setup so I can keep the OE threaded sleeves? What's the turnaround using my struts? Is it cheaper since I won't need the aftermarket sleeves?

Jason @ Paragon Products

Sure, both the M030 and M474 struts can be converted to DA. You'll notice our Adjustable Ride Height Kit for the M030 cars:

http://www.paragon-products.com/Coil...k-m030-xdo.htm

is actually more $ than for the non M030:

http://www.paragon-products.com/Coil...rhk-nr-xdo.htm

thats because the non-M030 kit uses a threaded collar and lower perch that is pretty standard in the industry and huge numbers are made. The M030 kit uses a Racers Edge lower spring perch made specifically for the thread pitch on the M030 collar.

Typical turnaround from Koni will be from 6-8 weeks...time of year has a lot to do with that. Frequently we have struts that have already been converted and revalved on the shelf to save down time:

http://www.paragon-products.com/Koni...ni8742conv.htm

I'm at my house now, but from memory I know we have some converted M474 struts in stock....not sure about M030. If you're converting to a 2.5" I.D. spring, it wont really matter because both will be capable of running that setup.

CurtP

I really didn't want to run aftermarket springs or perches - I wanted to use my factory setup, but have the strut converted to be adjustable for bump and rebound.

JohnKoaWood

The big difference being there is nothing special about the M474 struts other than they were made by Koni.... When I did mine using the hacksaw mod from Paragon it was because I was told the M474 struts could no longer be rebuilt... Last I heard the M030 struts could still be rebuilt.

Jason @ Paragon Products

Ok, no problem, you just need to have your struts rebuilt by Koni or one of the Koni rebuilders.