I did not re-valve my shocks on my 88 944ts. I set the fronts on full stiff and rear on half stiff. I'm not sure if I would like the rear on full stiff or not because I did not try it yet. I don't understand why I would re-valve my shocks? My ride height is between 24.5" and 25". There slightly different due to counter ballance. The height allows me do drive the car onto a lift or for me to slide me little jack under with the little crown piece (or whatever it's called) sawed off. Keep in mind that once the t-bars are re-indexed to the height you want through trial and error you still have a small amount of height adj. in the rear. Also, keep in mind that this is not easy even if your working with or are very good with these cars. The best way start off with making lf and rf or lr and rr equal is by using the frame not the fenders. Then adj for equal weight .

 

Jerry,

That's good to know. The guys at Racer's Edge told me that I'd need to upgrade my shocks if I went to stiffer springs, but if you've gone all the way up to 350#/29mm with the yellow M030 Koni's, then maybe I'll just do the same. It would sure save me a lot of money over buying new shocks or sending my Koni's in to get revalved. By the way, how do you adjust the stiffnes on the rear yellow Koni's? Thanks in advance.

 

You need to remove them and remove a bumber pad from inside the shock without taking anything apart. Then you push the ends towards each other until it is as short as it gets then if you turn the bottom part like your going to screw it into the top part this will make it more stiff. There is one full turn between full soft and full hard.

 

Jerry,

I think what Ian was referring to, and what I would have to question as well, is the shocks and their condition(?). My stock Koni's feel worn out- see my last reply in this thread. When the shocks reach the end of their lifespan, then you would either have to have them re-valved, or just buy new ones(?). There are several places that will revalve these shocks, and I've even considered it, but I'm a little leary of it, as I'm not sure how difficult it is to get it done correctly. It sounds like you (Jerry) are rather lucky, in that you are able to use your original shocks, whereas many of us wouldn't be able to. My mechanic, BTW, recommends Bilsteins over Konis- he says Konis tend to "freeze up" in the winter time, and eventually do it completely, as they get old. This is sort of what mine feel like. He also says not to touch the stock shocks adjustment-wise, since they're so old, b/c it's possible to do much more harm than good- in other words, "they're screwed, you're screwed, go buy new shocks..."

I may be wrong about all of this, though, it's just my take at this point. I'm open to suggestions, comments, and criticism, as I'm dying to know what to do in my situation...

Also, Jerry, you said your ride height was b/t 24.5" and 25"- does this mean the rear is higher, or what? I'm just curious- mine all seem to range b/t about 24.25" - 25", and are not exactly even, even on side to side comparisons. Does anyone know how high a stock new 951 should have sat, or would anyone else mind measuring their's for me so I can gauge mine? I may just put up a new post on this one, as I'd really like to know where the ride height (apex of wheel wells) is, especially those of you who have lowered your's...

Thanks,
Robby

 

My height measurements are like yours, somewhere between 24.5" to 25" all corners. I guess I'm lucky about my shocks being good as the I know that they are original. On the other hand, they are only 13 yrs. old and I would feel more comfortable getting the opinion of someone who does not have shocks for sale. I have been doing track events for six years and koni shocks are never talked about good, bad, or otherwise. I don't have anything against Bilsteins but I'm not spending money on replacing a bad shock until I know I have a bad shock. Adjust it if you want to as it will not do any harm. Normal height must be approx 1.25" higher than our cars as this was the extra space I had when sliding my jack under my car.

 

Jerry,

Just measured my arches again- straight through the center of the wheel, to the wheel arch (apex?), from the ground... I was wrong about my previous measurements:
LF- 25 1/4"
RF- 25 1/2"
LR- 25 3/4"
RR- 25 5/8"
The LOWEST part of the underchin spoiler, is 4 1/4" off the ground- therefore, I can't drive over anything higher than ~4 1/8" w/out scraping... This is pretty poor clearance, and I'd really like to figure out a way to get it up to about 6" off the ground (if possible?)- the front edge of mine is a hair over 7", but is worn pretty smooth from the 13 years of abuse, so it could have started life a hair lower...

I'm wondering about lowering the rear- I'd love to get the front down about 1/2", and the rear down about 1", again, while getting that spoiler up a little for better ground clearance- the Euro's were supposedly 1" lower- I don't think that would look good, as I think it would rake rearward- I like the idea of keeping it nice and even...

Shocks- I don't think you can go wrong w/either Koni's or Bilsteins, and it's probably mostly a matter of personal preference, of which, I have NONE, as I've never driven a 951 w/either. I don't count the stock one's I've driven b/c 13 - 16 years (the age of US 951's), is a LONG time for a shock to last. All the 951's I've driven could have used new one's, and new bushings all around too...

 

Jerry,

I have lowered my 951 1.25" and encountered the same issue you did with the floor jack clearance. What I did was make a set of plywood ramps, 8" high at the top (or you could purchase metal ramps). Once you drive onto the ramps with the front wheels, the jack easily slides under to complete the job. Remember always use jack stands!

 

I just went out and did the measurements with a stiff 12 inch ruler so these may be a little off. Also my race tires are on the car, so that may be throwing things off just a touch too.

lf: 24 1/4
rf: 24 1/2
lr: 25
rr: 25 1/4

I think I had a touch under 4" front clearence.

The front left is going to come down to 24 and the back is going to come down to 24 or 24 1/4. (Fully adjustable perches are nice).

 

Ian,

Has your car been corner balanced? If so the art of weight jacking (raising or lowering a wheel to balance the weight distribution) could cause a difference in ride height.

 

Bill,

Wieght balancing is the reason for hight difference. My car is almost perfect side to side with a 185 lbs dirver (thats me).

When I was talking about the new hights that was not taking into account corner balancing the car, but it will be balanced just as it is now.

 

Ian,

Great! Corner balancing prior to an alignment is more expensive but it does make a big difference and is well worth it. I found this out after my last alignment which included corner balancing.

 

Hey Ian,

Thanks for the measurements- I posted the question separately, so I'm hoping to get a few more people's measurements, but no one's replied to it so far... Your measurements, and Jerry's estimates tell me that mine is a touch higher, so it probably hasn't been adjusted, and is running pretty much stock height- w/some sagging over time... I'd like to see how far down some other people take their's- I can't imagine it going much lower though, w/that spoiler- it's not really the front, it's up underneath where mine drags...

Thanks again,
Robby