bwoodry

I have a 1990 964 with 120000 miles.

The car seems to react a bit harsh to very small bumps such as transitions in the road etc. Since this is my first Pcar and I have nothing to compare to I am unsure if this is normal. Further the car seems lower than it should in the rear,
My questions are:

When do you relace Shocks and springs?
What set up or brand etc assuming I want to keep it as close to stock as possible. I do not track the car and it is a daily driver.


I have done some searches here but would like to hear from you the most recent recommended solutions.

Looking at Boge stock replacement shocks they seem to be hard to get for the rear and if available are very expensive.

Springs? Eibach ? or stock?





Thanks

Bob

GG Allin

120k I would say is long over due. I just did mine with Bilsteins and Eibach springs at 63k and the differance is very noticeable. The car's ride is much less harsh. I think short of a coilover set up your choices are Bilstein HD's or Koni's.

jeff522

At 120,000 thay need to be replaced.The frist time I went with OME big mistake.Now she has H&R Street coil overs and I really like the set up,not to ruff and good sharp handling.

Jeff522 1990 C2 White/Burgundy

MarkD

Now!

I replaced my OE springs/shocks at about 70K.
Went with HR and Bilstein.

Amazing difference.

kgorman

2nd H&R/Bilstien

Greg_L

You're right, the harsh ride is due to your dampers being old, it will disappear when you change them.

Boge - If you use Boge std replacements you'll still be really impressed with the difference over your 120k set. I'd get a new set of springs while you're at it, springs do sag and soften over the amount of time you're talking about - that and softer dampers is probably why your rear is a bit lower than normal.

Bilstein HD's with H&R springs - will be a bit harder than stock but still a pretty comfortable ride. They're the most popular choice (on rennlist at least). I've never heard anyone have any problems with them.

Koni adjustables - more expensive than HD's, aimed at more regular track users. I would have liked the adjustability, but i got a deal on a set of HD's (shox.com) so i went for those. Not as popular as HD's but Koni still make excellent products (my vw beater has a koni adj. kit on and its fantastic). Koni are proven to last well too.

Eibach springs - are very well thought of, and are designed to work with original equipment dampers like boge. They offer a slight drop in height too, which in most peoples eyes make the car look better.

I think the decision is down to whether you want a slightly firmer/lower aftermarket solution, or whether you want the original porsche spec setup.

One last thing, the rear suspension parts changed during 1990/1991. Here's some pics to show you the difference.

hawk911

I second/third the Bilstein/H&R setup. The ride is not too harsh for the daily driver and the difference over my 75K miles setup is quite noticeable.

bwoodry

Thanks,, Where would you recommend I purchase this setup H&R and Bilstein?

Thanks
Bob

bwoodry

Thanks for the information:

Can you suggest where to purchase the H&R , Bilstein setup?
Bob

Gary R.

Bob - As far as the question, you are loooong overdue, and mileage really has little to do with it. Over time the shocks, as Greg mentioed above, simply stop performing properly and you get poor handling and a tooth jarring ride. In my case whoever added H&R's DIDN'T change out the shocks as the car only had 30K miles on her. He didn't take into account that she was 10 years old and between the stiffer H&R's and the "hard" shocks it's like riding in a conestoga wagon! The H&R/Bilstein Sports or the Eibach/Bilstein Sports are a great choice for a road/occasional DE car. In my case I went with Eibach as I put H&R's on my 91 and I want to try them out on my 93.

I'll be selling the two year old H&R's for 1/2 of retail in anyone is interested..
I bought my Eibach/Bilsteins from AJ USA, a Rennlist sponsor. Think they were about $900 shipped.. http://www.ajusa.com/cgi-bin/store/start?r=store&

viperbob

The shocks on the 964s and up are Porsches attempt to make a nice handling car go out the door, and make them as cheap as possible without have to replace them under warranty (planned obsolecence). With this in mind I have replaced shocks on 964s with under 20K miles, and the shocks were dead. I have done 993s with under 10K miles, and the shocks were dead. I also just did a 2002 996 with under 20K miles, and yes the shocks were bad. It is not just the mileage on these things, it is also time. They are compressed under pressure just sitting there and they just go bad. 3-4 years is about the max on these anymore from the factory. SO any 964/993 is most certainly needing to be replaced. I have done over 100 993s myself, and have not found one that you could say the shocks were worn but still could be used. There were all junk.

Gary R.

One thing you CAN do after removing the Bilsteins is ship them to Bilstein for a rebuild, I think it's about $65 per shock. They will also custom valve them for you if you want to go with custom springs.

craig001

Since we are talking suspensions - not to hijcack Bob's thread - I recently picked up a set of TRG rear monoball mounts and two questions. How much will this roughen up the ride? and Will this do away with the early/late 1991 rear suspension issues? Still on the fence on the M030 vs H&R's if I can find some rear shocks w/hardware.

greenjt

So if we concede the shocks are likely bad, what about the springs? Must the springs be replaced as well or is this elective surgery? Is it ok to replace the shocks and leave the stock springs?

RallyDogRacing

To further the confusing array of questions. I would ask anyone to comment on retaining original USA-spec M030 springs, but replacing the dampers w/either Bistein or Koni's or... I am not looking for any further ride height reductions than what I already achieved w/changing from stock/stock to the used M030's and used dampers. But during my wheel swap I noticed that the RF damper was leaking, so it's time.