John Boggiano

Just for your info, Georgie, my dampers lasted about 65K miles, which seems pretty typical.
The car became very uneasy (as did I!) about fast cornering at that point. Very nervous rear end.

Phil Raby

At that mileage I'd consider changing at least the rear ones - save money in the long term.

Cheers

John Boggiano

You're slipping, Phil - thought you'd pick up on 'nervous rear end'!

georgie

Thanks guys. I've been somewhat unimpressed with the parts durabilities of the 964 parts. Clutches going at 50-60K; struts at 50-60K, etc.

I've previously had BMWs with the same parts lasting well into 100,000 miles and above.......

Thoughts?

Phil Raby

D'oh! Been a long day...

Phil Raby

Umm, could be a thread in itself...

But are the BMW dampers really lasting that long? Because they deteriorate slowly you may not be aware of any problem.

Jim Michaels

Georgie: My guess is that your OE Boge shocks are sufficiently worn to justify new shocks. Shock wear is very gradual, so it's hard to tell until you take your first ride on new ones. I replaced mine at about 45k miles with Bilstein HDs (had Boge HDs with H&R lowering springs for the RSA), and could feel the difference. The Bilsteins will last a long time compared to the Boges. Your car looks to be at stock height in the photo, but stock height is too high for serious driving. I think you'll enjoy your car more if you spend the money to join the crowd.

dove

I have Eibachs on my car that lowers it by 50mm check out the pic
<---------- I sometimes think maybe this is too low,but I have found It does improve the handling on a 911 the lower you go.


Paul

C2 cab

Jim Michaels

Georgie: My guess is that your OE Boge shocks are sufficiently worn to justify new shocks. Shock wear is very gradual, so it's hard to tell until you take your first ride on new ones. I replaced mine at about 45k miles with Bilstein HDs (had Boge HDs with H&R lowering springs for the RSA), and could feel the difference. The Bilsteins will last a long time compared to the Boges. Your car looks to be at stock height in the photo, but stock height is too high for serious driving. I think you'll enjoy your car more if you spend the money to join the crowd.

georgie

I'd like to go as low as I can go, with spending the least amount of money on the mod'.

dove

Georgie, Go for oe boge with 40mm lowering springs,cheapest way and you will get that look you want.

Paul

C2 cab

Russ359

Phil,

The Bilsteins are great. The guy at the shop normally does Koni's and he was impressed with the Bilsteins. Just got back from a spirited drive. I can enter turns are a much higher speed and feel more comfortable. I did not install them myself, had the shop. I was watching him. The front spring perches are pretty close to the bottom of the strut, ie no more lowering potential there. The back I would say are mid way?? down. I did not want to go any lower in the back. I would say I could go another inch lower in the back if I wanted. Hope that helps.

Georgie, I would replace the struts now. My car had only 47,000 miles and the old strut were soft compared to the bilsteins. I've also heard that the original struts may not be able to correctly handle the lower/stiffer springs. Also, the labor to change only the springs or change the springs and install new strut is the same, only diff is the price of the struts.

Phil Raby

Russ, thanks for that info.

Georgie, looks like new dampers are the way to go...

Cheers

springer3

I hate to go against the flow on this subject, but my chin spoiler already had curb rash, and the car is at stock height. I replaced the shocks with the stock springs, and almost could not get back to the stock height. The adjustment rings are at bottom on two of the shocks, but I at the spec height on all four corners. The factory manual says it is more important to get the corner balance correct, so you adjust within the ride height tolerance to get the same weight on left and right sides. Anyone know a quick way to balance the weights side-to-side? I am thinking about connecting the front tires to a common air line, and bleeding pressure until the tires start to flatten. Then I can measure the ground-to-rim distance. I will post a thread on corner balance if I find something that works.

Flying Finn

Georgie,

You can get H&R or Eibach springs quite often for about $200 from eBay or from some shops for about $300.

Definitely you should change the shocks as well.

Installation (~$ 400-500) & alignment (~$250) so that's at least about $600 so you don't want to do it twice (which you most likely have to do in 10000 miles)...

Wait & save some more money and then get the shocks as well.

That's how did with my 993 (993 OEM shocks are as bad as 964 shocks), I planned doing just springs but decided to replace the shocks also. Although I went a "bit" further than just replacing shocks & springs but that's another story...