Red-Carrera-Rob

Help!!!
Has anyone suffered from vague and wandering streering , after having lowered(30mm) springs fitted allround.

I have had the original shocks retained, two new ones on front though.
4 wheel alignment was carried out also.
Problem gets worse as speed increases, at 80mph the steering feels very unstable, and car wanders from left to right constantly, reqiuring contant driver correction.

I know that suspension adjustments can alter things , but just lowering the springs should have no effect on streering surely.
Is this normal now, or is there something amiss her, and more important whats the solution.
So to sum it up now guys, car looks great , sounds great but drives totally c**p, and It cost just under £1k for this work. The mind really boggles here.

and help from this forum would be really helpfull under present circumstances.
Cheers

Red-Carrera-Rob

I my haste, forgot to mention.
Car is a 1990 C4.

thanks
RCR

horst

Rob, I also have a 90 C4, and recently lowered with Eibach springs, and put on Koni yellow adjustable shocks. This dropped the car about 1-1/2". Not meaning to boast, but the car is stable as a rock up to about 120-130 mph (then I get a SLIGHT wheel vibration. I believe that I may need to road force the tires & rebalance). Also had a 4 wheel alignment done. I cannot understand why you may not have similar results. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps you committed false economy by not replacing all the shocks. Or perhaps the the 4 wheel alignment was botched. Are your tires in good shape and all of the same manufacture? If you wish, I can provide you with the specs I used for the alignment. We did not use the standard specs that show up when you input year and model in the alignment computer, but customized a bit.

tonytaylor

Bad alignment can cause the symptoms you describe as mine behaved in a similar way until I had it laser aligned by someone who knew what they were doing and got all the wheels pointing in the same direction.
I recall others have had similar problems after using lowering springs without replacing the dampers, which if they are the originals must be getting tired. It seems that compressing them more ruins their ability to dampen properly. Its much better to get matched springs and dampers. I`d put my money on the dampers being inadequate but I`m no expert.

Red-Carrera-Rob

Thanks for your reply horst.
The so called porsche "specalist" said, that the rear shocks were fine, and that fronts were also fine. Problem was that they could not undo something on the original fronts, so recommnded direct replacement units, and fitting the lowered springs.
Before they did the conversion car was A1 in this area, now seems totally useless.
Tyres are,
Front pirelli P7000 215's
rear Pirelli P6000 255's

all have loads of tread left.

If the tracking was still out ,would these tyres show up as being even worse, when using the lowered springs.

thanks
RCR

Red-Carrera-Rob

Horst, any chance you can email me those specs.

thanks in advance
Rob

Red-Carrera-Rob

another question comes to mind here.
Not being upto spec on wheel alignment, how does 4 wheel alignment differ from just front tracking, and what are the effects of both adjustments.
For examle: If you had a heavy impact with a kerb on the front nearside, but with no visible wheel or tyre damage.
what adjustments would come into play here both or just the tracking.

cheers
Rob

horst

Rob: I just posted a reply. Unfortunately, hit the wrong button, so it came up as new post- see above. I was just not willing to retype the whole damn thing

Adrian

Dear RCR,
Look at your tyres in your other post. Get these suckers off and replaced and your problems will go away. Never mix and match tyres.
Ciao,
Adrian
964C4

Red-Carrera-Rob

An update is now due I think.
I visited my local tyre care specalist (they are excellent) this morning to get alignment checked out again.Surpise, surprise, the alignment on the fronts is miles out, and to quote the technican, "off the scale on the nearside".
Now, this is after a porsche specalist garage had my car for 3 days, to replace 4 suspension springs( I supplied, so no time hold up there), and do the so called 4 wheel alignment, at a cost of £999.69 , I think they are taking the mickey here, or what.

In view of this I will be making a complaint to them 1st thing tommorow, and do not intend ***** footing about.
It seems to me that , some of the so called "porsche specalist" are no better than a lot of the more dubious back street garages.(just my opinion, after a bad encounter).

As for the tyre situation, the current fitments were allready on the car when I purchased it. I have ordered 4 toyo's as recommded, ready for fitting mid week.

many thanks for all replies so far, and thanks to horst for those specs, I will be using them in conjuction with info I received from the tyre centre.

Thanks
Rob

horst

Rob: sounds like you got screwed without benefit of clergy. The labor cost seems outrageous- you supplied the springs! You could (here at least) get the springs, and probably the shocks, plus mabey install for that amount of money. The work sounds like it was incompetent. If this were me, I would 1. Give them the opportunity for a complete refund, and, if they refused' 2. Post their name with your local PCA or RAC, or whatever you call yourselves there and hopefully help others avoid this shop.

horst

Rob: I forgot to mention: Whenever you have this kind of work done on your suspension, it is highly recommended that after the 4 wheel alignment, you give it a couple of weeks, drive it some, and then go back for a re-check. These things need a bit of time to "settle". I have been told that the 964 is more prone to changes than many.

Red-Carrera-Rob

Thanks for info supplied so far everyone.
Gave the porsche specalists who did the car a good ear bending on monday morning, which seemed to have the desired effect.
took the car back in, left it with them for the afternoon, problem is sorted out now.
Their is such a transformation, drives really well now, or should i say, like it should do.

Just need to get the new toyo's fitted, and I will be well chuffed.
Just can't keep me out of it now, I even use the smallest excuse , to take the car out now.

thanks
Rob.