Stock coilover seized in compressed position
02-28-2019, 10:06 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Stock coilover seized in compressed position
I’ve had the car on jack stands for three months. I did a variety of projects, mostly maintenance. Among those projects, I replaced front and rear wheel bearings. Today I finally got the car out of the garage and drove it work. I noticed it was bumpier than usual and pulled a bit to the right. After I parked it, I did a quick visual inspection. The front end was considerably lower, roughly 2” more than normal.
So I drove it home to get it in the air to inspect. The ride was really bumpy. I could barely fit the floor jack under the car. Once I jacked it up, I noticed the passenger wheel did not extend down at all. The driver side did, but not the usual amount.
Taking the passenger wheel off, the coilover appears to be near fully compressed and stuck that way. There was no binding in any of the suspension. Even a couple whacks from a dead blow hammer didn’t free it. Well, I put the wheel back on and went back to work. After a came home, the suspension returned to its normal suv ride height.
Thoughts? Suspension is stock Boge with 230k miles. Yeah yeah I know it’s really old. I never knew a shock could get stuck like this. Id rather not replace, but... if I must, I will.
02-28-2019, 11:20 PM
#3
Instructor
Thread Starter
Ugh I know. Those Boges still had life in them up until today. It’s just bad timing. I’m almost certain I’m just going to replace them. I was hoping to avoid this slippery slope for a little while longer.
Can anyone explain what the heck happened to these shocks? Could it be the prolonged time on jack stands? I didn’t do any work on the front suspension bits. I’m doubting changing the wheel bearings had anything to do with this.
Can anyone explain what the heck happened to these shocks? Could it be the prolonged time on jack stands? I didn’t do any work on the front suspension bits. I’m doubting changing the wheel bearings had anything to do with this.
02-28-2019, 11:39 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Sure, I can tell you what's wrong with the shocks. They're 24 years old with 230,000 miles!! And they were almost certainly trashed many many years ago. Surprised this didn't happen to you years ago.
03-01-2019, 02:44 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
They were a POS after 30k miles. New dampers will transform the ride. Congrats on putting that many miles on... these cars are meant to be driven!
03-01-2019, 08:14 AM
#6
Shocks are good for around 70K miles (best case) and you virtually have triple that. Its also entirely possible that the springs themselves are tired after nearly a quarter million miles. If nothing in the suspension has been touched, you are also looking at the possibility that most, if not all, the suspension bushings are trash. Additionally, its better for the suspension to be stored with the weight of the car compressing it. Avoid long periods of time on blocks/jack stands.
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03-01-2019, 02:00 PM
#9
Instructor
Thread Starter
Ok so I’m getting new shocks. Figuring I’ll make lemonade out of lemons, I’d like an improvement over stock and lower to euro height or slightly lower. I’m eyeballing the Bilstein B12 pro-Kit. Also, replace the worn toe arms(rennline?) and front ball joints. Seems to not break the bank completely and get me back on the road. I already replaced the front bushings with walrods. I’ve already spent enough doing maintenance, plugs, wires, all filters, chain cover gaskets, new axles, front and rear bearings, PS belt, new windshield, plus a few other things.
My budget was blown a while ago. Being money conscious right now, does the above setup sound good? I know there’s hundreds of threads on suspension. I couldn’t find many people in the 993 crowd that have this B12 pro kit.
Key things i want are a lower ride height and an improvement over a stock setup for a mostly street car. I don’t care about comfort too much, as I drive it pretty hard anyway.
My budget was blown a while ago. Being money conscious right now, does the above setup sound good? I know there’s hundreds of threads on suspension. I couldn’t find many people in the 993 crowd that have this B12 pro kit.
Key things i want are a lower ride height and an improvement over a stock setup for a mostly street car. I don’t care about comfort too much, as I drive it pretty hard anyway.
03-02-2019, 11:13 AM
#10
Rennlist Member
Bilstein HD B6 with RoW M030 springs. That would give you Euro height and sport shocks springs.
Add an 22mm sway bar front and a 20mm rear to give you full RoW M030 sport suspension.
Add an 22mm sway bar front and a 20mm rear to give you full RoW M030 sport suspension.
03-02-2019, 11:22 AM
#11
