Rick Lee

I'm getting close to buying a new set of Bilstein HD's. I already have H&R springs and my car sits pretty low. But I think the PO left the stock shocks on and they are probably shot at 40k miles - make some whooshing sounds when I go over saddles and depressions.

Anyway, of course, I will DIY this install, but alignments is where I leave it to the pros. How long after install should it take for these shocks to settle? I want to keep the ride height I have and also save my expensive P-zeros' tread. So do I wait a week or a hundred miles or what before I take her to the shop for an alignment?

ceboyd

a lot of it has to do with your driving style..

As an example, my Boxster S H&R setup settled after 4 days and 72 miles of to/from work driving.

...on my 993, I went to an autocross and it was well settled by the end of the weekend and 30 miles

Agro1

I just did a spring, sway and shock change on my brothers car this past weekend. The ride height dropped 2 inches after we drove it a few miles. I'd say they settle in rather quickly. I suggest you change them out, measure ride height, drive it a few miles and then remeasure ride height again. I'll bet they settle in right away but I'll be interested to know since I have the RoW M030 and Bilstein HD's sitting in my garage waiting for the car
Good luck man...I'm sure you'll love the HD's

akolodesh

I know its commented on over and over again on this forum, but I am still amazed by the ride difference the bilsteins make - you will love them.

Derrick B.

Umm, perhaps I'm being dense, but..
Isn't it springs that settle? Not shocks? I think that you'd not have to wait at all.

ceboyd

lol..

You still have to remove the springs to put in new shocks/struts.. so it all has to settle again once you reinstall it

Derrick B.

Got it, thanks!
See, I knew I was missing something.

Mike in Chi

In 97 - before the communal security of Rennlist - my cab was delivered.

I noticed it was definitely tilted. I panicked thinking something major had been bent in transit.

I called PCNA and a service rep - again, a different era - told me it can even take months to completely settle.

I like the notion of an on track episode to hasten the process (but remember to get an alignment beforehand)

kkim

So, does the settling affect the car so much that an alignment might be needed before AND after the suspension is changed?

Carrera Mike

Rick, When I got my ROW M030 installed by Eurosport here in Va Beach(No Affiliation), they made me bring it back for re-allignment after 1,000miles. They told me to drive it hard in those 1K miles, but off course all I had was 1 DE and normal street driving.

When I brought it back for the re-alligment, they showed me that they have to adjust it minutely(I forgot exacty how much degress), but it still needed it. and they did that re-allignment free. (I say that 'cause their allignment cost is the same no matter if you're just there for regular allignment or like me total suspension change). They said they have to do that for all new suspension setup, anticipating settling.

Greg Fishman

It should settle very little. Give it a short drive and that should be enough.

Agro1

Seems to me your "service rep" was WAY off base, to the tune of 9 months, 3 weeks and a few days

Like Greg said, the suspension should settle pretty quickly, especially if you drive it hard.

Mike in Chi

Drive it hard? What's that?

Perhaps the rep was way off base, and my cab didn't know that.

It was almost 3/4 of an inch higher on one side. A month or two later, it was perfect.

Agro1

...sorry to be unclear. Load and unload the suspension as much as possible, tight quick tire warming turns, bumps and undulations as well as hard braking and acceleration for front to rear loading and unloading of the new componets. Better ?