~~DIY Suspension Install for Dummies~~~
01-09-2007, 11:30 PM
#108
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Jeff,
I was wondering if you have any problems with entering and exiting drivewaysw with your current ride heigth? I am having my suspension installed this thursday and am thinking about having my ride height somewhere between ROW sport and RS.
Thanks
James
I was wondering if you have any problems with entering and exiting drivewaysw with your current ride heigth? I am having my suspension installed this thursday and am thinking about having my ride height somewhere between ROW sport and RS.
Thanks
James
01-10-2007, 12:03 AM
#109
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No problem at all. I have an inclined driveway, an inclined entrance to the underground parking at work, and curbs galore. Notta problem.
Mine is RS +5mm.
Mine is RS +5mm.
01-11-2007, 02:52 AM
#110
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Jeff,
Thanks. I will be off tomorrow getting my suspension installed. I am going to go with the specs that you have posted. I will be going to Darrin at West End whom was noted highly of in these forums. By the way, awesome write up for the DIY. I will post pics as soon as I can. I can't wait for the drive home from the shop.
James
Thanks. I will be off tomorrow getting my suspension installed. I am going to go with the specs that you have posted. I will be going to Darrin at West End whom was noted highly of in these forums. By the way, awesome write up for the DIY. I will post pics as soon as I can. I can't wait for the drive home from the shop.
James
02-27-2007, 11:17 AM
#111
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Another big thanks to Jeff for taking the time to write this up in such detail. 
Count mine as another success!
My 1995 with 38k miles had the original Boge dampers with standard US springs (not M030). I chose to keep my original springs, install only new Bilstein HDs, and use the adjustable spring perches to lower the car just a hair.
My fender heights before:
F 26 5/8
R 26 3/8
After:
F 26 1/4
R 26
That is probably still considered SUV height but I am happy since it's my DD.
I'll try to take some pics soon and post.
There is not a lot of info concerning setting Bilstein HD spring perch heights with the original non-MO30 springs so I took a guess. I put the old and new dampers next to each other and adjusted the new ones so the spring perches were 1/2 inch lower than the original ones. In theory I figured this would drop me an inch. In truth it was more like 3/8. My guess as to why is that the Bilsteins have some pretty strong gas pressure.
From what I have read, most seem to have Monroes as original and they tend to be shot when removed. My original Boges actually seem to have considerable damping left. None of them seem dead at all. The car did seem floaty in high speed corners however, so I am sure they were worn to some extent. I would love to put them on a shock dyno to get some hard evidence, but probably not worth the $.
So my impressions - the float is 100% gone. It is much more buttoned-down at high speed and feels much safer and in control. However - I definitely feel sharp bumps more than I did before. At low speeds especially, the car definitely rides worse. I drive it everyday on the same route so I feel my butt is an accurate gauge. After a month I will probably forget the difference, but know that they do not filter sharp bumps as well as the softer stock dampers. Otherwise I love the way the car drives now and if I had to do it over again I would do the same.
I had very few install issues using Jeff's directions
- I purchased the new plastic wire fittings for the fronts, but both of the big black ones broke on the "hinge" when I closed them. Therefore I had to dig out the old ones but that wasn't too bad.
- The rear Bilsteins come with bumpstops, the fronts do not. Jeff said no problem so I didn't worry. Out of curiosity I called Bilstein a few minutes ago and they said the front bumpstops are internal.
- install took me a full day (and I have done similar work on other Porsches). I never hit any worrisome roadblocks. I would encourage anyone to try this to save a bunch of $ and to have some fun tearing your car apart!
Count mine as another success!My 1995 with 38k miles had the original Boge dampers with standard US springs (not M030). I chose to keep my original springs, install only new Bilstein HDs, and use the adjustable spring perches to lower the car just a hair.
My fender heights before:
F 26 5/8
R 26 3/8
After:
F 26 1/4
R 26
That is probably still considered SUV height but I am happy since it's my DD.
I'll try to take some pics soon and post.There is not a lot of info concerning setting Bilstein HD spring perch heights with the original non-MO30 springs so I took a guess. I put the old and new dampers next to each other and adjusted the new ones so the spring perches were 1/2 inch lower than the original ones. In theory I figured this would drop me an inch. In truth it was more like 3/8. My guess as to why is that the Bilsteins have some pretty strong gas pressure.
From what I have read, most seem to have Monroes as original and they tend to be shot when removed. My original Boges actually seem to have considerable damping left. None of them seem dead at all. The car did seem floaty in high speed corners however, so I am sure they were worn to some extent. I would love to put them on a shock dyno to get some hard evidence, but probably not worth the $.
So my impressions - the float is 100% gone. It is much more buttoned-down at high speed and feels much safer and in control. However - I definitely feel sharp bumps more than I did before. At low speeds especially, the car definitely rides worse. I drive it everyday on the same route so I feel my butt is an accurate gauge. After a month I will probably forget the difference, but know that they do not filter sharp bumps as well as the softer stock dampers. Otherwise I love the way the car drives now and if I had to do it over again I would do the same.
I had very few install issues using Jeff's directions
- I purchased the new plastic wire fittings for the fronts, but both of the big black ones broke on the "hinge" when I closed them. Therefore I had to dig out the old ones but that wasn't too bad.
- The rear Bilsteins come with bumpstops, the fronts do not. Jeff said no problem so I didn't worry. Out of curiosity I called Bilstein a few minutes ago and they said the front bumpstops are internal.
- install took me a full day (and I have done similar work on other Porsches). I never hit any worrisome roadblocks. I would encourage anyone to try this to save a bunch of $ and to have some fun tearing your car apart!
02-27-2007, 11:25 AM
#112
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Originally Posted by GrantC
- The rear Bilsteins come with bumpstops, the fronts do not. Jeff said no problem so I didn't worry. Out of curiosity I called Bilstein a few minutes ago and they said the front bumpstops are internal.
05-26-2007, 02:49 PM
#113
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I just wanted to say THANKS again for the great writeup. I'm in the process of doing this with mine. The only things I have left to decided upon are some adjustable sways. I have some TRG's for my 964 but they really did not fit as well as I wanted and I don't really care for the solid nylon (delrin?) blushings, BUT the adjustability of the bars is was really nice while I dialed some understeer out of my 964.
I'd like to look into some other brands of adjustable bars.... no CLUE where to start looking and who has some tried and proven parts that require fewer mods to implement than the TRGs.
I'd like to look into some other brands of adjustable bars.... no CLUE where to start looking and who has some tried and proven parts that require fewer mods to implement than the TRGs.
05-28-2007, 02:27 PM
#114
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Yet another thanks to Jeff for a well done writeup! Being able to prep the tools and supplies based on the lists supplied was as useful as the clear and detailed instructions. Took me about 10 hours to do just the shocks & springs, I'm keeping the M032 sways for now.
My suggestion is that if you don't have air tools, you should use this job as an excuse to buy some. Not having the special windowed sockets I bought an impact gun and a 3/8" air ratchet as a set, thinking that I could use the impact gun to disassemble the strut tops. The gun was also useful for breaking loose the larger suspension bolts. I bought the ratchet because it was a package, but it turned out to be a godsend for the rear strut mount bolts - I felt like I was getting away with something, just zipping off the retaining nuts.
Note - use your newfound powers only for good (breaking things loose), never for evil (tightening things up). I reassembled everything by hand. I used a short piece of aluminum handlebar cutoff (soft, left no marks) as a drift on the locking collars and used paint marks to tell when the collar wouldn't move anymore. I also used paint marks to witness where the drop link bracket should be. The marks are visible through the wheels and make it easy to check that the bracket's not moving.
I took the time to measure a lot and got post-checkout ride height of 135mm F, 120mm R using the 63mm/200mm settings. Best I can tell this is within tolerance for RoW Sport and I'll go with it when I have the car aligned. Test drive shows the expected lack of nervousness previously seen in the car. I find the ride comfortable with the RoW springs.
My suggestion is that if you don't have air tools, you should use this job as an excuse to buy some. Not having the special windowed sockets I bought an impact gun and a 3/8" air ratchet as a set, thinking that I could use the impact gun to disassemble the strut tops. The gun was also useful for breaking loose the larger suspension bolts. I bought the ratchet because it was a package, but it turned out to be a godsend for the rear strut mount bolts - I felt like I was getting away with something, just zipping off the retaining nuts.
Note - use your newfound powers only for good (breaking things loose), never for evil (tightening things up). I reassembled everything by hand. I used a short piece of aluminum handlebar cutoff (soft, left no marks) as a drift on the locking collars and used paint marks to tell when the collar wouldn't move anymore. I also used paint marks to witness where the drop link bracket should be. The marks are visible through the wheels and make it easy to check that the bracket's not moving.
I took the time to measure a lot and got post-checkout ride height of 135mm F, 120mm R using the 63mm/200mm settings. Best I can tell this is within tolerance for RoW Sport and I'll go with it when I have the car aligned. Test drive shows the expected lack of nervousness previously seen in the car. I find the ride comfortable with the RoW springs.
05-28-2007, 02:36 PM
#115
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Originally Posted by ed devinney
Yet another thanks to Jeff for a well done writeup! Being able to prep the tools and supplies based on the lists supplied was as useful as the clear and detailed instructions. Took me about 10 hours to do just the shocks & springs, I'm keeping the M032 sways for now.
My suggestion is that if you don't have air tools, you should use this job as an excuse to buy some.
My suggestion is that if you don't have air tools, you should use this job as an excuse to buy some.
Plus some of those suspension bolts are easier to remove with the airgun, not to metion the nuts on tops of the shocks (when I did my 964 I did not have my air compresser due to renting a house build in 1910 and I thought it would burn up the wires), I took mine to a shop with the tools.
One of the first things I bought for my new house was an air compressor!
I'm sticking with the stock sways on my JIC install. I just finished the rear (along with a bunch of other engine maint) and have only the front struts, rotors and pads left to go!
05-28-2007, 03:08 PM
#116
Seared
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Originally Posted by ed devinney
Not having the special windowed sockets I bought an impact gun and a 3/8" air ratchet.
I used a short piece of aluminum handlebar cutoff as a drift on the locking collars.
I used a short piece of aluminum handlebar cutoff as a drift on the locking collars.
Should you feel the need to do the whole job again (j/k), I've got a set of Bilstein collar wrenches and homemade "window" sockets. I've loaned these out to others before - free for the asking.
Andreas
05-28-2007, 07:40 PM
#117
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Originally Posted by AOW162435
Ed,
Should you feel the need to do the whole job again (j/k), I've got a set of Bilstein collar wrenches and homemade "window" sockets. I've loaned these out to others before - free for the asking.
Andreas
Should you feel the need to do the whole job again (j/k), I've got a set of Bilstein collar wrenches and homemade "window" sockets. I've loaned these out to others before - free for the asking.
Andreas
05-28-2007, 08:01 PM
#118
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If you need a collar wrench, any decent M/C shop (wait.. let me qualify that.. and SportBike shop that is decent) sells the wrenches in legnths longer than the ones I've seen in coil over kits, mos aftermarket M/C shocks (Penske, Ohlins, Fox) use the same system and about the same size collars.
The window sockets.. well.. hm.. come to think of it you might find some of those at an M/C shop as well.
JAT.
The window sockets.. well.. hm.. come to think of it you might find some of those at an M/C shop as well.
JAT.
