simpsoap

So the car's been up on jack stands since the beginning of winter getting pampered, and while I'm finishing everything up I noticed this today. It appears as those the bolt on the backside of the Bilstein HD is rubbing or rubbed the rear side section on both sides. Should I be concerned? Is this common? Pics are below, one of the driver side and one of the passenger side.

Andy

Stealth 993

I don't think the suspension did that. It might have happened during the install, or maybe it's the sway bar end link.

AOW162435

Mr. Soap,
'Tis not good, but also not catastrophic. My money is on the bolt that fastens the end link to the cast aluminum mount jutting out from your shock body. When the car is resting on the ground, these mounts should be perpendicular to the car. This location changes somewhat as the car is lifted and the suspension extends.

I had a tough time finding the gouges as my eyes kept focusing on those Eagle Day covers......


Andreas

simpsoap

Andreas:

What the easiest fix? Could this have happen after the install and before the car was aligned? I would like to prevent it from getting worse!

Eagle Day covers were the first thing that went on the car when I purchased it last May - I had leaky valve covers and decided to fix it

Andy

AOW162435

If the lock collars were not tight, the end link mounts could have rotated during usage.

Crawl under there and try to get a line on where the mounts point. Fixing this means loosening the lock collars and rotating the mounts to the desired position.


Andreas

Garth S

+1 Here's what the angles should be at full droop of the suspension ... so when at ride height, the drop links are vertical ( see how the link bracket is rotated ~15 deg forward - and secured with locknuts both top & bottom ).

The easy way to set the bracket correctly is to secure the car on a lift, and then separately jack the hub up to normal ride height - to compress the suspension: the chassis will be at the verge of comming off the lift pad at that corner, but still safe. Then rotate the bracket until link is vertical, and lock in place.

Uber 911

I have an identical suspension set up with the same transfer marks. Whats your ride height?

simpsoap

I'm assuming you have an additional lock collar on the rear? I didn't install an additional one, should I have done this? Great, now I feel like I really screwed up

Andy

viperbob

Don't stress about it. First, you do not show how you set up your drop link. Is it inside the bracket, or outside (Garth S is the proper orientation)? Second, when you set the position of the drop link mount on the shock it is MUST be in the same plane as the sway bar. Looking from below the face of the sway bar must be parallel to the face of the drop link mount. If it is a little sideways, the force of the sway bar WILL twist the mount. Doesn't matter if you use 10 lock rings. If done properly at setup, one lock ring (or spring perch for HDs) tighten real good is fine.

simpsoap

Bob:

I just went outside and snapped a few pics of the drop link, based on the way mine are setup vs. Garth S, it appears as I need to rotate the bracket towards the front of the car. Is this correct? The car is currently on jack stands in the garage.

Andy

AOW162435

Yes, that is correct.


Andreas

AOW162435

Brother Soap,
I self-mailed (Priority) the Bilstein wrenches today - you should have them Tuesday/Wednesday.


Andreas

simpsoap

Andreas:

Got them today, trying to break the collars lose, so far, no luck

Thanks again!

Andy

matt777

A tap with a 3 lb hammer on the pin wrench will work.

simpsoap

Thanks to Andreas and the others that posted, I got the brackets adjusted tonight, and there should be no more issues!

This place is great

Andy