nile13

I had Bilsteins with H&R springs on my previous car. Not the happiest match. HDs, generally, don't seem to be valved right.

Koni FSD, btw, might be good shocks. But every Koni on every car I'm personally familiar with seem to have lasted about 2 years. These are Koni yellows. They start to leak. Not sure if this will happen to FSDs as well, they are too new to tell yet.

Mike J

You might want to widen your search, there are many threads on this, comparing shocks, procedures, alignments, ride heights, costs, etc.

Budget drive a lot of these discussion, or everyone would just go for PSS-10's or other shocks. Cheaper alternatives like the Koni's seem to have positive reviews but no longevity specs.

This is also a personal decision - some people think what is a rough ride is actually just firm from others - so my advice is to see if you can drive/ride in some cars with different setups. You need some butt-time to really assess the feel, its hard to tell what a shock can do for your car just from looking at comments. Also be aware that ride can greatly be impacted by sway bars, so make sure when comparing shocks/cars you know the total setup, not just the shocks/springs.

Cheers,

Mike

Ed Hughes

This is Jae's site, and he does know suspensions & Bilsteins!

http://www.mirageintl.com/

TMc993

Users here rarely refer to shocks/struts only. Try using "suspension" instead of "shocks."

• Go to "Advanced Search"
• Keyword(s)= "suspension"
• Choose "Search in Titles Only"
• Choose "993 Forum" from the "Search in Forums" box

The thread titles should guide your reading.

il pirata

If you are replacing the complete coil over unit and the new unit comes already assembled you will not need to use a spring compressor. You will need to do an alignment and I would recommend a corner balance afterwords.

Go here for details (there is another section for the rear)

http://www.pcarworkshop.com/index.ph...on_Replacement

If you are searching the 993 forum you will see there is a lot of views on what is best...sometimes best means how much do you want to spend...ideally you can find others nearby to a least get a ride or better yet drive to experience it first hand.

nile13

You will not need a spring compressor on any coilovers, generally. You can just unscrew the collar into their lowest position and the spring will be pretty uncompressed. Actually, it'll be loose and flapping around in most cases.

M. Schneider

The model year '97 & '98 (rest of world) C2S Carrera's were fitted with M033 10mm lowered sport springs and Monroe shocks/dampers. Swaybars F & R were slightly larger too.

The model year '97 & '98 USA C2S Carrera's were fitted with the standard USA spec Carrera suspension, ride height, etc. There is a unique rear spring part # associated with the wide body's slight additonal weight. Basically,, standard Carrera spec.

For singular street car use, that's no DE's, Track days, etc. ,,, you will thank the Rennlist forum if you install the factory M033 spring set and a quality shock.....be it a Bilstein HD, Koni FSD or even the bargain priced value oriented OEM Monroe dampers. I'm just saying..

pp000830

The only special tool is a spring compressor - under $20 at Harbor Freight. If you take your time the job is not that hard. To release the rear OE springs & dampers you will need to remove the lower arms from the subframe. I found the eccentric bolt holding the arms to be very tight. I used a scissors jack raised against the arm of a box wrench to break them loose.
Make sure you set the height for the car somewhere between the ROW lowered height at the low end and the USA standard height at the upper range so the car will take an alignment to the factory specification. All this info is in the shop manual including where to measure height from. I found the measurement process to be somewhat subjective as the struts tend to settle down to a height once the car is bounced up and down on the wheels. Lots of Rennlisters replace the down link to the rear torsion bar. I just reused the OE link that was in place on the car when I installed the H&R coilover kit. I found the ride to be very nice. The springs in the H&R kit are progressive as the springs on the OE set-up are not. Also the H&R strut looks to be a Bilstein unit that is rebranded for H&R and as such is rebuildable by H&R at very low cost. I got the complete kit for $1800 on eBay. The guys on this site like to suggest much more expensive adjustable valving solutions that are aimed at the tuner crowd. I also replaced the nuts that hold the strut hats to the body and the nuts that hold the strut shaft into the hats and in the front hold the struts to the wheel carrier. Not sure this was all necessary however I always replace prevailing torque nuts (lock-nuts) rather than reuse them as a matter of practice. You should find the rubber hats and their imbedded shaft bearings to be in good shape. No need to replace the bump stops as the H&R supplied strut does not require their addition. I did the entire job in my driveway having never done a strut before. After installing the first one it went rather easily. Took me a half day to do. Also you will need to drive the car to a shop for an alignment afterwards.
Andy

Mike J

Did you really require a spring compressor? I have done 6+ full suspension change-outs, and never needed to use it - the spring still had a slight compression at the end of the thread, but I dialed down the bottom perch if possible, and then undid the top nut - worked like a charm.

Cheers,

Mike

Ed Hughes

No spring compressor needed when I did mine...

pp000830

I needed the tool to get the old OE non-adjustable ones apart to reuse the hats.
I agree, on the new ones, not really needed, but can make the job easier on the rear ones if you don't have someone to help you push down on things.
Andy

Ed Hughes

There is little pressure on the OE springs. I made sure it wasn't pointing at anything, and used an air ratchet to loosen the hat nut. In the end, there wasn't any drama or anything flying anywhere, and no spring compressor needed.

RocketJohn

Yeah I rented a spring compressor for my stock spring/shock setup and did not need it.

PSS10 recommendation here.

stickypatch

So here's what I ended up getting from Gert - all of this for the same as the PSS10s would have cost all by themselves.



I've installed the RS engine mounts and the HID kit so far.

I am absolutely stunned by the difference the RS mounts have made to the feel of the car. The old fluid mounts were not leaking or anything, but the RS mounts are so superior it's not funny - and if there is more vibration and noise it's not enough for me to notice.

pirahna

What do you think of the HID kit?