ToSi

oh my.. looks like either the top nut backed off a bunch or you didn't tighten it completely when you originally installed these. The bushing should be tightly sandwiched between the underside of the top mount & the shoulder on the top of the shock shaft. Order of parts looks correct otherwise.

Unfortunately, the threads on the shaft look to be damaged where they were free to float in the top mount.. just to the right of the spring in this photo:


If both sides look like that, a new pair of rear shocks is in your future.

k722070

the reason it is moving is because the bolt on top of the shock mount is not screwed down.
clean up the threads on the bilstein and move the drop link perch and all 3 collars as low as they can turn.
or remove the spring.
then put it back together as it sits in pic 4 and tighten the top bolt. at that point the spacer and the shock mount drop to the top of the shaft near the weather guard and should be tight as one unit. the spring hat might flop around because the collars are at their lowest threads.

what do you have on top of the spring in the 1st and last picture?
the bilstein spring hat should be on top of the spring.

C4S993

I can tap clean those threads, not sure of their pitch though. When I re-install these shocks I will torque the nut down before I install.

C4S993

I will try that as next time I will beforehand torque that top nut down and visually inspect the situation with the 4mm thick collar bushing. After I reinstall I can try and use my engine scope video tool to visually see if that bushing lost contact with above+below the bushing pieces.

In holding pattern now awaiting part items #6 & #7 from Germany.

C4S993

Great idea ! Once I remove the springs I can of course get that top nut torqued down without the interference from the springs below it and then reinstall the springs (etc) up from the bottom (after the top nut is correctly torqued). Why couldn't have Bilstein thought of that ?

k722070

because it isn't possible, the perch doesn't screw off all the way.
I only suggested removing the spring in order to see how the spacer, spring hat, rubber grommet and shock mount fit together.
also to install and be able to move the suspension up and down as a test to find out what was making the noise.
if you move the perch and spring collars to the very bottom of the threads there will be no pressure from the spring when putting the bolt in place.

you don't need parts 6 and 7, they don't fit anywhere in the pss10.
those are for the original shock only.

XavierLaFlamme

It might be a good idea to contact Darin from FD Motorsports and ask him. I bought mine from him and installed them myself and he helped out with advice.

Michael

C4S993

Thanks for the clarification, I will wind down the link perch and thus remove much of the tension from the springs and that should make the upper shock nut toque easier. Also, thanks for the info regarding the stock shock parts #6+#7 as not required for PSS10; you saved me 14 days+$ waiting for parts waiting from Germany.
Curious if in your install you stuck to the Bilstein instructions regarding the link-perch being at 175mm ? And did you ballpark the drop link height while car was in the air; and upon settling, then did you torque the link nuts so in theory the links would be passive at rest thus lacking rotation stressors ? I ask as when these shocks are remounted I am leaving the links off to see if the bumping metal clashing is gone (I hope). Then use my aurozone hard plastic ramps to crawl under and install the adjustable Tarret links while the shocks have some road-like stress. At rest, (perch secured with collar) I should be able to wiggle the links, right ? And at rest, with no links I should be able to get some movement up/down of the greased bushing sway bar (right ?). If the sway bar were too tight, wouldn't that influence the link's driving conditioning functioning ? The sway bar should influence sideways car movements, not up/down movements, right ?

Holger3.2

Looking on the other site of the equation, it looks to me that your drop-link mount sits high up on the thread... which would, if i'm correct, bring already a lot of tension into the system. The sway bar could sit about 5mm above the wishbone only. Everything higher should harden the ride already.

k722070

use the bilstein instruction lengths as rough estimates, so start at 175mm for the perch.

just try to get the drop link perch at a similar height for both sides. while the pss10 is bolted to the body you should be able to remove the toe link, push the shock away from the axle and spin the perch if you need to adjust the height.

"At rest, (perch secured with collar) I should be able to wiggle the links, right ?"

wiggling the links isn't a factor, the point of adjustable links is to remove pre load from the sway bar. with the car on the ground and suspension loaded, adjust the link length so the bolts can slide into the sway bar without having to force it or press up or down on the sway bar.

"And at rest, with no links I should be able to get some movement up/down of the greased bushing sway bar (right ?)"

yes, dow 111 works well on the sway bar bushings. since the bar is attached to the cross member it needs to be able to rotate up and down with the suspension to work well. if you are using a large sway bar, say even 20mm, the sway bar "retaining bow" might be too tight. if so slip a washer between the cross member and retaining bow to give the bushing some space.

with the car on the ground(or on those plastic ramps) you need to align the drop link perch so the drop link is as vertical as possible, sway bar bolt hole directly below the perch bolt hole. lock the drop link perch collar at that position and the drop links won't have any twisting or stress.

C4S993

Thanks, I will start with 175mm perch height. On hold (Amazon) waiting for 12mm 1.25 pitch die to clean upper shock mount threads. Tried two hardware stores near me and 12mm fine thread 1.25 pitch dies are nowhere to be found. What does Porsche Red Paint splash mark their upper tophat parts ? My upper rear shock tophats lack any red paint marks that I thought were for proper install orientation. I visually see no difference between the four studs and their relation to the engine fan.

C4S993

Just torqued top shock mount and now the bushing is flush;
perhaps now the metal clashing sound will be history ?

k722070

compared to your first post is does look like more threads are showing now so maybe 3-5mm of metal clanging noise is gone.
why did you replace the boat shaped top piece with a washer?
I have no idea of the purpose of that boat shaped piece, did you find out its useless?

cdmdriver

Once installed the Bilstein struts will be a bit firmer than the stock shocks, even at the softest setting. Also to correct someones else's post, PSS10 settings are the opposite of PSS9's. 1 is the softest, 10 firmest.

RichPugh

Edit: posted before noticing additional posts. I assume these guys got you squared away.