Pete K

I looked on Robins site but did not see a Do it Yourself for the PSS 9 install. Has anyone done this?

Thanks,
Pete

Jeff 993TT

It's pretty much the same. If you want sway bar heights, do a search on this board, people have posted numbers of where the sway bar mount should be for OEM sway bars.

Too bad you are in las vegas, otherwise, we could do them at the same time. I'm planning to do mine next week sometime.

Pete K

Jeff, the same as what? The stock install?

I was looking for a DIY so I could have everything ready before I start as I will be very time limited once I get back from Atlanta, move into our new house, then leave for a Track day in Portland (old stomping grounds).

Thanks,
Pete

PS. I was very disapointed that it took 4 long minutes to get a reply.

jnor10

I'm also in the process of doing this. Just spoke with the Bilstein Rep. He says you need a spring compressor, but as I recall, you don't. My thought is to loosen the shaft nut with weight on wheels and then raise the car. Wouldn't this have the effect of unloading the strut. Then once off the car you can safely remove the OEM upper mount and re-install on the PSS-9?

My other question centers around the proper method of configuring the rear sway bar mounts. With non adjustable drop links, how do you know the proper position of the sway bar attachment so there is no pre-load from left to right?

Cheers

Jeff 993TT

Yeah, we'll I've got to appear to be doing some real work here..

It's pretty much the same as the stock install. The fronts are pretty easy, just be sure to have a dremel to make a notch for the front brake line. I think that the bolt sizes of the top of the shocks may be off by 1 mm vs OEM. So you may need additional sockets and things like that.

For the rears, you have to take off a bunch of crap becuase we have TT.. ( ie the intercooler, air box, blower ) Then it should be the same as on robin's diy. It may take a while to get the sway bar mount point right, so you should allow extra time for that. If you search on the 993 board, you'll see some measurements that people have taken.

viperbob

IF you can speak to someone at Bilstein, I have usually found bad information. No you do NOT need a spring compressor to take off your existing spring or to put on the new springs on the PSS9 struts.

4X4SCHE

The only tricky part of this is the top nuts on both front and rear. If you don't have an impact wrench this will take you longer, the top nuts are on really tight. To put them back I used a deep socket and ground two flats on the outside and gripped the socket with large vice grips, I could then put the allen key (to hold the shaft) through the square drive hole of the socket. The bilstein nuts are a different external size than those originally on the factory struts, you can use either, the threads are the same. I did not remove the front strut mount from the car, it is not necessary, and you run the risk of water leaks into the trunk once the seal is broken. The strut will come out downwards once the top nut is undone. If you dont have an impact wrench, you may need to remove the entire thing, to take it to someone who can remove the nut. It is necessary to remove the rear mount from the car to get the nut undone, you then reassemble the entire thing with the hats on the new strut and put it back. Make sure that the adjusters on the rear face in. The part numbers on the rear shocks are different, but this is just to identify the factory position of the drop link mount. They are the same once you have unscrewed this!


I set my height at RS plus 10mm as measured from the Porsche specified points. The information I am giving you is my initial settings, I needed to fine tune this by no more than 5 full turns at any shock.

Rear:

Re: rear.
You will need to file 1/8" off the sloping shoulder on underside of the drop link attachment castings to get the extra lock rings to ride smoothly. In my opinion, unless you wish to go lower than RS height, you should use the lower lockrings, ie one above, and one below. When the strut is installed, the lower lockring is really close to the rubber boot on the driveshaft, so check this clearance and if necessary adjust up a couple of threads, or file the lock ring.

RS rear swaybar:
When I used the RS sway bar and the curved RS links, the easiest setup is to put the sway bar mount as low as possible. i.e. run the lower lock ring all the way down, and then put the mount against the lock ring. The rings have a machined surface, put this next to the mount. This allows full range of height adjustment without removing the shock assembly to rotate the swaybar mount. It may be possible to set the sway bar a little higher, but you have to take the whole thing off to do this and it is not worth it for 1/4". I have 10 threads showing above the mount, between the upper mount lockring and the lock ring below the spring perch.

Stock or M030 rear swaybar:
If you are using stock or M030 rear bar you will need to make shorter drop links to allow you to go as low as RS. The links should be no more than 2 1/4 inch center to center, the ones supplied with the Bilstein kit are too long. You can make some for less than $30 with parts from a good hardware store (heim links and threaded rod). In this case the 10 threads showing are right at the bottom, under the lower lockring and the other stuff is all butted up together. Adjusting height on this setup is a pain since you need to take the entire assembly off. If you can make really short (say 2" links) you can allow the extra 1/4" to be above the mount and thus allow limited spring perch adjustment.

Front:
I set the front with 54 threads showing below the lock ring.

Pete K

4x4,
Awesome reply. Unfortunately it looks like I am going to have a shop do them because all my stuff is in storage and I will not have time to do this once I get into my new house and I need to leave, with the car done, 6 days later.

viperbob

Getting parts from a hardware store to build a drop link is a little risky. First, you must have some darn good hardware stores where you live. Second, there is a tremendous amount of force on a drop link. I would only use high grade drop links for this task. And unless you have some specially machined spacer for the bolts, you should use an excessive range link in order to avoid the risk of binding. I have bought a number of teflon lined links (for lubrication and to avoid dirt wear damage) that I was experimenting with before I found ones that were up to the task. Total price of the links I purchased were about $22 each (4x).

Rule 12: Never try to save a few dollars on rod ends for sway bar links...

After having a sway bar link break putting me into a wall at 120 MPH on a track, I always make sure these are over-engineered.

J.PELLEGRINO

The best way to deal with the rear sway bar mount is to use one from another source that is made to come apart.The bilstein part is too large to rotate to the correct point to zero out the rear drop links.Other mounts bolt the bracket to the collar and there for you can move the collar to where it need be and get the drop links correct.This is very important as preload in the bar/w/profoundly effect the corner weight and handling of an otherwise improved car.

viperbob

Jerry,

When did you get a 2003 Supercup? SWEET. You'll have to post a picture.

Actually I use the 2 piece sway bar mount which worked fine and swiveled allowing me to adjust to zero preload on the bar. But I could not get them to stop turning on the car during driving. I could just not get them tight enough. So I installed a lock ring at the bottom and the swiveling stopped. Now the only problem is that even these two piece unit hit the half shaft as they are now higher on the shock body. So I went to a high quality rod end setup in order to fix the problem. Now I can simply adjust the rod ends to remove the preload on the bar.

Pete K

I have decided to go with the Racers group PSS9 set up with there 25 and 22mm bars. I'll let you guys know how it works out after it's done.

Pete

viperbob

Pete,

I have the same setup with the 22 / 25 from TRG... Very nice for most activities...

Pete K

Sweet, thats good to know. There are so many options to choose from it's nice to get validated.

Pete

J.PELLEGRINO

Bob,it is me and its nice to hear from you.I am amazed (being new here) at how this stuff goes.I was monitoring the "carbon build up/valve guide" thread and was very....entertained to say the least.Any way,I do have the super cup now,its a 2003 and a friend and I received it this past January.I sold my half intrest in the 2000 gt3r and now co-own this with another client/friend.
It is fun,i have done some racing and a fair amount of development as well.We have about 12 996 super cup costumers,along with a couple of gt3r/rs clients as well.That and all the older race cars and a ton of street cars is keeping us as busy as ever.It seems you are well,enjoying that nice west coast weather and a very impressive stable of cars I see.
Anyway,keep in touch,my best to the family,stop by when you are in the area,be well,Jerry