Hello all, hopefully this will be an easy enough question and or confirmation...

I have a 2003 C4S and just installed Bilstein B8’s and H&R Sport Springs 29466 (front &rear).

The install went fairly smooth thanks to this forum and all the valuable information it contains. I literally spent weeks combing through and studying every post I could find related to this process. So my question is, after completing the install on the front of the car, I noticed the strut nut isn’t perfectly centered with the inner fender access port (please forgive my terminology). I don’t know that it ever was to begin with... I should have taken some pre-disassembly photos.

I have verified that I have the correct left & right mount (LE on drivers-side) and also have the orientation arrow facing towards the front of the car. I have experimented with compressing the shocks and also steering from left to right to see if the position changes at all (it doesn’t).

Can anyone share their expertise and advise if this is normal - or do I need to try something else. I would just like to know for sure before I continue reassembling everything else.

Thanks!

Drivers-side (passenger side is the same)

 

I just did the upper mounts on my 996TT. That large hole is just to access the upper strut adjustment. It does not need to be lined up per se. Did you mark the positions of the upper strut mount nuts before removing so they line up how they were previously mounted?

 

Did you mark the orientation of the upper camber plate on top of the shock? Not the camber plate nuts which I see you did mark. I seem to remember that the orientation arrow should point to the outside, not front. But I'll have to do some research on that. I could also be wrong, but it appears something is not right.

 

 

DBJoe - for what it’s worth, I have a different strut mount than what is pictured? Mine has one arrow and “Le” is stamped on the other side. The passenger-side mount has the same arrow with “Rt” stamped.

Not sure if the different mount makes a difference?

 

I don’t know if it helps but here is a shot from underneath...



Divers-side



From the manual (for clarification)

 

This is how camber is adjusted, but sliding the strut up in the slotted holes. This will naturally move the strut top nut out of centre of the hole. As I remember from my C2, the top mount will only align with the holes in one orientation.

 

Yes, it's absolutely normal. A couple points; 1) Since you used lowering/sport springs your suspension geometry has changed. You'll need an alignment. 2) With the lowering springs, you may wind up with too much negative camber. Some is nice for better turn in (-1.5 -1.7), but any more than that, you'll have to be careful the insides of your tires don't wear too quickly.

 

Ok, cool - thanks everyone! It’s a pretty big project (for me) so I just wanted to make sure everything is good.

Once I finish up I’ll definitely take it in for an alignment. I’m anxious to see what it looks like when I get it off the lift.

 

You're gonna like the way it looks...