Well, my new suspension finally arrived from Sunset. I had considered installing it myself but I don't have a lift(yet) and my garage averages about 85F these days so I'm looking for an indie in the Baltimore/Washington area. The closer to Ellicott City the better.

So far, I have a quote from AtSpeed for ~$1000 plus $200 for align.
I have a call in to Ralph's in Owings Mills but haven't heard back yet.
I also talked to another shop I won't mention who wanted $1500. He insisted the car had to have a corner balancing and an immediate alignment after driving around the parking lot to settle the springs. I told him that I had read a different opinion here. The conversation deteriorated rapidly after he made a disparaging comment about Rennlisters.


In searching the forum here it seems prevailing wisdom is to drive the car for a few days to let the springs settle before the alignment. Additionally, I have seem a number of posts stating that corner balancing is only relevant for an adjustable suspension like a PSS9.

My questions:
Anyone have experience/recommendations with local shops for suspension install work? What was the cost? Any particularly good or bad experiences?
Any comments about my suspension assumptions above? I don't plan to track the car if that's relevant.
Thanks in advance!

 

In June I had an Indy install a used MO3O in my 99 996, and was charged $396 for installation and alignment. Unless you have coilovers, there is no way to do a corner balance. I think your prices are a bit high and hopefully another Rennlister will be able to give you some names of other indies in your area.GL

 

Thanks for the reply. I know this is an expensive area but that's quite a difference!

 

with MO30 you do not need corner balancing... try http://gtperformanceinc.com/ thats the only place I trust..

 

Thanks for the feedback. Do you recall their labor rate?

 

I paid $600 for install and alignment. That was at my indy in Vegas. And they are VERY reasonable in their pricing and their labor rate. Further, they would NEVER charge more than the "book" rate.

The reason "Atspeed" is charging you $1200 is b/c they have to support a race program. You will get that at ALOT of the race shops.

As has already been stated....the RoWM030 cannot be corner balanced. IMHO, if you pay for more than 8 hours of labor at $100/hr for a grand total of $800 you need to go elsewhere or you getting ripped off.

There has to be a good indy in the NOVA area. Post over on the racing/de forum as you will get better responses for setup like this.

 

I'll try that, thanks.

 

I forgot their rate, but just to give you an idea a Pcar dealer wanted $350 for an alingment, gtp charged me $100.. they are very reasonable..

 

Personally I'd let the springs settle a couple of days before alignment. I wouldn't drive it hard or far in the meantime, but normal driving shouldn't be a big deal.

PS--I'd love to know how that shop planned on corner balancing your non-adjustable suspension. Sounds like they were trying to take you for a ride.

 

I agree. When I asked this very question he got even more testy. I'd like to believe he just isn't too familiar with the 996 or the ROW M030. The friend who recommended him has a 964. I told her to be on her guard in the future.

Today I received yet another $1000+ estimate for install plus alignment! This one guessed it would be a 10 hour job (at $90/hr.) He did say that he would charge less if it took less time. His defense was that he'd never done a whole suspension at once and wasn't sure how long the whole job would talk. I realize that smacks of inexperience but he comes highly recommended from local PCA guys and between the three mechanics in the shop they have over 110 years experience on P-cars!
Has anyone in this area had this mod done for less than a grand? I'm seriously considering a nice road trip to Maine. It would pay for itself.

 

Like I said, you need to post this in the Racing/DE forum. Further, do NOT take it to somebody that does not know how to do the install speaking from experience. If they have none in something like this move on no matter how cheap!

I didn't see if you said if the Porsche dealer quoted you anything yet (HBL, etc.)???

 

I paid $750 for installation on my PSS9s. This included 2 alignments because I dropped my ride height twice. My shop is less than one hour north of NYC and it is right across the street from a train station.

 

Oops, I posted in Performance Mods. instead of Racing/DE. I just put it in Racing too, thanks. As far as the dealer goes, I just assumed they would be expensive and unreliable. That has been my experience so far. Len Stoler is the closest and I won't go back there after two separate bad experiences.
I actually bought the car from HBL but that's about an hour away. I was hoping to use this experience to establish a relationship with a local indy since the CPO expires in Feb. '09. Planning to call gtperformance(also almost an hour away) and Rockville Porsche in the AM, see what they have to say.

I appreciate all the input. Who knew mods could be such a PITA!

 

The reason I ask about the dealer is they "should" quote you the book rate. Just make sure and ask them if they are quoting you what they feel like it should take to do the install or if they are quoting the book rate and ask how many hours. The book rate is expressed in TU's or "Time Units" which is 100 TU's for 1 hour.

Maybe check over at Renntech.org as Loren has a great tech site setup and should be able to get that info to you as well.

 

If I were you I'd use this experience to establish a relationship with your car and begin doing work yourself. If putting in springs and shocks is this big of a pain in your *** imagine what future work will be like...