eclou

Finally got the Techart/Eibach lowering springs on my car. Took about 5 hours and help from a friend to complete the job. R&R of the front really requires a second person to pry the lower control arm down so the strut can be removed. The rears can be done with 1 person.

Initial impressions - drop is noticeable, but not radical. Springs still are not settled yet and the front lip is at 4 3/4 inch clearance from the ground. Car has a nice stance now without looking like a 4x4. The ride - very surprising - I actually found the ride MORE compliant than before. I think the newer rates are better matched to the struts than the stock springs. Less po-go effect. Even in Sport the ride is good. No suspension noise whatsoever, no harshness. So far, very pleased.

As far as install needs:

you need a special ball joint separator:

http://www.otctools.com/products/detail.php?id=1698

you need a special tool to hold the slotted washer of the front struts in order to remove the top nut. I happened to have this 944 tool which worked perfectly

http://www.9xauto.com/cgi/shop.cgi?c...temprice=68.00

the best tool I found to remove the top strut nut was a 13/16 spark plug socket

you also need a big pry bar, and a spring compressor

Front - remove front tie rod, lower ball joint, strut clamp and sway link from the hub carrier


Front - remove wheel caliper and lines from hub carrier, then pry down the lower control arm and rotate the strut out of the wheel well rearwards


Front and rear - use spring compressor to unload spring/strut top nut, then undo nut and swap out to new spring


Rear - undo sway link and rear trailing arm (optional) from rear hub carrier


Rear - remove Bose subwoofers, mounting brackets, and insulation to expose spring mounts and then undo spring mounts (must disconnet PASM wire first front and rear)


Rear spring installed - new spring appears to be progressive vs stock spring


Front spring installed - top and bottom coils are covered with additional damper material to prevent coil bind and noise

PorscheDoc

You actually do not need a spring compressor. When removing the stock springs, you can just buzz off the top nuts. The springs will pop about 6 inches is all...they will not go shooting across the shop at a high rate of speed like a 944 spring would. Obviously I wouldn't recommend doing this right by your face or anything. When putting the new ones on, just compress everything with your body weight and screw on the nut (or have someone screw on the nut for you).

Great writeup though! I never thought to use my 944 pulley tool on the top washer, I was using a very large channel locks. Thanks for the tip

Oh, and the ball joint separator is one of my favorite tools in the box

eclou

Doc,

I had pulled apart the front end twice without any luck on sliding the strut out because of clearance issues. I had even removed the castle nut and was trying to pull the entire hub carrier off the axle. Carl at your shop gave me the tip about rotating the strut out with a helper. The 944 pulley tool was such a bonus. My channel locks got no grip on the washer at all.

PorscheDoc

I'm Karl

I don't even pull the castle nut off, just get the puppy over the front of the control arm, and rotate out and around It does come out

PorscheDoc

BTW, I am not usually a fan of red cars, but man does the 997TT look good in red

eclou

Before:




After:

mada1

Sweet!

golfguy

looks stunning!!!

how's fender-tire clearance? any rubbing?

Ken89911T

ec,

Perfect! Great write up. Wish I had the time to screw around with my car like you do. Great fun and always better to enjoy something you did yourself as opposed to just picking it up from the shop.

I may be going this route, as I really don't like the SUV-look Porsche turbos have straight from the factory. Lowered my 930 with great results, so I guess I'll have to keep the tradition going.

Ken

eclou

No rubbing at all. This is even with the PES GP7 wheels whose offset is much more aggressive than stock - ET48 and ET40 IIRC

Eric Ondoy

TT looks gorgeous!!
I don't know if you tracked your car yet, but you will really feel the stability on high speed turns!!
Try 160 at texas motor speedway now bro!!!!!

eclou

Me at TWS

TT Surgeon

Any issues with lowering on the stock shocks, premature wear,PASM isues, bottoming out, etc? Looks wicked.

golfguy

hey, how come there's no tech write-up on your exhaust tips?

seriously, which ones are they?

thanks for the feedback. which alignment settings did you settle on?

eclou

No issues to date (1 week) - no lights, errors, bottoming out. Car has so little mileage on the struts it should be ok for awhile. When they go, I will have them re-done.

Tips are Techart, and she goes in for alignment and a new windshield this week (damned rock!)