From: eds928gt@freewwweb.com Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 5:25 PM To: 928 Subject: [928] Re: struts It depends on the intended use of the car. Konis will enhance the performance characteristics. Bilsteins are also very good and will feel more like the opriginal shocks that came with the car. BTW, all 928s have shocks (dampeners), not struts. ~ Merry motoring ~ From: Phil [frees@technologist.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 7:16 PM To: 928 Subject: [928] Changing front shocks and springs without removing other parts Quick methd for those not wishing to remove either the top wishbone or the bottom arm Raise car, place on stands and remove the front wheel Release the top three bolts under the hood and also the lower shock pin/bolt Place spring compressors as far apart as possible and compress untill the top spring holder and rubber bushing comes free. Undo the central top nut so that the shock can drop a little within the coil. Twist the shock so that the lower biushing runs 45 degrees tot he line of the car and points towards the center of the rear axle. It will be found now that the shock can now cant at an angle dropping behind and inside of the lower arm and alowing the spring to come free and pass outside of the top inner wing Once in this position the assembly can be removed and when out of the car, the compressor taken off. The new springs, being shorter did nto require the spring compressor to assemble and went in very easily in the reverse of the above. Also as this combination is shorter it could have the central top nut ppositioned and tightened, ie. as a coilover. Enter the same way, with lower bushing at a 45 degree angle twisitin to position once in place. I think writing to make sense is more difficult than the actual job. Hope this makes sense, if not let me know Regards Phil From: David E Bruschi [brewski@ultranet.com] Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 10:45 PM To: 928 Subject: [928] Re: Dumb question? replacing front shocks Larry, Helped a friend do the job last weekend, he had removed them and we put them back in together. I was not too hard and we did not loosen the bolts on the arm in the engine compartment. As I recall we had the lower ball joint removed and held the rotor assembly out of the way, once that was done one of us pushed down on the lower A arm with their foot, while the car was obviously supported on jack stands and it moved quite a bit down and out of the way, it ended up staying there and we had to put a jack under it to get it back into position, no damage just hadn’t moved that far before. Next one of use used a pry bar inserted into the upper A arm to force the upper A arm up and out of the way, if I recall correctly it was at roughly a %90 degree angle to the floor and then the strut was slid up through the center of the arm, for the most part it just slide up there, maybe we had to turn it a couple of times so that the spring acted as a thread. I assume that removal is roughly the same way, after the ball joint is unbolted, sway bar end unbolted and the three nuts on the top are removed. The whole process really went very quickly and easily. I am told I missed out on the fun part, putting the strut and spring together. David E Bruschi 84S Boston From: Marc Thomas [mailto:mmthomas@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 8:06 PM To: 928 Subject: [928] RE: Stock Boge vs Bilstein Eibach vs. Koni/Huperco Before DEVEK I purchased the Bilstein package from a 928 supplier and was surprised at how the shocks handled slow and high speed driving. In slow driving, under 30 mph..they were really responsive, but as the speed increased to 45 and 60, they were harsh and during mildly rough pavement, the kind that in a stock Boge equipped 928, you would never even feel, it was really jumpy and felt like significant loss of traction. On a very smooth road it was not quite as bad. At higher speed, the shocks made for an uncomfortable ride at speeds over 100 mph, particularly during cornering. Not very good feeling of connection to the road. I took them off the 928, and installed the first Koni/hypercoil setup and the experience was very different.... 20-30 mph speed moves were "defined", but now razor sharp. BUT as the speed increased, it became clear that the Koni was in its element...very firm, but compliant, particularly over not so smooth pavement. At 75-80 perfect balance, complete grip...very comfortable At 100+, gets better...strong connection to the road I guess in summary, the Konis are a very confidence inspiring shocks. And this is all before DEVEK!!!!! A far as PRO and non-pro racing, Mark Kibort has been using DEVEK LEVEL 3 Koni/HyperCo for three years now and we all know how well his two red racers handle! Don H uses Konis, and I am constantly exp with dampening and rebound characteristics with both Konis and Penskes to help define improvements in our street/dual purpose shocks....and getting a good handle on the racing requirments. Wanna know about linear vs. progressive springs? Marc DEVEK From: Wally Plumley [mailto:wplumley@bellsouth.net] Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 8:45 AM To: 928 Subject: [928] Re: Any tips before I replace the rear shock? At 12:20 AM 10/21/02, Steven wrote: >I am about to replace the right rear Bilstein shock on my 86.5 928. Any >advice or tips? Is it a straight forward process that will be obvious when >I get under the car? It is NOT a good practice to replace one shock, as this can (and usually will) lead to unpredictable handling over large bumps. They should always be replaced in pairs. I would suggest checking the ride height before removing the old shocks. If it is correct, measure the spring plate position on the old shocks and put them in exactly the same position on the new shocks. Be very careful to put the washers, spacers and rubbers in the correct locations on the top of the shocks. You need to remove the front nut on the large bolt that holds the bottom of the shocks, not the rear one. The bolt has to come out toward the back. Put penetrating oil on the front nut, not the rear one. In extreme cases, you may need to "double nut" on the rear. It may be difficult to remove the large bolt, and soaking in penetrating oil at the lower control arm or upright may be necessary. Use a long wrench on the rear nut in the tightening direction to turn the bolt to aid in removal. Observe the position and orientation of the two conical washers that go on each side of the lower control arm. If these washers are not properly installed, the rear of the car will steer when you step onto and let off of the throttle. Lubricate well. Be certain that you know which way the bottom eye of the shock is angled. It is NOT at right angles to the body, and the new one must go on the same way that the old shock came off. Mark the old body before removal, so you know which is forward, so that you can figure this out after you get the shock off. Wally Plumley 928 Specialists