Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Ok, so I've had a reply from Porsche :

"I have just had a reply from Porsche with regards to the rear shock absorbers. And they have now been discontinued so we are unable to get them anymore."

I know a lot of people have been following this with regard to the fronts rather than the rears, but I don't want to mix & match front and rear brands, so I've cancelled the order for the replacement front struts. Yes, I know I could have got the rears elsewhere, but the story is quite clear - what stock there is, front or rear, is years old and there will be no more. They have agreed to refund me in full as they accepted the soggy fronts as faulty.

Now, where to go to get the struts adapted for Bilsteins.....

Cheers,
Bryan

I'm sure ECP have Sachs rears in stock.

Just go Konis otherwise

http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/cheap/28 ... sport.html

http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/cheap/27 ... sport.html

Easier to do and more original, Ignore the pictures

Yes, they were going to be my next best option as I could probably do the work myself, but I've found a local engineering shop who will do the cutting and welding required for Bilsteins for £40 for the pair. Once the shocks arrive, he can also tell me if he has a suitable collar to weld on that the Bistein collar will screw onto. If not, he can either machine one (expensive), I can buy one off the shelf (90Euro + 14Euro p&p from Germany) or I find a Golf donor. Whichever way, it will still work out cheaper than stock. No brainer really.

Cheers,
Bryan

Right, so I've finally got the adapted struts back from the engineer, with the Bilsteins assembled in place. I'll post a bit more on that when I have time as he's agreed to do this conversion for others too.

I'm now having problems fitting the struts. I get the nuts fitted loosely at the top, but when I present to wheel hub to the strut, the holes on the strut are about 25mm below those on the hub. I know that I've got the right new springs as they have the same colour dots as the old ones. I can't see any point in compressing the springs as the extension of the dampers will not shorten the overall length. What am I missing? I was thinking of using something like a brake caliper rewind tool, slotted under the strut. Anyone got any other suggestions?

Cheers,
Bryan

You'll not get them on like that. The springs do need compressing. Fit them to the hub first with the arbs disconnected swing the hub and strut under the wheel arch Tight fit but you can do it by pushing down on the wishbone at the same time, Get the top mount aligned as close as poss and jack up the lower wishbone slowly making sure the mounting studs are going in the right place. Jack up fully and bolt the top mounts in. Alignment required afterwards..
The Koni inserts are much simpler to fit no welding required just a hacksaw and a drill. I have the Paragon coilover kit with the Konis and it was pretty easy, if time consuming.
Koni and Bilstein strut inserts are gas pressurized so remain fully extended when spring compressed and increase spring rate a little, so makes it difficult to do what you are trying and the spring compressors just get in the way. You can fit the top mounts first, feed the strut (bolted to the hub) though the top mount and wack the big nut on afterwards. That's what I did and it worked a treat. Just watch your fingers when getting it all lined up.

ref:- http://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944- ... -loss.html

Thanks Endoman. I can get the strut in position, in the sense that the top mount is in place and the bottom rests on the wishbone, it's just that I can't get the bolt holes to line up at the bottom. I'll try to put some weight on the wishbone, which would help, dropping the ARB if I need to (which would be annoying as I've just replaced the ARB bushes!).

Cheers,
Bryan

Morning Bryan,

The bottom holes can be a little fiddly to line up, but you just need to push down on the wishbone to do so initially. What I do is have a decent screwdriver ready and soon as there is enough gap shove it through a hole. You can then release any pressure on the wishbone and then use the screwdriver to manouvre the strut to get the other hole lined up to pop a bolt through.

Sorry but you will have to take the arb off completely and make sure you have it the right way round. Wondered why it was a pain to get in and the links snapped. Mines been on and off so many times it can find it's own way back. Chris Franklin spotted it at CoG when I had it all aligned. I rebuilt all the rear end. New bushes reindexed torsion bars, now that was fun but in the end well worth it. It handles and corners better than my 993 and has a more comfortable ride, with far better luggage space. Just lacks the power and looks. I love them both equally but for different reasons.

Cheers Pilch. That's almost exactly what I did. I was able to get something between the strut and the wishbone and lever it up enough to get a screwdriver through a hole. I then used to screw driver to lever enough to get a bolt in the other hole. I didn't have to drop the ARB, which wouldn't have been the end of the, but they have locking nuts (i.e. single use) and I didn't want to have to wait for yet another order to come through to finish the job.

Almost there....

Cheers,
Bryan

Soon be on the road mate, bet you can't wait

Finally got it all done and took it out for a blast. Had my 7 year old daughter with me, so was taking it easy. Great to be back on the road, but a few things aren't quite right.

I was hoping that the clunk I get from the front when straightening up after very slow left hand bends would be resolved by changing the front ARB bushes. Not so. Hey ho, a job for another day. Been there for four years already.

Car feels a bit floaty, for want of a better word. Going for geo setup at Centre Gravity on 18th May, so that should sort that out.

More worrying is a new noise. I replaced all four shocks with Bilsteins, not just the fronts. I now get a clunking noise from the rear driver's side. No problem when going over things like cat's eyes, but sudden drops into shallow potholes are a problem. Will get the jack and axle stands out again I guess....

Cheers,
Bryan

sounds like the bottom bolt is loose

Torqued up while supported, so unlikely, but worth another check. Will check the top one at the same time.

Floatyness may well be down to poor geo. I wouldn't lose any sleep on that front until it's been aligned.

Clunk sounds like an unloading noise and I'd go with the notion of a loose bolt bottom or top. It's worth taking care of the bottom bolts as they are a fine thread and meant to be easy to cross-thread. Check it's running in correctly as well as checking the torque.


Oli.