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Hi All,

I now realize what is wrong with the front of my car. I need new struts. I had a mechanic look at the car and he tried to move the front left corner up and down. It bearly mover. He called it Koni rot. (I thought that the OEM was Boge or something)

Now, I am looking for a place to buy struts from. I see that Paragon has the OEM struts, but Pelican doesn't seem to have much. Is there any place that you can think over? I would like to get the best deal.

Thanks

Steve

you are correct - the standard originals are not koni - you first need to figure out what is in there - if you have konis, you can probably just swap out cartridges - if you don't it gets a bit more complicated

Hi Flash,

What do I do to figure which one is in there? If I pull the wheel, is there a way to tell from the outside?

in the engine bay, look at the top of the strut where the nut is in the upper strut bearing (that big round thing with four small nuts around it at the top of the strut tower)- if there is a flat adjuster in the center of that nut, you have konis

Flash,

Here is what the top of the strut looks like.

Steve

I see dust in that picture! I'm glad I'm not the only one without a bright an polished engine bay [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img] On the other hand, still cleaner than mine.

Flash,

I am guessing that this is not a Koni, right?

SP

correct - looks like the standard boge or sachs, or whatever it was

replacing those requires complete removal, reinstallation of new ones, and then an alignment

from the picture, your upper bearing looks shot too - it should be centered - look at it from the front and make sure that the plate is not pushed inward off center - the gap between the plate and the rubber also looks enormous - it should be about 1/8"

If the shock is locked up, it may be shoving upward pretty hard.
Back to my original question. Do you have another source for these besides Paragon?

Thanks
Steve

nope - being stuck won't change anything on the bearing - it's still the same amount of load, regardless

oem stuff should be able to be gotten through pelican or definitely sunset

also, you might try pete at rs barn

If you get new sealed units, hang onto your old ones. Someone will want them to convert to Koni inserts.

http://www.tech-session.com/kb/index.php?article=36

I am unfamiliar with shocks getting stiff/locked up like this and would suggest getting a second opinion first. Maybe someone but monster front springs in.
OEM Sachs/Boge units last a long time and generally just lose some damping, from what I have seen. Koni Rot sounds made up to me, or a confusion with "Koni Red" in German.

-Joel.

not sure about "koni rot" but koni gas struts and shocks are known to fail and hang up on occasion - however, since these aren't konis, that isn't the case

i got stuck in the odd position of selling a pair of used koni yellow shocks for a friend a while back - i get pretty nervous about used parts, and i had no idea how these were beyond my own inspections - i was concerned that they might lock up or fail like that, given the rough external condition, but i haven't heard anything, so i think i got lucky - i've seen a few though that were not so lucky

This is interesting. I just told my mechanic that the this strut is a Boge or Sachs. He thinks that in that case the strut may be bent.

Flash, you said that the upper bearing looks shot and misaligned.

The PO for this car hit a 12' 2x6 on the freeway on the right side. He said he had it checked out and there was no damage to the suspension. At this point there is no way to talk to him about this because he died in February.

I plan on opening this up in the next couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see what is really wrong.

I will post pictures then.

Steve

from the pic shown, it looks wrong - if i saw a pic from the front, looking straight at it, i could tell a lot better

The car is at home so I will post a picture tonight.

SP

Sorry about the delay. Here is the picture of the passenger side strut top from the front.
Thanks for your thoughts.

SP

Strut bearing looks strange to me. I don't thing the metal cap should be offset to the rubber below. It looks a little too tall as well. Could be bad.

Strut bearing looks strange to me. I don't thing the metal cap should be offset to the rubber below. It looks a little too tall as well. Could be bad.

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">NEED HELP .....

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ordered these .... B6

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><a class="" href="http://www.968forums.com/uploads/monthly_06_2020/post-14432-0-33003400-1592382403.jpg" title="BilsteinFronts.jpg - Size: 109.73KB"></a>

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">But received these .... B6 34-00 1042

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><a class="" href="http://www.968forums.com/uploads/monthly_06_2020/post-14432-0-50070400-1592382417.jpg" title="BilsteinInserts.jpg - Size: 111.69KB"></a>

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">So I received suspension inserts instead of the front shocks.

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">When I looked up the inserts on Pelican parts there was a note about "only for Boge suspension" .... anyone know what is going on?

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">..... OKAY, OKAY, I hear you, "search is your friend!" .... I found the article on Bilstein inserts and Boge struts.  Thanks to Steve and Flash for photos and discussion on the Suspension thread.

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Mine appear to be standard Boge, so should be no problem (!) but would it be better/safer to send the inserts back and get the complete package as originally ordered.

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Some advice would still be appreciated....... inserts or full replacement????

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 

<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Thanks

Message posted other thread, thats a generic picture used by eBay sellers for any B6 or B8 and so on front strut

For B6 on a 968 you need two threaded collars to insert in the tops of your old struts once you have cut the tops off at exactly the correct length, once cut the collars need to be inserted exactly the correct distance and then welded in place


Once this is completed then you need the correct tool to set the torque of the locking nut that fits on the collar


The collars are available from sportwagen.de at about 100 euros posted


If you message me directly I can put you in touch with a fella that does this on an exchange basis


Send him your shocks and the inserts and he will build them for you and ship them back


If you had gone with Koni almost the same applies, except you would need to cut the top off and then drill a precise hole in the base of the strut for the locating bolt for the insert


This is because all 944, 944S2 and 968 front struts from about 1986 on changed from screw on tops to crimped tops


Surgery is required no matter what option, and I bet if you back to your advert it says generic photo


Just to add the only full replacement is genuine Porsche at about £300 a side, and they will be between 10-15 years old off the shelf