[whakiewes]

After seven wonderful months of ownership, my suspension decided to take a crap on me. I was on the way to do a little Sunday afternoon shopping at Sam's Club when I hit a bump and heard an ungodly loud metallic sound. I really thought that I had blown a tire and was riding on wheel which would have probably been worse, but regardless its not good. When I got out, the wheel was/is sitting at about negative 20 degrees camber with a ride height of 17.5". The lower portion of the shock is still attached perfectly and the control arm looks good from what I can see. I am moving the car into the shop today and taking it apart. I don't think it will be very bad, but the last time I had a shock rebuilt by Bilstein, it took nearly 3 months to get it back. Anyways, here are the pictures to mingle over. Took the flatbed an hour or so to show up, and then the guy attached the winch to my sway bar before I started yelling and screaming.













I don't think my wheel/tire sizes played a roll, but I do think my ride height did. The Champion RG5's were even weight as the stock 16's in the fronts with 205's, and the rears are 1lb heavier than the stock 16's with 225's. On the flip side though, I am sitting at 24.2" front and 24.6" rear. My local race shop told me when he corner balanced and aligned me that it would cause problems being that low.



Wes

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[Anchorman]

With suitable condolences, we're awaiting the results of the first inspection.

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[TheMirror]

Yes, very interested to hear what happened.

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[cosimo]

Why not use the tow hook? I've had my car towed twice in the last month and the tow hook worked great.

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[Anchorman]

Cosimo - towed twice in the last month? Not wanting to hijack this thread, but do I dare ask why?

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[au968]

[quote name='cosimo' date='Nov 7 2006, 06:35 AM']Why not use the tow hook? I've had my car towed twice in the last month and the tow hook worked great.

[right][post="27604"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Why would you tow a car that had collapsed front suspension? Doing so could only cause more damage.



The poster stopped driving it because something broke in the front end... ?? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Michael

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[whakiewes]

Going out right now to pull it apart. I did put the tow hook in after I saw him attach it to the sway bar. I had it flatbedded!



Thanks,



Wes

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[whakiewes]

Strut snapped at the top. Clearly a default in the strut. Its a perfect snap. I looked at the other wheel, and there is no way my ride height played any roll on the snapping. It takes no load based on camber/ride height. The suspension geometry doesn't change, just the wheel angle. I will be trying to think about what to do here shortly.



Wes

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[au968]

[quote name='whakiewes' date='Nov 7 2006, 10:16 AM']Strut snapped at the top.[/quote]



Photo?



Was it in the topmount or the strut itself that it snapped?



Michael

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[whakiewes]

Top of a normal Escort -







Mine - Noticed the mangled helper spring.









Wes

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[flwbyu]

My condolences as well! I am sorting out my own mess right now. It sounds like you know something about cars so, that's a plus. I would love to learn more but quite frankly do not have the time. I hope you can get it back up and running soon without costing a leg!

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[whakiewes]

I am just in a crossroads. Since I posted this, there have been several people email and PM me with their experiences, as well as a quick search on Rennlist 951 board shows similar cases. I am not sure I want to deal with this suspension since the other strut is just as old. I will probably get the front fixed and rebuilt, and sell the setup and replace with some M030's or something.



Wes

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[au968]

[quote name='whakiewes' date='Nov 7 2006, 12:43 PM']I am just in a crossroads.  Since I posted this, there have been several people email and PM me with their experiences, as well as a quick search on Rennlist 951 board shows similar cases.  I am not sure I want to deal with this suspension since the other strut is just as old.  I will probably get the front fixed and rebuilt, and sell the setup and replace with some M030's or something.



Wes

[right][post="27630"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



So did it actually break, or did something come undone?



If it broke, it's surprising really, Bilstein is a pretty good brand, and inverting the shock should make that area stronger, I would have thought.



If you are going to swap it out, check the KW kit, it's had a lot of positive feedback, especially on the UK forum...



Michael

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[whakiewes]

Michael,



It actually broke. The shock itself is very strong, but the mounting point is very weak...well not very weak, but the weak spot. Apparently I hit the bump harder than I thought. I will be on the phone with Bilstein this morning to see what I can do to fix the situation. The good news is that I ordered the Paragon coil over kit for Koni's and am going to use a pair of 951 Koni's with matching springs. Should have the car back on the road this week.



Wes

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[Anchorman]

Looking at the photos a bit more carefully than I had before, I'm guessing that when the tire hit the bump, the strut compressed so much that the movable part hit the mount and forced it to separate from the shaft. The mangled spring also suggests to me that there was such an "overcompression". Assuming that a trip to Sam's Club didn't involve super-aggressive driving (is that a safe assumption?), I'm wondering how the strut could possibly compress that much unless something was already wrong with it - or possibly some internal valve failure was caused by the impact with that bump. Am I off base?

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[whakiewes]

I would agree with you on that, I just didn't want to speculate. The shock is <10k miles old, but it is completely blown. Unsure if this is from the top breaking, or what, but its definantly blown. The good news is Bilstein will replace the rod for $30 and rebuild both shocks for $75/each. 6-week turn around time.



Again, I don't want to speculate, but here is my assumption of what happened. The shocks aren't very stiff, but the tech at bilstein said they have a pretty race-bred shock oil in them. This shock oil became very thick from the 29 degree weather which caused the shock to fail. I hit this bump which isn't bad, but with no shocks and 400lb springs it was rough. Slammed the shock which broke the shaft. All this is evident by the pretty much destroyed inner well of the suspension compartment. I was not driving aggressively..hell the car wasn't even warmed up yet.



Wes

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[cosimo]

Anchorman, coming back from the weekend in NJ with Pete and Jay, my car had a heater hose split on PA tpke. Had the car towed to Autohaus in Lancaster, PA for repair. Then after driving it back to DC the car was still overheating. Thought about driving it to IMA because I did not see any fluid coming from the hoses. So, to be on the safe side I had it towed again. Turns out it was a corroded connection to the temp sensor. Ergo, my experience with the tow hook. It worked great for what that's worth. Having all the hoses checked.

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[Anchorman]

Thanks, Cosimo. My car has never shown any tendency towards overheating - or even running warm. But, in the last few weeks, the temperature gauge has been acting eratically - with "jumps" up and down. The connection issue you found - was that in the electrical connections to the sensor, or did you remove and reinstall the sensor? Pete has cleaned up my electrical connections but that hasn't cured the problem - so I'm kind of ignoring my temp gauge readings, but that's not a good feeling.



(Sorry for the hijack - we'll get back to the regularly scheduled program shortly, hopefully with forgiveness.)

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[Anchorman]

Hmmm..."...pretty much destroyed inner well of the suspension compartment..." That sounds like the biggest repair challenge. I assume Bilstein hasn't yet offered any help in that area? It may be considered "consequential damages" but, hey, you've suffered them.

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[cosimo]

They cleaned the connections which apparently solved the problem but they also said they would replace the sensor. There was also another problem in that the people at AutoHaus (Porsche Dealer) did not bleed the radiator properly and there was air in the lines. It ran fine on the trip back from PA to DC but after 3 hours there was a big puddle under the car. It was a great weekend up till the PA tpke. Was crusing along at 85 -90 and Ka Blammo. I was fortunate to have been close to a call box. However it cost me a night a hotel and a rental car. It was worth it though seeing the Anchorman Memorial curve.

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