[TonyBray]

Ok, I spent the day looking at RS Barn, Paragon, and Elephant Racing for suspension parts and have questions...

Starting point: 94 Cab, 192k miles, all stock, non-M030, non-LSD, 6-spd, stock wheels, no additional braces (yet).

Starting parts: I have some late 951 lower control arms so I can replace the ball joints. I also have a good set of used OEM Sachs struts and stock springs.

Target: Stock or maybe Stock +1 for handling. I prefer the comfort for long trips. I do not want a track car. I did full monoball and polybronze on my 67 912 and it's fantastic for spirited driving but too harsh for daily street driving. Maybe that's different on the 968? Anything I can do to make it corner better without sacrificing too much ride quality.

Options? Stock parts? Racer's Edge polygraphites or Weltmeister Delrins? Some mix of the two? How harsh are they? How much noise to the Delrins transmit? How long do they last?

Price? Paragon has a 944 SPEC Racer's Edge/Welts for ~$400 for all, or full monoballs/poly for ~$1,200. That's just bushings I know, no braces, no tie rods, no springs, no rear shocks, etc. What's a good combo for I'm looking for?

--Tony

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[flash]

i would stick with the OEM bushings everywhere except maybe the castor blocks, but really i might stick with it there too - unless you are going to really push the car, there is no real advantage to the spherical bearings, with the exception of their imperviousness to leaks, which is really the only reason i would consider changing the castor blocks to spherical

delrin tends to make noise - anything poly is worse - the gains are minimal on a street car

i would add the upper and lower braces, if it's a cab, i would add the chassis brace as well - then from there, just make sure everything is in good shape - beyond that, i would run 17" wheels and the M030 sway bars

if you decide that still is not enough, then you can start thinking about struts and springs

if you let me know in advance, i can arrange for you to drive the white cab, which is on 17" 993 Cup wheels, and is completely bone stock, except for the 3 braces - it is solid as a rock, and i wouldn't change a thing - there are other cars here too that i am sure you could experience to see the differences in setup - just come to the next event and see for yourself

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[craigawoodman]

I have Bilstein coil-overs on my car with relatively light springs which is not too bad (but I have much larger anti-roll bars), so for road it is possibly too harsh.

In retrospect, the KW coil-overs are meant to have better bump control and therefore should be less harsh, as they have a by-pass valve that open on large compression events. I do not know if anyone has the KW coil-overs fitted, but it would be good to know how comfortable they are as a compromise. Spring rates will be the biggest issue (although I don't think you have a choice with the KW units - which I had with the Bilsteins).

For road use, possibly a M030 anti-roll bar and the KW suspension would be a good starting point. My car is more track oriented, so there is now almost no roll in the car, which you would not be looking for.

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[Mark]

MO30 Sways and new OEM bushings will make a lot of difference, I would do that first and see how you like it with the rear bar set to the middle hole. If that does not do it for you there are a lot of strut/shock options. I have the KW V3 on my cab along with a lot of other stuff and do not feel it is too stiff but these kinds of things are different for each person. With the KW V3 there is no choice in spring rate, the V2 there is and they now have a Club Sport version as well.

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[TonyBray]

Flash,

Thanks for the offer. I think you live right over the hill from me, don't you? I will take you up on that offer whenever you have a free weekend.

So, on the stock parts, I can't get new stock front a-arm bushings without buying new a-arms. What other parts are going to be hard to source or incredibly expensive? Rear torsion bar spring plate bushings? Etc?

--Tony

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[Monstrous4Banger]

I have the KW v3 on my 951, I like em a lot.

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[flash]

i do indeed live just over the hill - let the weather clear and we can set something up - the white car stays in newport, so i just need to pop up and grab it

there is nothing wrong with going spherical, and if the bushings are shot, then i think that is better than replacing the control arms - i have them on the blue car, and have no issue with them

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[rxter]

I have stock on all parts on a relatively low mileage cab. We put the chassis and lower brace only on and the improvement in handling is terrific with 0 degradation of livability.

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