07-04-2010, 03:34 PM
I upgraded my suspension the past two days, replacing rear shocks with Koni 30-series shocks and 250 lb springs. Replaced front struts and springs with Koni struts and 400 lb springs. I used tender springs and a coupler on all four sides.
Rear shocks: Took about 1.5 hours to do the first rear and 1/2 hour to do the second, learning curve gets a lot flatter as you go. Only difficulty was getting the lower shock bolt off, man that thing was in there really tight. Took about 10 mins with the gun and pb blast, but finally got it. Have the racer's edge lower shock mounts and the racer's edge shock spacers at the top. Had to use some tape to get the spacers to be tighter in the shock so they didn't move as I was positioning the shock. Overall, car was raised about 3/4" so will have to work to lower it, now at 27-1/4".
Fronts were a bit more of a job. They come out very easy (just remember to remove the camber bolt by unscrewing the nut and not by turning the bolt's head. Lower bolt is fine to take off any way you can. I have some rubber shields on my car that deflect air to the brakes, kind of like a cool brake so that had to come off, just two screws. ABS sensor and ground and brake line have to be removed from their harness on the strut before removing. The Koni's require you to drill a hole in the bottom of the strut and cut some off the top to make the new strut fit. Paragon has pretty good instructions on this. Quite a bit of oil comes out of these. The main problem I had with the fronts was re-attaching the two lower mounting bolts to the lower part of the strut, it's not easy to maneuver and you really need three hands, but in the end I was able to get it by prying up the strut with a pry bar, leaning against the rotor to position and holding the bolt with my other hand.. Overall, fronts took me 3.5 hours to do the right side and about 2 hours to do the left side., again learning curve flattens out. Flash noted to me that removing the sway bar would have made the job easier...hopefully won't have to do this again for some time. Car also went up 3/4" so will have some work to do on lowering.
Overall, took me 7.5 hours to do all fours. I'm a novice on this...only thing close to this I had ever done was replacing my shocks and struts on my 86 911, but this is a very different king of job.
I took it out for a test drive and it felt pretty good, didn't push it really hard as I just wanted to make sure there weren't any issues or strange noises. Thought it would be a rougher ride than it was, not so bad. I have the front's adjusted half way between firm and soft,will have to play with it a bit. Planning to hit the track in about 3 weeks....should be fun. Car's alignment was way off before I did the job, so now have a good excuse to do one (and corner balance) with the help of a friend.
Rear shocks: Took about 1.5 hours to do the first rear and 1/2 hour to do the second, learning curve gets a lot flatter as you go. Only difficulty was getting the lower shock bolt off, man that thing was in there really tight. Took about 10 mins with the gun and pb blast, but finally got it. Have the racer's edge lower shock mounts and the racer's edge shock spacers at the top. Had to use some tape to get the spacers to be tighter in the shock so they didn't move as I was positioning the shock. Overall, car was raised about 3/4" so will have to work to lower it, now at 27-1/4".
Fronts were a bit more of a job. They come out very easy (just remember to remove the camber bolt by unscrewing the nut and not by turning the bolt's head. Lower bolt is fine to take off any way you can. I have some rubber shields on my car that deflect air to the brakes, kind of like a cool brake so that had to come off, just two screws. ABS sensor and ground and brake line have to be removed from their harness on the strut before removing. The Koni's require you to drill a hole in the bottom of the strut and cut some off the top to make the new strut fit. Paragon has pretty good instructions on this. Quite a bit of oil comes out of these. The main problem I had with the fronts was re-attaching the two lower mounting bolts to the lower part of the strut, it's not easy to maneuver and you really need three hands, but in the end I was able to get it by prying up the strut with a pry bar, leaning against the rotor to position and holding the bolt with my other hand.. Overall, fronts took me 3.5 hours to do the right side and about 2 hours to do the left side., again learning curve flattens out. Flash noted to me that removing the sway bar would have made the job easier...hopefully won't have to do this again for some time. Car also went up 3/4" so will have some work to do on lowering.
Overall, took me 7.5 hours to do all fours. I'm a novice on this...only thing close to this I had ever done was replacing my shocks and struts on my 86 911, but this is a very different king of job.
I took it out for a test drive and it felt pretty good, didn't push it really hard as I just wanted to make sure there weren't any issues or strange noises. Thought it would be a rougher ride than it was, not so bad. I have the front's adjusted half way between firm and soft,will have to play with it a bit. Planning to hit the track in about 3 weeks....should be fun. Car's alignment was way off before I did the job, so now have a good excuse to do one (and corner balance) with the help of a friend.
(This post was last modified: 07-04-2010, 03:35 PM by rl968.)
