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Posted by: mrbubblehead May 15 2011, 06:15 PM

i just swapped my stock springs with a new set of weltmeister 140 springs this weekend. they are mounted on an old set of red koni which maybe wore out. but i gotta say im pretty dissapointed. i thought they would lower the rear end of my car some. but it didnt lower it a bit, it may even be raised a tad. i made sure that they are installed properly, with the coil ends in there little indents.

after a test drive around town i honestly dont think they made much difference over the stock springs. what gives?

this week i will be re building my front end. elephant front bushings (to match the rears) 21mm torsion bars, and a 22mm tarret sway bar. i dont have the dough to buy new shocks or inserts yet. but i am planning on going with bilsteins.

so my questions are.... do the springs need time to settle? or is this my ride height?

is 140 a good spring rate to match my front setup?

how the hell do you guys get your cars to sit so low?

Posted by: kg6dxn May 15 2011, 06:22 PM

All coil springs settle. I use Bilstein rear shocks with adjustable height settings. I'm running 200# springs. Get the Yellow Bilsteins for the rear and you can adjust too.

Posted by: tomeric914 May 15 2011, 06:24 PM

Do your Koni's have adjustable spring perches? If not, then I'm not surprised that yours sits higher now.

There are two ways to lower it; get a set of shocks with adjustable perches (like Bilstein) or some screw adjustable perches for the shocks you have to get it low.

Posted by: mrbubblehead May 15 2011, 06:29 PM

do all bilstein rear shocks have adjustable perches? i have never seen add on "screw adjustable perches". do you have a link?

how can i tell if my konis have adjustable perches? is it obvious?

Posted by: tomeric914 May 15 2011, 06:43 PM

It's obvious. There will be a series of recessed rings in the shock body spaced every 1/2" or so.

Here's a link to a nice setup. Be careful though, if these are early Koni's with the large diameter body, this may not work for you.

http://www.rebelracingproducts.com/Suspension/Steering.html

Posted by: mrbubblehead May 15 2011, 06:45 PM

i checked my konis. they are non adjustable.

Posted by: tomeric914 May 15 2011, 06:54 PM

Ok, see above, I just edited my post.

I'll probably get banned for this, but here is nice writeup on the different adjustable setups over on the "other" 914 site http://www.914club.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=115393

Posted by: Vacca Rabite May 15 2011, 07:08 PM

We don't ban folks for sharing knowledge.


Zach

Posted by: Eric_Shea May 15 2011, 07:16 PM

Interesting suspension tune... 21mm torsion bars up front and 140lb springs in the rear.

Your old springs were just that... old.

Posted by: mrbubblehead May 15 2011, 07:51 PM

yep....this was a recommendation from a fellow 914er. he said he has the same set up in his race car.

Posted by: avidfanjpl May 16 2011, 01:43 AM

I bought front and rear Bilstein sports, and the damn thing lowered 2 inches in the rear with Weltmeister 140's and after dropping the adjusters on the torsions in the front the car is so low with 50's all around that I cannot insert my hand vertically under the car.

My air deflectors underneath scrape even the lowest speed bumps unless I take them at a 45 degree angle, then they only rub a bit.

Damned if I know why it went so low, but ALL the components are new on the car.

The Rebel front A arm bushings go on this week.

Did you change the shocks when you did the springs?

J

Posted by: mrbubblehead May 16 2011, 06:05 AM

no new shocks yet. they will be next.

i ordered 180 springs.

Posted by: sean_v8_914 May 16 2011, 10:00 AM

140 IS too soft for 21mm torsions and 22mm bar. good call on teh 180s. that 22mm bar is very stiff. try it at full soft first.

Posted by: mrbubblehead May 16 2011, 04:34 PM

i will try it at full soft. thanks for the advise sean.