looking for advice on front shock insert replacement, brands etc- car is a 75, Options

[DRPHIL914]

so i realized that my front shock inserts are close to 20 years old according to previous owner records and i didnt replace them when i did my rear suspension upgrade . I have sprt bilistein in rear with stock sway bar and 100# springs, pretty stiff compared to front now and 5 lug fuchs, 205/55-16’s front and rear.
when i did the new front bushings etc and the turbo tierods i did the stock calipers and drilled 5 lug stock rotors from PMB , but left the strut inserts alone, but now 3-4 years later i can see one side is about 1/2” lower tto so before getting into the alignment proceedure i figured its time to get new struts inserts so,
what brand ? and who has the best deal? leaning toward bilisteins too but what is the proper part number? and should they be “sport” to match rear?
i have stock sway bar and will be putting on the new Tarrett drop links i got from group buy at Okteenerfest

[mepstein]

I would do Bilstein HD all around. The sports are really better for the track.
If you are going to keep your sports on the back, just do the hd's on the front. 914 and 3' 911 struts are all the same insert.

[DRPHIL914]

so take the yellow sport B’s off rear and sell them?
anyone want a trade?

thanks for the quick response, Mark. I will start looking in that direction.

front needs to be adjusted too, its lower on right by 3/8”
and a bit more at fender and frame spots i measured from, could be partly due to the strut insert going bad a sagging more , but could also just be at the A-arms too, i have mever adjusted those. when the turbo tie rods were installed i had just done the a-arms and all the bushings and bearings and brake calipers etc and took it to Bob Woodman tires, an expierenced porsche perfomance shop to have them install the tie rods and do the alignment and didnt give it another thought, but it needs to be rechecked i think.

[DRPHIL914]

these?

[mepstein]

these?

yes

Drive them a couple miles before you get them aligned. It gives them a chance to settle in a bit. Doesn't need to be much. Leave on the rears for now and see how you like the ride.

New front shocks make a big difference. You will love the ride and wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

[DRPHIL914]

looks like the #001127 is HD and 34 is regular?
thmotorsports has these for $168,
and $167 at Summit Racing. Looks like those are the best price for the HD’s.
once in it will be interesting to see how it feels and how it balances out.

[Mblizzard]

I am a fan of the Bilsteins but the adjustable Konis won me over.

Too many people (I know I was one) are not capable correctly taking advantage of an adjustable shock which makes the Bilstein a better option. But if you are willing to do a bit of work on setting up your car you can adjust out understeer or oversteer to a degree with a good set of adjustable shocks.

I used to turn them up to 11 and thought that was good. But as I began to understand the need to stiffen or loosen the settings to actually address how the car was handling it became seriously fun to drive.

My opinion if you want good all around set and forget performance you cant go wrong Bilstein. Want to play and adjust go for the adjustable Konis.

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

do not mix shocks, Bilstein for the front

so i realized that my front shock inserts are close to 20 years old according to previous owner records and i didnt replace them when i did my rear suspension upgrade . I have sprt bilistein in rear with stock sway bar and 100# springs, pretty stiff compared to front now and 5 lug fuchs, 205/55-16’s front and rear.
when i did the new front bushings etc and the turbo tierods i did the stock calipers and drilled 5 lug stock rotors from PMB , but left the strut inserts alone, but now 3-4 years later i can see one side is about 1/2” lower tto so before getting into the alignment proceedure i figured its time to get new struts inserts so,
what brand ? and who has the best deal? leaning toward bilisteins too but what is the proper part number? and should they be “sport” to match rear?
i have stock sway bar and will be putting on the new Tarrett drop links i got from group buy at Okteenerfest

[Dave_Darling]

Note that the ride height is generally set by the springs (torsion bars in the front, coil springs in the rear) and NOT the struts! So replacing the strut may be fixing the wrong problem here.

If you want to replace them anyway, go right ahead, but there's a good chance you'll find that it isn't the struts that is causing your uneven ride height.

Time to inspect the springs, torsion bars, A-arms, trailing arms, and the mounting points for all of those bits.

--DD

[mepstein]

Note that the ride height is generally set by the springs (torsion bars in the front, coil springs in the rear) and NOT the struts! So replacing the strut may be fixing the wrong problem here.

If you want to replace them anyway, go right ahead, but there's a good chance you'll find that it isn't the struts that is causing your uneven ride height.

Time to inspect the springs, torsion bars, A-arms, trailing arms, and the mounting points for all of those bits.

--DD

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) but, if the inserts are 20+ years old, they are due.

[DRPHIL914]

Note that the ride height is generally set by the springs (torsion bars in the front, coil springs in the rear) and NOT the struts! So replacing the strut may be fixing the wrong problem here.

If you want to replace them anyway, go right ahead, but there's a good chance you'll find that it isn't the struts that is causing your uneven ride height.

Time to inspect the springs, torsion bars, A-arms, trailing arms, and the mounting points for all of those bits.

--DD

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) but, if the inserts are 20+ years old, they are due.

Dave,
i agree, might not be the reason for uneven height, i need to go back to checking the adjustment screw and setting to see if its off. i did replace everything but the strut inserts about 4 years ago, everything- Mark i am not sure how old the struts are, but i would say more than 15 years. yhey are not soft and bouncy so maybe they are not in need of replacement.

so this opens up a different discussion. when the shop put my new A-arms bushings etc on , maybe they were not adjusted evenly, but of not then how would they have done the alignment ? the guy that did it was an experienced(50 years) Porsche mechanic.

[euro911]

Phil, adjusting the ride height is a pretty easy task and you can set up the front for different scenarios.

If most driving is done with just the driver (autocross), the driver's side can be adjusted for level ride with the driver's weight taken into consideration, or adjusted for a level ride with a driver and passenger.

Be advised that you need to drive the car a short distance after adjusting the bolts so the suspension can settle - then measure the height on both sides and readjust as needed.

Here's a tech article from Pelican. It's for a 911, but basically the same adjustments for the 914 front suspension.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/1...ing_the_911.htm

[rudedude]

I believe to truly set up your car it needs to be weighed at each corner to set up the balance desired. When I have done this with mine and then measured each corner they have not been at the same heights. I don’t know if this is what would be happening with yours after your shop set the alignment.

[DRPHIL914]

Phil, adjusting the ride height is a pretty easy task and you can set up the front for different scenarios.

If most driving is done with just the driver (autocross), the driver's side can be adjusted for level ride with the driver's weight taken into consideration, or adjusted for a level ride with a driver and passenger.

Be advised that you need to drive the car a short distance after adjusting the bolts so the suspension can settle - then measure the height on both sides and readjust as needed.

Here's a tech article from Pelican. It's for a 911, but basically the same adjustments for the 914 front suspension.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/1...ing_the_911.htm

Thanks Mark I will take a look at that. I started down this road due to visually seeing the car is a bit higher in front than rear and needed to look at leveling that off, so as I was looking front to back and side to side noticed this left side higher issue , but maybe the shop corner balanced it with weight on the left side, that's a good point by rudedude, so I will call Bob and ask him before messing with it and making something worse,

I believe to truly set up your car it needs to be weighed at each corner to set up the balance desired. When I have done this with mine and then measured each corner they have not been at the same heights. I don’t know if this is what would be happening with yours after your shop set the alignment.