Bilstein Adjustible Coil-overs, Clarification needed... Options

[dlestep]

Awhile back, I purchased Patrick Motorsports' Adjustible Coil-Over Rear Bilstein Sport shocks.
They include Eibach 8.00 inch (static free length) x 2.50 ID coils.

Everything was warm 'm fuzzy until I did a fit check.
(Oh, yeah, they didn't come with new bushings or bumper, nor new washers, sleeve or anything).
It did have a new nyloc nut ! (whoopee doo)...

Question: is the lowest ring groove on the body the stock setting?

On the assembly table, if I measure to the center of the shock body, it works out to be approx 5/12 inches. I was going to place the lock ring near the center of the body.
For some reason, the numbers are not working out...maybe it's my math, but...
there is a huge difference in static free length...
I know that the shock is correct F4-B46-0179-HO, and that the shaft will compress into the body, but its' 4.00 inches above the upper perch, with the threaded collar set at its' lowest setting.

Any help here would be appreciated...I ran out of Smart Water.
Dave

[pcar916]

I can answer a bit more later but here's the quick-and-skinny to my way of thinking.
It sounds like you have a stiff car, short of a full cage. That's good

1. Do you have an LS or TB differential?
2. Do you have a rear anti-sway-bar? Usually not in the 914, but a really stiff car with a full cage and LSD may benefit from one.
3. Are you asking about the front torsion bar sizes?
4. What's your application? AX, DE, Road racing or aggressive street?

In a VERY general sense, if you want the car to turn in quickly... like AX
- Soft front springs (sway bars and shocks are essentially springs too... set 'em way soft)
- Big rear springs / hard shock settings (I'll assume no rear anti-sway bar)

For bigger speeds and sweepers (like road race or street car)
big on all corners. Here's the rub though.
All of the above come into play. weight balance, differential, stiffness, and on and on and on. In a street car I like a road-race setup. In the tight twisties it's a little too much understeer, but it can be modulated with throttle and short gearing. To your tender springs.

If they are tuned to provide a softer takeup until your main springs take over then you may want to tune them progressively. That'll give the car a newer, more compliant road-handling feel, and keep the tires on the ground better. If you just buy them and the tender rate overlaps with the mains, or they are both linear, then you'll have a "two-step" spring that will be one rate until it's all-of-a-sudden another. Might be weird but unless one of these other hooligans has some real data, your gonna be experimenting with several spring sets.

Hopefully someone else has done this and can comment.

Here's my spring setup and you can judge compared to yours. It has a 993 motor and I can modulate lots of gross changes simply by adjusting the rear shocks. Everything else is throttle. If I want to go AX I can soften the front anti-sway bar settings if the shocks won't do it... and they usually won't.

- Fuel cell, battery, fire system, etc in the front trunk
- Caged
- LSD

Front:
16 x 8 wheels
Bilstien sport gas shocks
23mm torsion bars
22mm anti sway bar
turbo tie rods
Elephant polybronze bushings

Rear:
16 x 9 in wheels
Koni gas adjustables
200# springs on Coleman perches: 180's were perfect for the 2.7L but not enough for the 3.6
no anti-sway bar (might change that)
Elephant poly-bronze bushings

Hope that helps! Good Luck.