Raised spindles, How to properly do it? Options

[Korijo]

i thought the 4 cyl boges were tapered. and the 6cyl counterparts arent (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

mine are off my 73 /4, and they aren't tapered... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) car came w/ reds all around.

dont have any pics, yet.

[ChrisFoley]

I've raised the spindles on quite a few Boge (tapered) struts, both 914 and 911. Price is $270 plus shipping.
BTW, 911 spindles are about 1/4" higher than 914s already.

[ChrisFoley]

mine are off my 73 /4, and they aren't tapered...

Dave,
Yours are the tapered type. The tube below the spindle is smaller than the tube above.

[914_1.8t]

I've raised the spindles on quite a few Boge (tapered) struts, both 914 and 911. Price is $270 plus shipping.
BTW, 911 spindles are about 1/4" higher than 914s already.

Mine are out of a 82 SC. Are they tapered?

[Aaron Cox]

mine are off my 73 /4, and they aren't tapered...

Dave,
Yours are the tapered type. The tube below the spindle is smaller than the tube above.

ah HAH!! im not crazy!!!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Aaron Cox]

I've raised the spindles on quite a few Boge (tapered) struts, both 914 and 911.  Price is $270 plus shipping.
BTW, 911 spindles are about 1/4" higher than 914s already.

Mine are out of a 82 SC. Are they tapered?

boge, koni or bilstein?

[914_1.8t]

I've raised the spindles on quite a few Boge (tapered) struts, both 914 and 911.  Price is $270 plus shipping.
BTW, 911 spindles are about 1/4" higher than 914s already.

Mine are out of a 82 SC. Are they tapered?

boge, koni or bilstein?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) don't know....if i remember correctly, they are green. Does that indicate which they are?

[Aaron Cox]

I've raised the spindles on quite a few Boge (tapered) struts, both 914 and 911.  Price is $270 plus shipping.
BTW, 911 spindles are about 1/4" higher than 914s already.

Mine are out of a 82 SC. Are they tapered?

boge, koni or bilstein?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) don't know....if i remember correctly, they are green. Does that indicate which they are?

bilsteins....(i believe you can only use bilstein inserts)

chris can tell you if they can be modded

[Korijo]

mine are off my 73 /4, and they aren't tapered...

Dave,
Yours are the tapered type. The tube below the spindle is smaller than the tube above.

ah HAH!! im not crazy!!!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

oopps (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[ChrisFoley]

bilsteins....(i believe you can only use bilstein inserts)

chris can tell you if they can be modded

I have a set of those. I don't think you can remove the shock absorber in order to work on the strut. They don't have a screw cap at the top.

[TimT]

I don't think you can remove the shock absorber in order to work on the strut. They don't have a screw cap at the top.

Chris, there is a roll pin near the bottom of the strut, punch that out and remove the shock insert

[ChrisFoley]

Thanks Tim! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

[Brett W]

Why do you feel you need to raise the spindles? On a street car this is not a really useful mod, even on a race car you end up messing up the already bad front suspension geometry. When you lower the front you need to lower the back and when you go to low on the back you really mess things up.

[Eric_Shea]

I've raised Koni's. They max out at the tapper when raising. Meaning, you can only get 18mm out of them.

Chuck... are you sure about the 19mm and the 15"er's? Mine are 18mm and they are too damn close as it is. They tore off all the weights on the inside and are only about 1/8" off the wheel. I think 19mm might be too much for 15's. RSR's were raised 18mm by the factory.

Andy picture to follow (camera wasn't focusing too well in low light):

[brant]

hmmm.... i need to see which ones I have in the car.

But i'm thninking about the strut chop option. It seems the leaset difficult and probobly something I could do myself. Wouldn't really mess up suspension allignment. But I guess it will always have the shock copressed a little more (whatever the amount chopped is). But a few inches should not hurt the shocks too much I guess. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

914_1.8T,

I think if you chop the strut, you really need different inserts..... Just lowering a car (too much) will cause you to blow struts much more often. A friend of mine had a track car with Koni struts that he had to buy new front shocks for every season becuase he had his car dropped too much.

how low do you want to go.
You can just turn the adjuster screw and get a car pretty dang low (enough to blow shocks out) without all of this fiddling.....

brant

[TimT]

Brant, if you raise the spindles you can lower the car and maintain the same amount of shock travel. If you raise the spindles, and use the adjuster to lower the ride height, you can run out of shock travel., just like if you just lower the car via the adjuster.

Bilstein and Koni can shorten the strut inserts if needed

[Chuck Moreland]

Chuck... are you sure about the 19mm and the 15"er's? Mine are 18mm and they are too damn close as it is. They tore off all the weights on the inside and are only about 1/8" off the wheel. I think 19mm might be too much for 15's. RSR's were raised 18mm by the factory.

19mm is the max you can go with 15s. Like I said, this will likely require grinding or spacers. Wheel weights will certainly need to be located "off line".

[eeyore]

Why do you feel you need to raise the spindles? On a street car this is not a really useful mod, even on a race car you end up messing up the already bad front suspension geometry. When you lower the front you need to lower the back and when you go to low on the back you really mess things up.

B,

Can you enlighted me? Splain how!

[Brett W]

The stock suspension was set up for adequate performance within the constraints of a passenger car. The lower a-arms are too short thus causing the roll center to move all over the planet when the car goes into roll. The radical changes in length as it goes through travel can create a wierd sensation for the driver. Most race cars run such high spring rates and little suspension travel that this is not a problem, but 914 race cars still have a pretty high degree of travel compared to other types of cars. Another problem is the bumpsteer issue that we are all familiar with. Raising the spindles only makes this worse. The spacer kits only work with a limited range of bumpsteer correction. The proper way to adjust bumpsteer is with a kit like the ERP kit. When you bend the steering arm you shorten the arm as well. Thus changing the steering angle.

Since the front suspension is the easiest to change it tends to get more attention than the rear. The rear suspension has a big problem of toe change and roll center change when you lower the trailing arms past level. When the trailing arms go past level through their travel they load and unload the front wheels.
Imagine a broomstick. When you take this broomstick and hold it straight out and push against the wall what happens? Nothing. Now take that same broomstick and hold it at a 15deg downward angle. Lean on it. What happens?(watch out for the wall) The same thing happens with the rear suspension. When you roll into the power the rear suspension, that is at the wrong angle, will cause the chassis to lift or drop and it will unload the diagonal front wheel. When you unload a wheel you lose grip and the car will no longer turn. Welcome to "pushville".

I am working on the numbers now but I am not done yet so I can't/won't share anything concrete right now, maybe later.

[914_1.8t]

hmmm.... i need to see which ones I have in the car.

But i'm thninking about the strut  chop option.  It seems the leaset difficult and probobly something I could do myself.  Wouldn't really mess up suspension allignment.  But I guess it will always have the shock copressed a little more (whatever the amount chopped is).  But a few inches should not hurt the shocks too much I guess. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

914_1.8T,

I think if you chop the strut, you really need different inserts..... Just lowering a car (too much) will cause you to blow struts much more often. A friend of mine had a track car with Koni struts that he had to buy new front shocks for every season becuase he had his car dropped too much.

how low do you want to go.
You can just turn the adjuster screw and get a car pretty dang low (enough to blow shocks out) without all of this fiddling.....

brant

wow....this seems a like a lot of extra trouble to get the car to sit low. My situation is that I got some 180's in the back and they really lowered the car...actually i like it nice and low. I wanted to get the front equally low so the back of the car is not lower than the front. When I did this the front suspension has almost no travel left. Initially i thought about running 15" rims in the front (instead of the 16's which are on the car now) with lower profile rubber...that way I could raise the car a little and still have it sit low and have enough travel.

Now I've decided to put 18's on the car...since I have a set sitting that I am not using. They are 18x8.5 fronts (with 225/40zr18) and 18x9.5" rear (with 265/35zr18). So bumping the tire/rim size down is no longer an option. That is why I want the lowered spindles.

By the way, here is a pic of the car at it's present ride height (which is how low i want to be with the 18s):