Well, got the old strut out and MAN was it a beotch to compress. Once I got it out, it is a very new Bilstien, but is was VERY stiff, and literally has less than 1.5 inches of travel. That can't be good.

However, there were no rubber "snubbers" under the dust cap. I can probably find a set on one of the parts cars, but before I make the effort, are they necessary?

Chris.......John got that complete rebuilt front end from Rich Johnson right before you got the car. I'm very suprized that you had a bad strut.
If you can't find any snubbers I've got a basement full of them.

Bob

You need snubbers to keep the shock from bottoming out and destroying itself.

Thanks Bob, but I yanked a couple of good ones from a parts car.

After looking things over more carefully, I realized that there is no snubber, because there is no place to put one. The inserts were heavy duty Bilsteins. The shaft broadens out to 95% of the full insert size right below where the dust cover sits. I looked up the part number, and it is listed under both 914 and 68-72 911.


BTW: Don't tell anybody, but the inserts I used were "Gabriel Premuim Gas" struts I picked up at the FLAPS about 4 years ago when I found them on a clearance table marked down from $249.00 to $49.00. They were the only struts on the table, and when I saw they were for a 914, I figured it was fate for me to find them, so I bought them even thought I didn't need them. I know they are not from the motherland, but they ride great.

Not only that, when the strut suddenly stops in compression. The spring rate goes to infinity and weird handling issues follow.

iirc bilsteins have the rubber snubbers built in to the shock.