Question on strut choices

[Mike80911]

The time has come to change the struts on my car The car has the Bilstein struts in it now so I am going to stay with them. There are 2 types of struts offered Heavy Duty and Sport. My question is what is the ride difference between the two? Has anyone had both in their car? What do those who have recommend?
Thanks
Mike

[jwasbury]

I went with Sports all around, along with a modest increase in torsion bar size.

recommend you refresh all rubber bushings in the suspension as well assuming they are original and 30 years old.

you are close enough to me that I am sure we could organize a test drive of my car so you could get a feel of what slightly upsized torsion bars and sport struts feels like (along with new bushings).

[JFairman]

Originally Posted by Mike80911

The time has come to change the struts on my car The car has the Bilstein struts in it now so I am going to stay with them. There are 2 types of struts offered Heavy Duty and Sport. My question is what is the ride difference between the two? Has anyone had both in their car? What do those who have recommend?
Thanks
Mike

The Sports give a somewhat stiffer ride then the heavy duty ones during compression and rebound than the Heavy Duty ones due to different valving.

The original shocks are like the heavy duty ones. If you like the stock ride you can use the heavy duty ones and if you want a stiffer ride and better high speed handling the sport ones are nice.
They also make RSR valved inserts that are stiffer than sports. Mostly in the compression valving. They are the best choice for driving on a smooth surfaced track.

It all depends on personal preference, how smooth or bumpy your local roads are and what you use the car for.
If you send shocks to Bilstein they can change the valving.

[zakthor]

My experience sports on front are too stiff for street.

I had sports all round on an otherwise stock and refreshed 911 sc and found the front too harsh on the street.

On my 930 I had suspension updated with polybronze, monoball strut mount, stiffer torsion bars, bigger sway bars and lowered. Kept the standard HD for front but went with sports for rear. Feels terrific to me.

[full quack]

I did HD's but was not happy, then went with Sport, still not happy. So I finally went with TB matched Von shocks. In all fairness though, I also have done a lot more to the entire suspension set-up, so.......

Mark

[Jeff NJ]

I recently sent my original HD struts and shocks to Bilstein to be rebuilt. They came back as good as new and it was much, much cheaper than buying new ones. If you are not tracking the car, I don't see the need to go to sport struts.

Time to upgrade Jeff NJ's 930 Post #59.

I also replaced all the rubber suspension parts like Jake recommended a few posts back.

[Mike80911]

Thanks for the input guys. My car is basically street driven no track or autocross. The roads here are ***** so I am not looking to make the suspension any stiffer so I guess HD is the way to go.
Jake thanks for the offer maybe if there is a Turbopalozza this year I can see what your car rides like.
Jeff how much did they charge to rebuild yours and how long did it take?

[Jeff NJ]

It was about $100 per strut/shock. Here is the link to their repair services: Service

Mine needed the shafts replaced too, but they were only like $15 extra.

You ship them the parts, they inspect it and come up with a quote and then you approve it and they do the work and ship them back to you. It took about 5-6 weeks, but that included a week to ship out and a week to ship back. You can call them to see what their current turn times are.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by full quack

...So I finally went with TB matched Von shocks...

Mark

Mark,

What TB and VS Level?

Thanks

JJ

[full quack]

JJ,

31's & 26's for TB's, the Von shocks were valved {sp?} by ERP to match those TB rates. My rear shocks are also a tad bit shorter than a stock Bilstein, as my sled is rather low. I also raised my front spindles 40mm etc. etc.

Contact ERP if you need technical data on the shocks per TB rating that they offer.

Mark