What upgrade is best to do first? Shock's or Torsion bars?

[bigrubberjeep]

What upgrade is best to do first? Shock's or Torsion bars?

I am concidering doing one of these upgrades within the next 2 months, I cant afford to do both at the same time.

What upgrade would you do first and why?

[klaucke]

I have no opinion, or more correctly no experience to base an opinion on, however, this thread really made me think. I had previously assumed shocks were first: Finally, Winter projects are Done, news and reviews

Or, get some coil overs and you can do both at once!

[JP911]

It depends on how stiff you want to make the ride. Matching shock valving to spring rates is pretty important.

[jpnovak]

If you are still on the stock shocks I recommend doing those first. You will notice a big difference in ride quality. Check the condition of your bushings too.

You can always remove a shock and see how much damping is left. If its really easy to compress by hand they need to be replaced.

[Eugene at Pelican Parts]

Originally posted by JP911
It depends on how stiff you want to make the ride. Matching shock valving to spring rates is pretty important.

I agree... however if your shocks are worn out, those should be done first. T-bars take quite some time before they fatigue.

As a sidenote regarding labor intensity, rear shocks are pretty straight-forward while fronts take a little more effort. Conversely, rear T-bars are kind of a pain while the fronts are simple to do.

Regardless of which you do first, an alignment must follow either procedure. Obviously it's better to do it all in one shot.

911 Suspension Wizard

I did shocks first and torsion bars later. If your shocks are in ok condition do the t-bars first. If you shocks are soft and worn replace them first.

[bigrubberjeep]

My lowered car ride slike a cadillac, my wrench says it is due to my boge shocks and the lowering. It feels really spongy to me

[Wil Ferch]

Tough one...
If your car is stock and if shocks are original...then do shocks first because they will be worn. If , under these conditions, you change TB's first, you'll have yet stiffer springs with less-than-stock shocks.

--Wil

[bigrubberjeep]

Good point Wil

[RallyJon]

Overdamped is always better than oversprung and underdamped.

[Jgordon]

rallyjon, why is that?

[Vipergrün]

Going out on a limb here... I say upgrade the torsion bars first, then get the new shocks re-valved to match them.

[Jeff Alton]

What shocks are you putting in? Stiff shocks and soft bars make for a tough ride. How long until you can do both? Koni gas, for instance, will raise the car requiring a torsion bar adjustsment. If the car needs to be adjusted, may as well put the bigger bars in too! What size bars will you put in eventually?

Eugene is right, if at all possible, wait until you can do it all at once.

Jeff

[bigrubberjeep]

I was just threw out the subject because my wrench pointed out what I was thinking the whole time, my ride is mushy.

So since I am on a budget and ALLWAYS looking to tweak something, I figured I would start with one of the two

[Grady Clay]

Even with old worn (but still serviceable) shocks a 911 is over-damped. This is true even with stiff torsion bars.

My choice would be to first replace the torsion bars, lower the 911 appropriately (meaning not too low) and careful alignment and corner balancing. Make sure you never (well seldom) hit the rubber bump stops. You may find this works great.

If it turns out that the 911 “bounces” from insufficient shock, only then replace them. Stiff torsion bars (say 22F-29R mm) can work just fine with properly functioning stock shocks. Do HD, Sport, Competition, etc. shocks work better? Yes, but only in certain circumstances. Too stiff a shock is very unpleasant on the street.

If my car were for street only, I would use stock shocks and stiff torsion bars. If I were to do any track, I would moderately increase the shock rate depending on the type of tires.

Best,
Grady

[juanbenae]

i have a pile of parts sitting in my living room that i could not afford all at once. i buy what i can as i go, you'd be amazed at the enjoyment i get out of just looking at new t-bar, elephant bushing and the other parts that will complete my suspension upgrade. i have the parts all ready but will not statrt until the credit cards come down a bit and i can afford the allign and balance.

so buy what you can when you can. you may need a bit more than i needed with the boge struts. i was able to go billys right away because they camme oem

[braddb_82SC]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but it is my understanding that a shock replacement will not effect the car's alignment. If this is the case, one would want to install shocks first. Upgrades that effect the alignment, such as torsion bars, could be done as group.
This was my strategy. I replaced the shocks last November. I finally finished accumulating parts for my part two of the project last month. After installing torsion bars, sways, bushings and turbo tie rods myself I brought the car in for an alignment/corner balance, which cost $390 (+ $120 for tire mount/balance). I've only had the car back for two days but I am very impressed so far. It's a strange sensation turning the steering wheel and feeling no sway.

Of course if you are only going to replace shocks and torsion bars I suppose it doesn't not matter which is done first, as long as you budget for the alignment/CB along with the torsion bar replacement.

-Brad

[RallyJon]

Because there's nothing scarier than driving on dampers that can't control the springs and swaybars. Hit a bump in a fast sweeper and it's tankslapper city!

My experience sample size (of 911s anyway) is exactly one, so if Grady says all 911s are overdamped and it's not an issue, then believe him.

[}{arlequin]

Since you are apparently just *dying* to mod your car (I don't blame you, how's that decklid coming along LOL) why don't you just swing by TRE? I think you're guaranteed to leave them some $ and, most imprtantly, drive away happily sprung.

[Wil Ferch]

Question to Grady:
Huh?
A year or two ago my ( basically) stock 85 Carrera had a lane change problem....ever-so-subtle..that I could not diagnose. a kind of multiple, small yaw action during fast lane changes. Everything checked out, including alignment and corner weights..... so I couldn't figure it out. Long story made short? Shocks. Car had 45-55k miles at that time...but a change to new shocks made all the difference.

So, how do we reconcile this with "all are overdamped" even with worn shocks ??? Not starting a flame or anything....just looking for guidance.

---Wil