front end lowering question

[steve930t]

I'm building a 73 RS replica (71 tub) with the suspension from an 84 Carrera. I have the ride height set (low) and the front struts are just about completely compressed. The struts are Boge. Would any other strut have more travel or do I need to get raised spindle struts? If the answer is raised spindles, where do I get them?

[steve930t]

Anyone?

[MotoSook]

That's pretty low! You sure you need it that low?

Anyhow, the raised spindles are done on the Bilstein struts. You'll need to find some used struts, than raise it yourself or send it out. Better yet, find some that have been raised already. Be careful how much you rasie it.....too much and you'll have issues with wheel fitment, if you want to run 15's.

[450knotOffice]

If the front is as low as you imply, then yes, you should go with raised spindles. As far as how to procure them, I have no idea. I've read that you can send in your struts to have the spindles raised.

On a side note, I'd go with Bilstein or Koni shocks and strut inserts instead of the Boges. The Boges are probably a bit soft for your intended application.

[Az911]

What is the ride height in the front?

[steve930t]

The front end height is about 24.5". I could go up an inch and it would still look good, but I still won't have enough travel. I'm trying to get the mechanicals sorted out so I could take it apart to have the tub media blasted.

[North Coast Cab]

Cut one of the three humps out of the rubber bump stop or replace the struts with new Nilstein inserts and they'll be gone all together.


John

[jluetjen]

The bump stop is there for a reason, and it's not to protect the shock when bottoming. It is there to provide a somewhat gradual transition from the car's suspended suspension rate to the essentially infinite spring rate of the bottomed suspension. Lowering the suspension the way that steve930t has increases the possibility of the car bottoming on the suspension, and removing one section of the bump stop will make the transition even more drastic. The result will sudden snap understeer if a bump is encountered in a corner. And then there are the geometry issues of the MacPherson strut suspension design when run in that condition...

If you're going to lower the front suspension of a 911 that far, you need to do it by raising the spindle. Once you've done that, your front roll center will have moved up compared to the rear's which will increase understeer unless the front sway bar is softened. At that point you really should look at raising the rear roll center to match (thus restoring the intended balance to the car). This can be done by installing the slotted inner trailing arm mounts in the back.