Lowering the front

[Ole Petter]

Hi, I am in the process of lowering the car. I understand that there may be a thick 1/2" donut washer/spacer on the top of the front strut, and that this can be removed to help lower the car?
My car is a 1974 US 911S and is 26" high at the front... The ajusting bolts of the torsion bars are set at the lowest position!

Is this spacer visible or do you have to raise the car and undo the (Boge) strut from the top to be able to tell if this spacer sits on the strut?
How much will the removal of this spacer lower the car?

Ole

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Ole Petter

... The ajusting bolts of the torsion bars are set at the lowest position!...

The rubber spacer on the shock is a different issue entirely (I have Bilsteins, so can't address Boges), but you simply need to remove the tension from the "end caps" (or whatever they're called), and reposition them in order to give you some more room for adjusting the t-bars. Hope that helps...

[Jay Laifman]

There was definitely such a spacer on my 73.5 and I removed it when I replaced the front struts. When you undo the top, the whole unit comes down and you can remove the spacer. It is only on US cars. That said, it's been a LONG time since I did it. I remember having problems with not getting enough downward motion without "bottoming out" at the end of how far the brake lines would go. Not a good thing! I don't remember how I solved it. But, once I did, it was easier. Hopefully someone else will have some info.

I also seem to recall that compressing the strut itself was very difficult. Hopefully someone else can add some info on that.

But, that metal USA spacer was definitely in there. You will need to get the front end realigned after.

As a side note, ever since I bought the car 20 years ago, when it got over 100 mph, it got a bit light in front. The faster I went, the lighter and the scarier. Once I had the spacers removed, and the front end was just a tad lower than the rear end (as the rear was a bit squat compared to the front before that), the car LOVED going over 100! It just gets firmer and firmer. Sad that I went so many years with that wrong. Fortunately, it has been about 14 years since I got this fixed right!

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by Ole Petter

Hi, I am in the process of lowering the car. I understand that there may be a thick 1/2" donut washer/spacer on the top of the front strut, and that this can be removed to help lower the car?
My car is a 1974 US 911S and is 26" high at the front... The ajusting bolts of the torsion bars are set at the lowest position!
Is this spacer visible or do you have to raise the car and undo the (Boge) strut from the top to be able to tell if this spacer sits on the strut?
How much will the removal of this spacer lower the car?
Ole

Ole,

The front torsion bar retaining cap and the adjusting bolt control the the front suspension ride height. The 1/2" donut you mentioned will not lower your ride height.



You can re-index the retaining cap/s and set it accordingly for your desired goal. A significant change in the ride height will affect the front suspension geometry. A set of steering rack bump steer spacers is also required. Good luck.

Tony

[Jay Laifman]

???? As I just said, yes it will. Been there, done it. At least on a 1973 911. It's well documented that this donut was added for US cars to raise the headlights and bumpers. There is a direct connection from the top of the strut to the suspension. It can't not lower the front.

[Ole Petter]

I thought the idea of this "washer" was to raise the car, so that in an eventual crash the bumpers would be higher? For the US-market, as my car, that is...

[Eagledriver]

Tony is correct that removing the spacer will not lower the car. While the strut is connected to the a-arm it doesn't supply spring pressure to the a-arm (except the slight amount from the gas pressure inside). The strut is only to keep the geometry of the suspension and to provide a location for the damper. Removing the spacer will allow more travel in the damper before bottoming out. This is important if you lower the front of the car by adjusting the torsion bars.

-Andy

[Jay Laifman]

Well I don't know what to tell you. Either I imagined it or the strut does have more than light gas pressure. I know I did not imagine it. I pulled out the donuts, drove it around to get it settled, then measured. Yep, lowered. Then I finished it off by using the other adjustments, then got it aligned. It is a highly pressured strut that has more pressure the further it is compressed - unlike a shock absorber which shifts its fluid and is the same resistance regardless where it starts. And, like I said, I remember difficulting compressing it with bare hands - which would similarly resist against the weight of the car, and would result in a different ride height when the donut was removed.

[Chuck Moreland]

Boyt is right. The 1/2 spacer does not affect ride height. It's sole purpose is to position the strut insert in the middle of it's range of travel when the car is setup with the US ride height spec.

[911st]

Several things here.

I do not know what years have the spacer or how to tell if it is there.

There is often a spacer on the top of the shocks with USA cars that should be removed when the front is lowered to keep reasonable travel in the shock. To remove this loosen lug nuts, jack up car, remove wheel, put adjustable jack under arm or blocks to keep from falling. Remove bolt on top of shock. Then you can jack up the a arm to compress the shock, then lower it back down so the top of the shock comes down far enough to get to the top of the shock. There lies the spacer.

Second, if you are going real low and keep the stock springs, it is good to remove the upper cap of the shock and there may be a rubber bump stop. remove this and trim it down by no more than an inch. Trim it off the fat end, the tappered end is softer and you want to keep it. Then put everything back together.

Third. The adjusting arms pictured above is how you adjust the front height. They there is not enough adjustment with the screws you need to re index the torsion bars to the arms.

If you have enough room you can do this with the wheels on the ground and put a jack under the front and raise the front up enough to get the slack you need to reindex the torsion arms. With the pressure off the front you can remove the adjusting screews from the arm, then the arm shoud be able to be pulled off the end of the torsion bar. Some times things are stuck and you have to work it. Some times the bar wants to come out with the arms.

It is important to try to keep both sides even. If your turn one screw three turns, do the same on the other side. If you reindex the arm one spline, do the same on the other side. If you are going to have the car corner balanced and aligned, no big deal. If you need to try to get it close yourself you can try this.

Roll the car back or drive it around a bit to settle the front suspension. Jack the car up by the center of the motor in the back to raise both wheels off the ground. (Use a pad on the jack.) Disconect the sway bar, now measure both sides heights and adjust each side till you is close to level in front. Carfully push down on each side to get the car to settle as you go along.

Hope this helps.

[Jay Laifman]

Well, I guess I've been shown to be wrong. Perhaps it was a momentary fluke. Oh well. Sorry for the confusion.

[911st]

You are right, it you have pressure filled shocks like Bilsteins (sp) taking out the spacer may effect height.

If you put new Bil's on, the car will often raise up. I miss understood the question. I once thought I was doing a simple shock replacement to find I had to reset the suspension heights all around.

[afterburn 549]

AND the real ans. is......What Chuck said of course