Advice sought: shock upgrade and source

Hi guys,

I'm ready to order new shocks for the old 912E to replace the OEM Boge in front, and some English brand in the back.

Anyway, I am interested in two things:

1. What type should I buy for use in autocrossing and a very stiff street ride. I don't care about a rough ride. I just don't want to have to replace them again anytime soon because I didn't get "enough" the first time around. Do I want a sport shock?

2. Best source price-wise. If Pelican is close, I'll buy here because the forum is worth a little extra. But, has anyone made a recent purchase? What can I expect to pay? I haven't really researched/shopped yet.

Also, I'll be doing a few other things at the same time, such as lowering the little bugger and installing a larger front sway bar and installing a rear sway bar as it had none before.

Thanks guys! Have a great holiday weekend!

Dave

well if you can afford it, coil-overs are by far the best route.

Bilstein sports seem to be a favorite.

Noone can beat the prices at www.shox.com

I think they sell a set of 4 Bilstein sports for $410 (for my SC at least).

Good Luck.
Nick.

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_ _ __ _ _
Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe
nickshu@yahoo.com
PCA -- Rocky Mtn. Region

Dave,

Take a few minutes and look in Pano, Excellence and the internet. You will find many suppliers for the shocks, and if they are anywhere near the same price as Pelican, I agree that its good to support our sponsor of this list. Many people have mentioned Vertex, Paragon, Shox as well as Pelican before on this list, so check each one for the price on your application.

I just put Bilstein Sport on the back, and HD versions on the front of my 85 model 911. Did it this way at the recommendation from several excellent tech people, as the front end of these cars is lighter than the rear and Sport settings is just not needed on all four corners. I am very happy with the way the car feels.

If you are doing only track and want it really stiff, put "sport" versions on all four corners and you will be happy... An earlier posting suggested the coilover setup, and that would be nice, although it would probably cost you 3/4th of what the car is worth!

Would also upgrade the torsion & sway bars, new bushings on the suspension and turbo tie rods at the same time and your 912 will be transformed. Remember that after doing all the above you will have to align the front and rear suspension.

JA

Joe,

Are you running stock torsion bars?

Bilstein has surely already factored the 911 weight bias into these shocks. After all they are purpose made for the application.

It would be wrong to think a 911 rear shock is going to have the same damping effect as a 911 front shock.

Unless you are trying to compensate for some other change to your car (like putting on big rear torsion bars with stock front torsion bars) you really want to match the front and rears because they are designed to work together.

I would agree that coil overs are very costly and massive overkill for your intended use.

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'86 Cab, '77 Targa, Family Truckster

Can you guys imagine the looks on peoples faces at a local, informal autocross upon being informed that a guy showed up with an 86HP 912E with a full coil-over suspension? I'd die laughing myself.

In my best Beavis/Butthead voice: "Uh, and I got the shiny helmet to match."

I was thinking basically upgrade to stiffer torsion bars, do the turbo tie rods, add ther rear sway bar and bump up the front, and new shocks.

My mechanic suggested just going with the factory 930 size rear torsion bars as enough for the light rearend of my 912.

Dave

Clark,

Yes, am running stock torsion bars right now. Was planning on going up in size but to tell the truth after doing the shocks, sway bars and such, the car handles very nice as it is. Also complicating the issue is that the torsion bars are not a "quick and dirty" mod and not cheap when you factor in all the time and labor.

Would have done the work myself ten years ago but getting greasy all weekend has lost much of its luster lately and would rather work one or two overtime days and pay a professional to do the really complicated or involved work.

I did the HD/Sport shocks at the recommendation of Steve Weiner, who knows what he is talking about. I am very happy with this setup and the ride and do not expect that this will change with time. The car with this setup is extremely agile and controlable, and unless I am going on the track with sticky tires, will leave it this way. Right now it goes where I want it and the main limitation is the set of Bridgestone RE71 tires, which will be change shortly for something a bit more sticky!

Joe