Harsh ride, PO, Does this belong at the end of the shock.

qikcpa · qikcpa's Garage

For years i have been dealing with a ride that was unpleasantly firm. Anything but the smoothest of roads shook me pretty harshly and once caused my better half to spill her coffee on her leg. Last year i got up the fortitude to change out all the bushings. took a weekend but all went well. still however the pounding continued. i replaced the tires. going from 60's to 50's made it worse until i raised the front end a dozen or so mm. the front seemed more supple but yet still bone jarring. this weekend it was time for shocks all around. i started with the back and found this when i removed the shock...

it looks to be about a three inch extension. i was about to transfer it to the new shock until i decided to check for a part number and look into PET. there is no such part. i guess the PO was too lazy to properly index the spring plates/torsion bars. it was easier to add the extension but that looks like it resulted in the shock bottoming out way to early if it wasnt just sitting on the compressed shock. i put it back together with the extension omitted and now the car sits bottomed out, like this....

Can anyone confirm that this part/extension does not belong. i really dont want to have to explain to my wife that the 2 hours shock replacement is going to be extended by a 3 hour ride height adjustment.

john walker's workshop · 10-08-2011, 01:49 PM

no, it's not a normal thing to find.

dad911 · 10-08-2011, 01:52 PM

Wow. The car should not ride on the bottomed out shock. I'm surprised the car was driveable.

Index the rear bar, and it will be like a new car.

masraum · 10-08-2011, 01:58 PM

Yeah, that's not something you should have in there. It looks like someone tried to fix 1 thing by buggering up something else.

Your car needs to be raised correctly (I wonder if your torsion bars are in good shape)

Yes, going from 60 series to 50 series tires will normally make the ride worse.

One thing to remember, when you raise the car, you will need to get an alignment.

Tinker · 02:09 PM

If those are KYB shocks, that's the big part of the 'harsh' ride.

Replace with Bilstein and note the difference.

And yes it appears the ride height need correcting.

Tinker

PeterRT · 10-08-2011, 10:23 PM

You were riding the bumpstops, must have been an absolute nightmare to drive.

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

Well, that is one way of raising a lowered a car.

Joeaksa · 10-09-2011, 07:09 AM

Boy, bet that was fun to drive. The good news is that it will be a joy to drive now!

qikcpa · qikcpa's Garage

got it lifted up off the wheels and took it for a spin. wow. its like driving a brand new car. the dips i would cringe at as i approached were like little pools of butter that the car skated across. a little more ride height tweaking and then a diy alignment and im in heaven.

i may have to sell the daily driver.

sc_rufctr · 10-09-2011, 07:15 AM

When I see stuff like this it reminds me of all of the so called "improvements" people make to their cars.

A short cut like this is just plain dangerous.

Honestly, some people shouldn't be allowed to own a Porsche.

78SCRSMAN · 78SCRSMAN's Garage

Those shocks should be replace if you were driving with them bottomed. They are no doubt garbage long ago. If you like the ride now, wait til you have some real dampening back there.