Weird report from alignment shop.

[RWebb]

can I vote for Carrera instead of SC?

keep looking - a complete front susp. may be a lot more now than when I did it, but...

also check the classifieds here - people are always pulling of the xlnt. Carrera brakes to put on some worthless blingy thing

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by avi8torny

My bet is that your spindle is bent slightly.

The car matches its owner!

[McLovin]

I always thought Boge struts were black, Bilsteins green.

[dipso]

I remeasured and it is exact, wheel center cap to wheel center cap. I don't remember what he said was off, I just told him to get it as close as possible.
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was talking about caster. I honestly don't remember and probably should of been paying attention.

I would go with Bilstein struts and SC rebuilt calipers, which will require SC rotors. You can re-use your old stuff. I seriously doubt that your tub is welded in 1" off, but who knows.

[dipso]

Ha!

Quote de avi8torny

My bet is that your spindle is bent slightly.

The car matches its owner!

[dipso]

I'm happy with my brakes. It stops on a dime with no forward lurch, because of how low it is.

can I vote for Carrera instead of SC?



keep looking - a complete front susp. may be a lot more now than when I did it, but...



also check the classifieds here - people are always pulling of the xlnt. Carrera brakes to put on some worthless blingy thing

[rusnak]

Castor is easily adjusted.

IIRC, Carrera and SC brakes are the same piston size up front. The rear calipers have a larger bore on Carreras. The only difference in the front brakes would be the huge rotor on the Carreras, I think? They are about as thick as the Brembo Big Reds?

[rusnak]

Brake performance can be either the initial bite, or resistance to fade. Most of your useful upgrades will be focused on fade resistance or heat rejection. I think that is why Carrera brakes are better than SC brakes, but SC would bite like the devil compared to earlier brakes.

[Trackrash]

Originally Posted by dipso

Just talked to a local used parts supply house.
350.00 a piece for Bilstein struts. 1200.00 for a complete SC front suspension.
I would say the complete suspension idea is out.

I'm going to call the unibody frame straightening place and see if they can put my car on the rack and tell me if my struts or A frames are bent.

Sounds like a good place to start. If you are lucky they may be able to straighten your strut, if it is bent.

A while back there were Bilstein struts coming up on the 911 Parts Forum at reasonable prices, if you want to go that route.

Some guys like Boge struts because you can choose what type of shock to use. Bilstein and Koni both make inserts for Boge struts.

Have you looked at the strut mounts in your trunk? You should look and see if they are adjusted evenly from side to side. If you have a bent strut one side will be in a different position than the other.

Have you pulled a wheel yet? Make sure you check for any play or looseness in the suspension and bearings before you take it to the frame shop.

[dipso]

Well, on the way home I stopped at the place that quoted me.
He had one Bilstein in stock, with the shock. He is going to get the other one from his other warehouse. He is going to get me 2 calipers that will fit the larger bolt pattern. He said my 3" calipers won't work with a Bilstein strut.
He is going to put everything on too.
I think that is a good start.
I also called the alignment shop to ask the guy if he remembered exactly what he told me, about something being off an inch? He was at lunch when I called and hasn't returned my call.
I really don't understand this poor customer service lately. The mechanic I use, or used to use, is the same way.

[Flieger]

If they are A calipers on there then the struts are 3.5". Did you measure the spacing? I am not up on mid-year part identification.

[dipso]

No, I didn't do any measuring. I'm just going to bring it in and have it taken care of.
I was pretty comfortable with the rear end, but I didn't want to take apart the struts and brakes.
I have confidence in this guy to do a good job.
Then when the new struts and brakes are on, we will see what else it needs.
I still might rebush everything underneath. I have to remember to have him look at the ball joints.

[djpateman]

The photo posted of the caliper on the first page is definitely an M caliper, thus 3.0" spacing. Ball joints will have to match the strut.

[Jim Richards]

dipso, I think you should not spend any money on your suspension right now. It sounds like your car is pretty good as it currently is, so, I suggest you instead try to decide what specific improvements you'd like to achieve. You might have better results by just refreshing bushings. Or maybe you want to uprate your torsion bars. Lots of the things you can do to improve handling, but you need to think this out carefully. Once again, go slow, don't be too quick to spend money that might not provide meaningful improvements.

[dipso]

Jim, I'm not going to go crazy. The thing handles awesome. It just is a little hard to steer at slow speed.
I want to get rid of that 3 degree camber and don't mind upgrading the struts and brakes to see if that fixes it. if it doesn't, it doesn't.
I already have upgraded torsion bars, 21, 26 maybe. They are in my signature in the earlier posts.
I really think my struts are
bent. Literally, I am betting money on it.
Might be ball joints too, we'll see.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by dipso

Jim, I'm not going to go crazy. The thing handles awesome. It just is a little hard to steer at slow speed.
I want to get rid of that 3 degree camber and don't mind upgrading the struts and brakes to see if that fixes it. if it doesn't, it doesn't.
I already have upgraded torsion bars, 21, 26 maybe. They are in my signature in the earlier posts.
I really think my struts are
bent. Literally, I am betting money on it.
Might be ball joints too, we'll see.

I'm not so sure the camber alone is affecting your slow speed turning. What's your toe setting? What size tires are you running?

[dipso]

I don't know what the toe setting is, they didn't give me a printout. When I called yesterday to get #s, they didn't call back.
I'm not sure of tire size, I'm at work. I know it's 225 in the rear and possibly 205? front. I'm on 16" 6's and 7's. I don't think it's 225 all the way around, but it could be.
I think the struts are a good place to start and the recheck camber and caster.
It drove pretty good at 24 1/4" front and back. When I dropped the back to 23 3/4" is when I kind of noticed it.
I'll bet it's caster. I think rechecking caster after new struts will help.

[bill's911]

I just blew a rear tire the weekend due to worn out inner tread even though the outer had decent tread left (Michelin PS2). Rear camber settings are -1.84 left and -2.27 right with toe set at .12 left and 0.0 right. Not sure when PO put the tires on. How far negative should the camber be set for balance of handling in spirited driving a little some autoX and decent tread life?

How much adjustment should I be able to get ... Car is lowered sitting 24.5 rear and 25 front at fender lip on 285 30 zr18's