New Struts - Old Springs - need advice

[Tidybuoy]

This may sound like a dumb question but I could use some advice from the experts...

I recently put in new Koni Strut Inserts in my '88 944. I kept the old springs - the car only has 22k miles.

The ride is much firmer and the car definitely handles better but I feel that the ride is a bit harsh. We have a bumpy freeway in Fresno and with my new setup, the car bounces like crazy and every bump in the road is harsh (on the softest setting)

My dumb question: It seems like if I hit a pot hole, the car definitely dips hard and I was thinking that maybe I should have also put in stronger springs (i.e., upped the spring rate). My theory is that the springs compress too easily and don't rebound quick enough.

But, with stronger springs, the springs won't compress as easily and then (possibly) when going over bumps the car will bounce off the bump rather than compress the springs.

I could use some pros & cons regarding going to a stronger spring. Maybe I should just get new stock springs or worse yet, maybe I should have just put in stronger sway bars (keeping the same ride but improving cornering).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.........Vern

[flash968]

it sounds like the exact opposite of what you think

you may well have a couple of things going on - first, the konis, if they are the yellow ones, are gas - gas struts and shocks have a preload in them that automatically makes them harsher feeling

if they are the same ones i have in my 968, they are adjustable and you probably have them set too high - are you sure they are on the softest setting?

shocks and struts do one thing - they dampen the spring - they are not to add suspension stiffness - that's what the springs are supposed to do - this is a very misleading concept, and a common mistake many people make

here's the basic rule - if the car is dipping, you need more spring - if the car is bouncing, you need less spring - if the car is undulating both up and down on dips, you need more shock - if the car is jarring, you need less shock

there is a lot of material out there that can explain this in much greater detail - a quick google will turn up a lot

[Tidybuoy]

Thanks for the advice....Your comments sound about right. The car rode well before the switch but cornering could have been better. Maybe I shoud have just put in stiffer sway bars which would only increase stiffness when turning (i.e., twisting the sway bar).

[JustinL]

I find that I quite like the koni inserts with 250lb welmeister lowering springs. Not exactly a soft ride, but still better than the turbo S with 375lb springs.

[jcommin]

I have an 83 and just redid my front suspension. I have read allot of articles and one of the least expensive ways to upgrade the car is changing the struts, sway bars and springs. I replaced the 24 year old Konis with:

Koni yellows - adjustable
Weltmiester 200 lb springs - lowers the car about an 1 inch
Replaced the front sway bar to a sway bar off a 951 (thicker diameter)
Needed new bushings too.

Techno Duck was very helpful with this set-up. After doing some research, this set up is quite common.

I also replaced the rear shocks with Koni's and went to a larger rear sway bar. I also plan on lowering the rear too. Duck provided me a link, a very good article. It's attached. It provides allot of information on suspensions.



http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/d...m#Ride%20height

[flash968]

there is an infinite number of setups for these cars

the key is balance - what you do to one thing needs to be addressed in other areas as well - increase a spring, and you have to increase a shock to match - do it on one end, and you need to do it on the other - the same thing goes for sway bars - all of these are affected by geometry - everything works in concert

knowing what is going on with the car, and then determining what you want out of it, is not particularly simple, and what one person might want is usually not what the next guy wants

i've been at this for about 30 years now, and this curent car was the most difficult to set up - i didn't factor in changes in my body - as it turns out, what would have been great for me at 20 is not anything like what i want now - on top of that, the suspension design of the car is very old - this made it pretty hard to tune - i've got it now, but i had to do a lot of redesign and even make new sway bars to get there (the M030 bars were not nearly big enough) - i've probably got about 15 grand in my suspension now - glad i did it, but it wasn't simple

there is some really good reading material out there - poke around and have fun