Summer Project - Suspension

[Dave L]

Some of this stuff is already purchased or is on its way but let me know how this sounds;

Front

Koni struts
Weltmiester 250lb springs (with spacers so stock height)
currently have 24mm sway bar but will be going to 26.8mm bar
new bushings for sway bar

Rear
Koni
stock Tbars (23.5mm)
18mm sway bar with new bushings

[Icey1174]

Sounds good so far... costs???

[924RACR]

Sounds like she might push a bit - I'd be considering 19mm rear Cup Car bar, if not bigger, unless you're getting a good deal on the 18mm rear bar... in which case I'd recommend trying without the front 26.8 bar first.

Just seems unbalanced.

[Dave L]

Originally posted by 924RACR
Sounds like she might push a bit - I'd be considering 19mm rear Cup Car bar, if not bigger, unless you're getting a good deal on the 18mm rear bar... in which case I'd recommend trying without the front 26.8 bar first.

Just seems unbalanced.

Pushing is a definite issue. I would like to get a 19mm adjustable bar if I could find one at a reasonable cost. The 18mm is a good deal as it is already on the car As it sits with the 24/18 bars the car is fairly balance but it just rolls way to much. I am hoping that this is because of the original shocks and struts

[Icey1174]

The bigger bar and new bushings in the front should help the roll.

[Dave L]

Originally posted by Icey1174
Sounds good so far... costs???

Front struts from a pelicanite (used for 1 year) - $200
front bar from local dismantler - $150
Springs from a pelicanite - $80
new rear Konis - $260
bushings, bump stops, shock boots etc. $ 120

[Tervuren]

The sway bar bushings where shot on my '84, I just replaced them, and several other worn components with play, car is soo much better.

[Icey1174]

Not a bad deal. Do they make a front bar as big as 30mm or is 28mm the biggest? I have a HUGE front bar and ordered new bushings a couple months ago. I don't remeber the size off hand. I had the front bar off the car for a day. Boy did it make a difference when I put it back on! My car doesn't roll at all. Maybe it's because it's just an n/a...

[Dave L]

This is by far the most ugly picture I have of my car but I think it shows what I am trying to correct

[Icey1174]

That is HORRIABLE! I think the springs will make a big difference. I don't drive mine on a track, but hard turns on exit ramps gets no roll. I got tons of roll with the bar off.

[Obin Robinson]

Originally posted by Dave L
This is by far the most ugly picture I have of my car but I think it shows what I am trying to correct

my friends and i call that "Audi roll" because it's like the terrible body roll in an old Audi with mushy suspension.

or we'd say

"that's got body roll so bad that the doorhandles scrape when you turn the wheel."

obin

[924RACR]

Yeah, that's why I've always run the 19mm bar - it's far cheaper than the Weltmeister crap:
http://www.*****************.com/product_p/968m030rearsway.htm

$150 with bushings!

[Icey1174]

I think my car rolled like that with NO front bar on it.

[Dave L]

Originally posted by Icey1174
I think my car rolled like that with NO front bar on it.

thats what R compound tires will do for you.

[Dave L]

Originally posted by 924RACR
Yeah, that's why I've always run the 19mm bar - it's far cheaper than the Weltmeister crap:
http://www.*****************.com/product_p/968m030rearsway.htm

$150 with bushings!

yes I was looking at that bar, with the 26.8mm and the 19mm rear would that balance things out a bit. I know that putting the heavier springs up front without changing the torsion bars isnt the optimal way to do things but I just wont have the budget for that now.

[mlue]

Originally posted by Dave L
Some of this stuff is already purchased or is on its way but let me know how this sounds;

Front

Koni struts
Weltmiester 250lb springs (with spacers so stock height)
currently have 24mm sway bar but will be going to 26.8mm bar
new bushings for sway bar

Rear
Koni
stock Tbars (23.5mm)
18mm sway bar with new bushings

From the pic I see what you mean... 250 lb springs in front will cure the roll but without a torsion bar upgrade you're asking for more undesteer than a 18 mm rear sway bar can do anything about. Bigger Sways help, but may not be enough of whats needed as they do next to nothing for dive & squat.

The rule of thumb should be to match the springs/torsion bars to get the handling close to neutral then use sway bars to fine tune the balance.

IMO, with 250 lb springs in front you should be balancing them out with 27mm, 28mm or 29mm torsion bars depending on your preference towards understeer / oversteer at the limit. For auto-xing I would have gone with a softer spring in front to get more rotation in the tight turns.

[Dave L]

I know the rear torsion bars are going to be soft. But I have been thinking of adding the 19mm adjustable bar in an attempt to make it a little more neutral. If that doesnt work well I would change out the torsion bars but that would have to be next year.

I have spoken with 1 shop and they told me to use my existing sway bars with new bushings, change the struts/shocks and springs. This shop tends more towards full blown coilover set-ups though.

[924RACR]

Of course, if you do the torsion bars next year, that's going to change everything, and you're back to square one - at very least, needing different front springs. You definitely won't want to have to change t-bars twice!

[Dave L]

I would upgrade the front bar to a 30mm if I upgraded the torsion bars to match the front springs.

Im getting annoyed with the whole torsion bar thing

[CJFusco]

I did a lot of suspension work to my 83 944 - 220lb springs, Koni yellows in the rear, bilstein sports in the front, turbo S sway bars all around, strut tower brace - but since I did the mods a little at a time, I didn't really feel a drastic difference as I went along...

When I got my 951, it was clear to me that I had made my little 944NA a very nice-handling car. The 951 handles well, but... well... I think suspension will be my winter project.