How Do You Remove Front Suspension?

[EIPtuningR32]

hey, i bought Carl's suspension kit and iam trying to remove the front suspension that is on the car right now. i undid the bolt that holds the bottom of the shock down and i cant remove the suspension. i have tried clamping the spring, lowering the bottom thing that pivots like the upper a-arm, but the spring still hits the upper a-arm. anyone have any experience on how to remove the suspension (shock and spring)? i tried undoing the two bolts on the upper a-arm but i striped one of them cause i couldnt figure out wtf would fit it. 19mm was too big and 18mm was to small, 3/4 was too big and 11/16 was too small....... so i cant undo the upper a-arm. any ideas? iam about to put a couple of rounds of 7.62 through it if i cant figure it out...

[Mrmerlin]

remove the the tow hook rear bolt loosen the front one, then remove the 4 bolts holding the lower control arm to the chassis the top of the shock should drop down enough to slide out then a little manuvering should have it clear of the car, it might also help to remove the front wheel block off plates but usually not necessary

[rhjames]

all of the bolts are metric--if metric didn't work, somebody screwed up the heads of the bolts/nuts.

as to removing the suspension, you should be able to remove the lower control arm after you unbolt the front tow hooks and Stan suggested. the upper A-arm is two bolts (yes, the ones that are giving you trouble). separate the ball joints and disconnect the sway bar links and you're pretty much done.

are you also removing the shocks/springs? (sorry, re-read post--yes you are) lower control arms and A-arms should come out first to make s/s removal easier.

don't shoot the car--it's a waste of good ammo--

--Russ

[Mrmerlin]

you dont have to separate the ball joints. you will usually damage the boots.
Once the lower control arm is hanging down the the A arm will also drop down some then the shock can be maneuvered out the top of the A arm.
Dont loosen the A rm bolts either ( they are secured with 22mm nuts BTW)

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by Mrmerlin

you dont have to separate the ball joints. you will usually damage the boots.
Once the lower control arm is hanging down the the A arm will also drop down some then the shock can be maneuvered out the top of the A arm.
Dont loosen the A rm bolts either ( they are secured with 22mm nuts BTW)

i cant move the suspension at all. the lower a-arm is all the way down and the upper a-arm is being pushed down by the thing that holds the coil spring to the shock. its wider than the a-arm and i cant fit it through.

[lfausty]

so what do you do mine is exactly at this same jammed point it cant fit through

[vdubr928]

Link to Carl's kit?

[EIPtuningR32]

Originally Posted by vdubr928

Link to Carl's kit?

928 Motorsports - Performance Parts - PERFORMANCE and RACING SPRING KIT for the Porsche® 928

[MPDano]

Funny how old posts don't get resolved or they get resolved and the OP doesn't post his/her conclusion.

Well, I also had the same issue. I followed Merlins advice and lowered the lower Arms. Still not enough room to get the spring out since the perch lays on the upper A Arm.

I finally had to break out my Harbor Freight Spring Compressor and compressed the spring enough to be able to get enough leverage to pry the top part of the shock out.

The rear shocks are a pain too, but the fronts take the cake.

Well this worked for me and there is probably another way.

[1984928]

Hi all. All I've ever done is remove the 2 nuts holding the upper control arm in place, pull the bottom shock bolt out, remove the 3 nuts holding the top of the shock mount in place and pull the upper control arm out and everything falls right out. Have done it Many times this way. In fact just did it 2 weeks ago . Hope this helps
Steve
ps: watch the brake line so you don't pull on it

[lfausty]

if you only knew before uncompressing the shock that it needs to be compressed still to fit through or its jammed on the arm. Yep removed the other three easier and went back to the OMG one. Gotta love making more work for yourself than neccessary.

*definitely a pet peeve when no conclusion in a post. Same as when a post is concluded not used and same issue is posted new over and over. Its all good.

Seems havent seen much posting EIPtuningR32 - snoopy dog -

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by 1984928

Hi all. All I've ever done is remove the 2 nuts holding the upper control arm in place, pull the bottom shock bolt out, remove the 3 nuts holding the top of the shock mount in place and pull the upper control arm out and everything falls right out. Have done it Many times this way. In fact just did it 2 weeks ago . Hope this helps
Steve
ps: watch the brake line so you don't pull on it

The 2 nuts (upper control arm) on the engine side?

[Xlot]

Originally Posted by MPDano

The 2 nuts (upper control arm) on the engine side?

Yep, 22mm nuts. The forward ones can be reached from below, and the upper ones I reached from above with 22mm socket on long 72-click ratchet (I have no air pump plumbing anymore).

On the left side, removing the oil filter would make access a little easier, but I didn't bother.

(goth upper arms are off my 89 at the moment for fixing up a too-small washer problem with the poly bushings I fitted last year).

[MPDano]

Cool, I am working on the drivers side now. I looked and access from the bottom is very hard. Hmmm. Gonna give it a try.

[lfausty]

Noooooo MP i dont think you have to take the two big bolts that go through to the engine side, uhhh - it was a while ago and pitch black out now but that a-arm drops enough without getting to the bolts that bolt the a-arm itself on, even if you uncompressed the spring and jammed, i compress the spring back(and thats some serious tension) before id take those out, those are crazy to remove. for a shock. The lower control arm unbolted should swing down the a-arm enough, for a shock. Are you removing the a-arm ?

I think upper a arm and lower control arm are confusion. and since when dont you post a boat load of pictures when your getting to are in and completed a job , LOL.

Update, pl lease on what is done.

[1984928]

Sorry. Been off for a little while. You don't need to do any spring compressing to remove the assembly from the car at all. You don't need to remove the lower control arm either. 2 nuts from the bottom to remove the A arm and the bottom shock bolt will do it

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by 1984928

Sorry. Been off for a little while. You don't need to do any spring compressing to remove the assembly from the car at all. You don't need to remove the lower control arm either. 2 nuts from the bottom to remove the A arm and the bottom shock bolt will do it

This was a no go for me. I even went out and bought a 22mm socket. Hooked up to my breaker bar and hell no. That bolt is going nowhere. I said funk it, did it the way I did the passenger side and finally got the shock out just as it got dark.

Cleaned up the shock and parts, putting this all back together tomorrow morning and be done with it.

Those Black Boges better last a couple more years or you'll be calling me the U Boat Commander. I will launch it in the San Diego Bay

[1984928]

You mean you couldn't get the nuts loose? Did u try it from the top? Bigger breaker bar? I don't recall mine being that hard to get loose. As far S the black Boges lasting, my original ones lasted over 200,000 miles with no leakes and they seemed to damp almost like the replacements I installed