Rear Struts?

[firefighter7128]

Do these cars (1984) have rear strut inserts or is it a whole unit?

[DPW928]

The 928 has shock absorbers at all four corners, which are whole units. Struts are actually McPhearson struts which are part of the steering set up for many cars, but not the 928. I've seen a lot of folks use the term strut and shock interchangably but they are not the same thing.

[firefighter7128]

so spendy then?

[Landseer]

Gas filled, high-quality.
Everything on these cars is spendy and much of it can't be substituted with cobbling-up parts from other cars.
Exceptions are alternator and exhaust.

[Mrmerlin]

you can get a set of bilstiens for all 4 corners from Roger for 750 thats a deal normally about 875.00

[firefighter7128]

Well my fronts are new. just looking for rear. anyone got some good used? I had my machanic adjust them in the rear to try to soften them but in the end, i need to replace them.

[stepson]

Originally Posted by firefighter7128

Well my fronts are new. just looking for rear. anyone got some good used? I had my machanic adjust them in the rear to try to soften them but in the end, i need to replace them.

How did he do that? Neither Boge nor Bilstein shocks (stock) are adjustable. Konis make an adjustable shock which can be rebuilt. Bilsteins can also be rebuilt.
But how did your mechanic adjust the shocks?

[firefighter7128]

I dont know. he said it was a disk like thing at the bottom with "teeth". Said they were designed to set hight and bounce. mostly used for track use. they are Bilstein

[tlsmith1999]

That is the adjustment for ride height, you really did not want that changed. Adjusting those also could have messed up your rear alignment. I suggest getting new shocks, reset the ride height correctly, and a new alignment.

[stepson]

Originally Posted by tlsmith1999

That is the adjustment for ride height, you really did not want that changed. Adjusting those also could have messed up your rear alignment. I suggest getting new shocks, reset the ride height correctly, and a new alignment.

+1 on messing up your alignment. That's why I asked the question above. BTW, Bilsteins can be rebuilt for much less than buying new shocks.
You just have to send them off to be done.

[firefighter7128]

ok were do i send them? any info would be great.

[stepson]

Call Roger at 928sRus. He has sold Bilsteins, Konis, and Boges. (even though Boge doesn't make them anymore)

[firefighter7128]

im selling the parts on this car that i dont need just to keep from selling the car.
I would prefer to go the cheapest route. New struts are not an option.

[76FJ55]

What problem are you having? You state that your mechanic tried to soften them? So from this I can assume you feel the ride on the rear is too harsh. as shocks age (again, there is no strut in the 928) the damping typically decreases not increases. Bilsteins usually valved with more damping the Boges, so it may be possible that you would prefer a shock with lighter damping characteristics than the Bilsteins, not that the ones on your car are in bad shape. you say the fronts are new? what did you have them installed? what brand are they? also out of curiosity what tires, size and pressures are you running? tires han have a significant influence on ride quality as well.

[Landseer]

Matt, you need to have a 928 enthusiast take a look at this car if there are ride problems persisting. Maybe ask on rennlist who is close to you geographically.

I have 3 1984 cars.
Two have Boge rears, one has Bilstein.

Of the Boges, one car has worn out shocks and the car will bounce a bit in the rear on certain roads, clearly shocks that aren't damping well. But no bottoming out, no noise, not a harsh ride, more like a bouncy soft ride. They have wind-nuts on lower spring supports, threads visible, for adjusting ride height.

Boge car #2 has decent boges. Must have been replaced somewhere in its life. No bouncy ride, but a reasonable ride. Soft and acceptable. They, too, have wind-nuts on the lower spring supports for adjusting ride height.

The car with Bilsteins is a little different. These are new shocks. Ride height adjustment is confusing me a bit. I have the wind nuts down as far as possible and am just barely getting to a low enough ride height. In fact, I wound the nuts down at least an inch and a half of threads to get down as far as possible, and its still high. Before I did that adjustment, the car was very high and did not hardly move down if I put my weight on the trunk area. After the adjustment, ride height was lower significantly, and the car also had much more up/down travel in the back when I put weight on the trunk area and tried to bounce the car. Acceptable. Still higher than spec ride height, though, so more investigation required.

Now something is not right apparently with your car. There is reference to different adjuster / spring perches for boge vs bilstein. Mine all look the same. So I'm wondering if mine are wrong for the bilstein car. But I don't have enough info to help you here.

I've learned there are 3 spring selections possible for rear of car. The springs need to match side to side. The cars I have each have rear springs with 3 blue stripes. 1 stripe has a certain resistance to movement, 2 stripe has more, and 3 has the most. Maybe you have a mismatch, left to right?

Matt, I know little about this and am just now learning. The WSM has descriptions of these springs. It also indicates that the earlier cars had different springs and colors. So there are year to year differences that could affect your car if somebody swapped parts to fix earlier damage.

Back to the beginning recommendation. You need a 928 freak to look at this car if it is still demonstrating a bad ride problem.

Furthermore, used boges should be almost giveaways. If I had a pair here, I'd send them to you. Almost by definition, to mess with one of these cars the various owners of these things have disposable income. They clean up the cars and do the pent-up maintenance. And, in that process, many of them jetison the boges and replace with bilstein, or at least new boges. WSM tells how to check them, BTW. If not thrown away, they should be giveaways to somebody who needs to sort-out a car like you are doing, trying to funnel funds to the critical needs.

[DPW928]

What Chris said.... Also, check the rear sway bar links. If one or both of these are broken (happens too often), it can give the impression of bad shocks.

[firefighter7128]

Well after the break of the rear control frame he (mechanic) got in there to see why it could have broke. He did see while replaceing the frame that the upper contol arm is shot, togeather with the hard ride, he assumes it may have led to the frame breaking. So im am searching for a drivers side, rear control arm but it itself isnt causing the hard ride. it feels like driving off curbs. square wheels. mechanic also mentioned that the shocks may be locking up. Either way, i have a baby coming. momma said i can keep the car if i dont have to dump money into it like the 944's ive had. I do not want to sell this car. i could never replace it. If anyone has some good boges and a upper arm, i'll buy them if your easy on price. I would like to be able to take the blistines out and get rebuilt but this is my DD and drive it to work daily. As far as sway bar, i'll take another look at those. thanks!

Also guys if your in the area, wouldnt mind meeting someone who knows the 928. people around here have no clue what this car is. Im hosting the Blast from the Past Car show on 8/21 at Cherokee Casino in West siloam springs. would like to see some porsches out there. I also have our sales dept selling a weekly car show that i will host at the nwa mall. it is a trial run. If successfull, we will do it for 3 mos next year, one night per week. free for all. I'll keep you folks posted.

[Maleficio]

My 82 had a horrible ride when I bought it last April. The car had zero suspension travel, and every imperfection on the roadways beat the daylights out of the car and my spine.

I've had the car on a frame lift a few times since I bought, which allows the wheels to hang to full extension. After the first lift, the car began soaking up bumps, but was still very stiff. Next, more bump soaking, third lift, the car rides like a dream and I have zero reason to replace the shocks.

I figure the shocks had seized after sitting for six years, and doing a frame lift forced the shocks to unseize, and begin damping properly.

Great ride now.