bilsteins & bushings
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 954
Likes: 21
From: White Oak, GA
bilsteins & bushings
I'm in the process of changing the shocks on my '97. I changed the rears first, just because of how the car was parked in the garage. I changed the endlinks, too.
The ride height now appears ~ 1/4 inch higher than with the factory shocks. I think this is due to the bushings on the bilsteins. Has anybody reused the original bushings with bilsteins?
I planned to lower the ride height per the instructions in the "how to" section of this forum, but it looks like the rear bushings are already pretty small to be cutting in half. Am I destined to buy the lowering kit (longer bolts) rather than the free mod?
The ride height now appears ~ 1/4 inch higher than with the factory shocks. I think this is due to the bushings on the bilsteins. Has anybody reused the original bushings with bilsteins?
I planned to lower the ride height per the instructions in the "how to" section of this forum, but it looks like the rear bushings are already pretty small to be cutting in half. Am I destined to buy the lowering kit (longer bolts) rather than the free mod?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 16,477
Likes: 26
From: Gone
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03
Re: bilsteins & bushings (6krpm)
Have you driven the car since the shock change?
The car will always be higher after jacking it up, you need to drive it to let it settle back down. I don't see how it's possible shocks could change your ride height. The shocks only function is to dampen the springs, the spring (and adjustment screws) determines how high or low your car sits.
:cheers:
The car will always be higher after jacking it up, you need to drive it to let it settle back down. I don't see how it's possible shocks could change your ride height. The shocks only function is to dampen the springs, the spring (and adjustment screws) determines how high or low your car sits.
:cheers:
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
Re: bilsteins & bushings (6krpm)
I recently installed these on my own 97 and mine sits a hair higher as well, even after allowing a week to settle. The bushings should not have an impact as the overall shock length, fully extended, is shorter than the originals. One difference is the force needed to compress the shock is significantly higher than OEM (F45 in my case) which I theorize is from the higher gas pressure and adds to the overall spring rate. With no other changes this would add to a slight increase in ride height.
Besides that, your gonna love these shocks! :thumbs:
Besides that, your gonna love these shocks! :thumbs:
