Posted this on the Turbo Fourm but didn't get a large response.

I'm planning on installing my PSS9's over the weekend. (Merry XMas to me.) Any last minute tips from DIYourselfers or the installation shops that have installed these? I've done my Mini and a friend's E46 M3 so I don't think I'll have any big problems but there are always a few gotchas.

As far as the amount of lowering...I don't want to go that much because of scraping issues. My son's new preschool has an evil driveway that I know will eat my front lip for breakfast after the install.

I'm thinking about 1/2 to 3/4" lower in the rear and about 1 to 1 1/4" lower in the front. I want it to look more level and be able to get -1.5 degrees of camber in the front. Any comments? Where's a good starting point for the threaded collars?

Also, do you think I should wait for the spings to settle a bit before corner balancing and realignment? If so, how long?

Thanks!

 

Here's a previous thread that gives some great installation pics and instructions:

Install Help

Does the Turbo's AWD change the technique at all? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Personally, i would call Tom and Arling at Lucent. They did mine and I wouldn't do it myself if you paid me double what they charge, and they do 2 corner balances, one right after the work and another in a month...Great money well spent and very reasonable...great guys as well.

 

Man...it's not that hard. Like I said, I've done a few others with friends before and its not too difficult. I am a mechanical engineer though. I just went out and pulled a front wheel off to get a closer look.

Unlike other cars I've done, it looks like you have to loosen the three nuts at the top of the strut first and pull the top of the strut out of the wheel well before pulling the strut out of the hub carrier (clamp). There seems to be an unusually long portion of the strut in the clamp. This is shown pretty clearly from the pictures in the link above.

On the Mini and E46 M3, you could pull the hub carrier (clamp) off the strut and angle the bottom of the strut out first.

 

Don't you have to pull apart the front differential on an AWD car to mount the PS9's?
Now, that's a lot of work.

 

Good to see you found my post, that should help a lot, if you have done a few before and your handy it shouldn't be a problem, air compressor will come in hand as well, also have a close friend on call in case you need a extra pair of hands

 

I did my Cross/JIC about a month ago... Thanks to Kevin M.'s DIY post everything went smoothly.. the only difficult part of the entire install is getting the OEM shock to clear the top of the front fender as you pivot it out... USE a thick towel to protect your fender from the three top bolts..

I had Jonhson's do the Corner Balance and alignment and the car is awesome...

I"m running -2 camber tho.. and the car is very quiet around sweapers..

The install if pretty straight forward so once your under the car everything will make sense... Enjoy!!!

 

Apx did you change your swaybars as well?

 

I just confirmed that there is a bit more work for the AWD cars. You have to disconnect the half shaft, the tie-rod end, etc. There are also some special tools required.

Now I might have my mechanic do it. I don't want to get stuck in the middle without a 'special tool'.

 

I did a 993tt and didn't have to do any of that btw- Don't know if it's different however. A couple of tips is to have the collars not wound so tight to give you more clearance and then measure and tighten them after install. FWIW I would take the car to lucent however you can't beat the install besides you're going to have to align it anywayz right?

 

I'm not that familiar w/PSS9s (cept what I read/hear, and my cars have other set-ups) however when talking about front-rear rake, ride height, and corner balance...........I'm sure it's been said, but these factors do have some affect on the handling of the car (more so on the track).
Porsche specs for the (recomended) relationship of front-rear ride height are published.....and sounds like this is on a Turbo so you may be aware the numbers are 148-168 front & rear.......of course the front is measured from the L/R bolt heads and the rear is measured from the flat spots on the rear sub-frame.

Now......you can throw these numbers out the window (as I did, with my suspension changes) and shoot more for the X73 (Euro Turbo) setting of 108-128F, 118-138R....approx 40mm lower front, and 30 mm lower rear than OE NAm......so a 10mm rake differential (from those respective measure points anyway).

Good luck to ya.

 

I know Lucent does great work and I got a great tour of the shop when I bought TurboRon's wheels a few months back. But I think I'm going to have Hergesheimer do the work. They're right around the corner from me and I've used them before. Laura and Mark are very nice people and they're very fair.

 

I just picked up my car after the PSS9's were installed. I'm amazed how similar it feels to stock. I had the adjusters set at 6 so I just added some more damping and I'll try that out later.

I had the installation done at Hergesheimer and they did a great job at a very reasonable price. Obviously, they also aligned and corner balanced it.

I wish it wasn't raining right now but I'll have a chance to try it at Buttonwillow on Wednesday. It should be interesting with the amount of rain we've had here today and how much we're expecting tomorrow in SoCal.

BTW....X73 ride height looks great.

 

how much for the corner balance?

 

shouldn't u b skiing