Thanks! Since I only have 2 days here, I'm just going to drive in firm mode the whole time. Will dump them when I get back to Baton Rouge. Sure wish Ohlins made coilovers for the TT!

 

Derek
sorry to hear of yet another problem. I'd have to agree with mact, the damptronic is a severely flawed product that is prone to installation errors and terminal failures. I had mine installed by the same installer as someone who posts frequently here (drives a red turbo) and it was installed incorrectly (confirmed by Bilstein after I sent them pictures) which they claim resulted in a terminal event. Regardless, they initially refused to warranty the product and then they refused to sell me a single damptronic because they were shipped from Germany as "complete sets". So they said all they could do was sell me a complete set "at a discount". WTF???? Then, thanks to you, I contacted one of the managers and they finally sent me a new one under warranty (after the car had been sitting in the shop for 2 weeks).

After I got them properly installed, the strange noises have gotten considerably better but haven't gone away completely. Although terminal events probably aren't that common, problems with the damptronics are. I'd caution anyone thinking about buying these and recommend that they look elsewhere. I'm gonna sell my car soon and the Bilsteins are a big part of it.

Good luck!
Dave

 

I've had the PASM failure light 3 times in the 6 years.

1) First time was many years ago and still under warranty. The part was shipped within days and installed.

2) Second time I opted to repair it --took two weeks and Bilstein did cover it .

3) Third time -- no longer under warranty and the part is no longer offered from what i was told . It was a simple thing like an exposed wire and at first we tried tape just to secure it temporarily but it failed when it rained later that day so the part had to be sent for repair . It took a MONTH but it's perfect .

The suspension snags have been the most frequent repair item out of my non OEM parts . It hasnt been severe enough for me to swap out the suspension but I have considered it as a possibility if I ever face another snag .

 

Ohlins does make a 997tt shock, but it's not pasm compatable.

 

This thread and others are the reason I just went with GMG springs/sways/dog bones/toe links and purposefully kept my OEM shocks (and saved some money to boot).

As painful as it is, thanks for sharing this stuff.

 

This made for some interesting lunchtime reading, all 20 pages of it! I had to read it all, because I didn't see a couple of things:

The one pic of the washer presented by the mechanic did not look like the spacer, it looked more like one of the conical washers.

I thought someone posted the instructions, which suggested that the shaft could fail if all the washers were not installed correctly. Maybe this was what they WISHED the instructions looked like, but it looked like the actual ones.

I had coilovers on another car before. On all of these threads I didn't see the recommended torque setting for the upper bolt. I recall quite distinctly that my prior coilovers were not installed correctly either and were squeeking or something. That top bolt was WAY over torqued. Every grease monkey attempts to over torque everything. That bolt has a VERY light torque setting - that's why it's an aircraft nut that will not loosen even if the bolt is loose. Over torquing is a common problem and if you don't have the spacer, there will be even more stress on the shaft. Any shaft can be prone to failure if such a bolt is over tightened. Neglect a spacer and you could probably shear the shaft simply by tightening the bolt. If someone has the torque value it would be good to post and anyone with coilovers should loosen and make sure they have the correct torque value for that bolt.

The wire setup is obviously a mfg compromise and subject to failure. Trying to make an aftermarket product at a reasonable cost. Not much to do but carefully zip tie that wire I guess.

I had always heard that clunks were the keeper springs reseating themselves, not to be confused with other noises. (Clunking is mentioned periodically here). I thought people mentioned solutions to that like lubing the spring seat, but I'm not positive.

 

Larry good to hear from you! Hope all is well.

 

Can you give me the names of reputable shops that sell them? Going that route, or back to stock with the GMG springs like others have mentioned. Thanks!

 

Thanks Dave! Good luck with your next ride!

 

Same here .. Derek .. One inexpensive route that i had prior to the Bilsteins was springs . On my car i originally had the Techart springs . They are slightly lower than stock ride height , PASM compatible, and trouble free . I do feel that the car handles better on the Bilsteins though but dealing with a 1 month repair or in your case a saga of repairs isn't fun .

 

Sorry to hear that.
I've literally just had exactly the same problem.

You should comment on this thread too:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...onic-poll.html

...hopefully I'll pick up my car tomorrow.
They charged me 550 (deposit) to send a replacement in before I sent my faulty one out to keep shop time to a minimum - I wonder how smooth getting that deposit back will be.

It's amazing they still sell a faulty product like this!

 

Another alternative

 

What are those?

 

Bilstein b8 sport shocks. Use stock droplinks, super strong shaft, designed to be used with pasm. Use lowering springs like gmg, shorter shock travel. These are what porsche based te x73 996tt suspension on, basically the 997 version. I think it's the way to go on these cars, same or less cost than damptronics.

 

Just wondering, don't these still have the wire exiting at the bottom of the strut that has caused half of the failure issues? Seems that the wires end up getting worn and shorting out the PASM system, causing major issues. Perhaps this is really solved with a good installation securing the wire out of the way. Anyway, just wondering.