Suspension Upgrades

[thomschoon]

I have an "81 Euro that has Bilstein Sport shocks and the factory sway bars. I am looking to upgrade and thinking of doing Sway Bars first and then later maybe Torsion Bars as well as a truss bar. So the question, what do you think? Any suggestions on brand and size of sway bars?


Thanx for any help

[Jim Richards]

Thom, you'll get more improvement by doing the torsion bars first. I think sway bars are for fine tuning your suspension.

What are your goals for your suspension upgrade? Street, street/track, dedicated track?

[thomschoon]

The car will be a street vehicle but ride quality is secondary. I would love to race again but I also would like to stay married so I will just build a strret beast and maybe do a DE or two.

[Jase007]

Thom:

I agree with Jim, torsion bars (TB) first, shocks / strus next and then sways. Having said that, on my '76 I have only done the shocks / struts (Konis, set one off full soft) with sway(s) in the box to install. Most likely will not do TB because is a street car and I have to drive on the ##$% roads of NoVA and DC.

My car runs 19mm front and 23 mm rear. If I stumbled across a set of 21 mm front and 25 mm rears I might put them in. Assuming all things are aligned in the universe and the other vehicles don't need any repairs... :lol:

There are several members with SCs that would most likely be happy to let you go for a ride to "shop" before you dive in. Best advice is to ride in it before you make the swaps.

Jason

[estrellajon]

I'm also interested in upgrading my suspension. Besides the alignment, can this project be done fairly easily with the proper tools.

[Marc A]

John:

Everything can be done with regular tools except the rear ride height adjustment which needs a special wrench to fit behind the spring plates. The wrenches abound in this area, and I'm sure you could find one to borrow. I have a couple that work and that you would be welcome to.

A dremel is indespensable on the front if ball joints are to be replaced, other than that a BFH, BFS, and BFVG will do the trick. :twisted:

[BER]

Thom,

I have a '84 911 (sans A/C and other un-necessary creature comforts) so my car and your '81 SC should weigh about the same.

I installed Sanders 22mm (frt) and 28mm (rear) torsion bars a couple of years ago. My car is used primarily on the street, but also sees 6-8 DE days each year. This setup is coupled with Bilstein sport shocks and the OEM sway bars.

The above setup is great on the street because it provides a firm ride with very little body roll. I have ridden in a '83 SC that had 22/30mm t-bars; that setup was a little to harsh and choppy on the street.

Installation is a "snap" for the front t-bars. The rears involve a little more work and knowing how to equate swing plate angles to ride height.

After installing the larger t-bars and the Bilsteins, I had the car corner balanced and aligned.

Hope this helps. Bruce

[estrellajon]

Marc, so you're saying the torsion bars are not as easy at it seems? How do you know what the actual ride height would be?

Dremel for what? Isn't there a ball joint remover that can be used.

[Charlie Stylianos]

Dremel for what? Isn't there a ball joint remover that can be used.

Jon,

The tool is better suited for installing the castle nut rahter then removing it. After x years of being exposed to salt, rain, etc, the nut pretty much rusted to the ball joint and a dremel to slice the nut off works well and is less frustrating. Plus it saves wear/tare on the tool.

I have the castle nut tool if anyone needs.

[Marc A]

Marc, so you're saying the torsion bars are not as easy at it seems? How do you know what the actual ride height would be?

Jon:

The biggest pain is replacing the spring plate bushings which will need replacing unless some one else has done it before you. Ride height is a function of the position of the spring plate on the torsion bars and the postion of the torsion bars in the torque tube. There is about 3/4" adjustment on the stock spring plates, and the key is to get the initial ride hieght to within 3/4"

Many on the board have done this, and as long as you are willing to do the work, I'm sure that you will find 1 or 2 of us willing to help out as best we can.

Phone calls are free, house calls usually require food and beverage and a warm place to work.

Let us know.

[estrellajon]

:lol: I'll keep this in mind when I'm ready to do the upgrade. I'm definitely making this a home project with some help of course. I have most of the tools including an air compressor for additional muscle.

I'm still confused about the spring plates but Ill worry about that when I do the upgrade.

[Charlie Stylianos]

Jon,

Good tool for calculating spring plate angle for a desired height.

Calculate the spring plate angle for desired ride height depending on:

- Torsion bar size
- Front/Rear weight distribution
- Total weight of car

http://vintagebus.com/cgi-bin/spring.cgi

[estrellajon]

thats awesome! comes in very handy. 8)