Suspension Upgrades
 

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

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?

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.

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

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

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:

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

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.

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.

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.