Picture my car. December 1993, 124K mileage 993 with full paper trail.
Before I bought her in early 2012, suspension wise she had had replaced only one new front drop link and 2 x new front wishbone ball joints (Not new wishbones), nothing else, everything was original from build.
Now you would think that a 911 that had so little work, would not have been well looked after, this was not the case. Every single invoice is with the car, she's been serviced every year and had work done when required. I think the reason the suspension has had so little work is because the previous owner who had the car for 14 years, was a women of 'age', so possibly the car had little abuse. :dont know:
Now I love my 993, and when she needs something done, its done. I have read on here and other sites about deteriorating dampers and especially the Monroe's being pretty worn after 40K miles (Though when mine were removed they were Boge), I always thought the stock stuff on my car was still pretty good, and I really didn't have any complaints, however I still thought it was time to save for the refurb, as surely I'm not getting the full 933 experience with worn suspension.
Lately I was starting to hear a few knocks under the car, so for the last six months I have quietly been purchasing up parts for the suspension renewal.
When the 911 came back from service last month, the list of worn parts found was startling, something had to be done, and done soon, as I'm off on a driving holiday to Spain with the lads in July.
Lesson to be learnt here. OPC stated
Worn out suspension as follows:
Top front and rear control arms
Top mounts front split
Bump stops perished
Front wishbones worn out
Dampers shot
Rear ARB shot
There was no way I was letting an OPC do the job, so I booked her in with a well known Indy local to me in Worcestershire.
Firstly It should be pointed out just how expensive replacing suspension can be. Since December 2013 I have bought the following ready for the refurb:
Set of Koni FSDs £775.00
Set of M033 Springs £400.00
New 4 x Top mounts, bump stops, boots, misc etc etc £800.00
Total of around £2K
On top of this I have spent a further £1.5K on install and replacement of worn parts found when installing the above.
Total of £3.5k
I told the Indy to ring me, if any parts needs replacing, in other words go over the damn lot inch by inch. I wanted to do this once, and once only.
I feared the worst, and prepared myself for his phone call.
Interestingly, the Indy (Well known for setting up cars, road and race, especially Porsche and the 911) found only the following wear other than the top mounts of.
Front ARB bushes
Rear ARB bushes
ARB links x 2 front and back.
Front wishbones were absolutely fine, as well as rear upper and lower control arms, even the dampers hadn't a weep. I was concerned that I had no paperwork on replaced front wishbones, but the Indy was firm with the fact I'd be wasting my money on replacing them. So there you go, second opinion where suspension is concerned can be important and save you dosh.
Reason I went with the FSDs and M033 were for the following reason. Compliance. Everything I have read, states that the FSDs are a good all round improvement to the OE setup, and as I do a lot of fast B road driving compared to no track driving, I thought these and the lowering springs would be ideal. The last thing I wanted was a crashy hard setup for B road driving.
Anyway, Thursday night I picked up my refurbed 911, complete with all these new shiny bits and pieces. I'd heard such great things about FSDs and I couldn't wait for the test drive. The Indy really rated my car and thought the ride now as good as when she was built.
Directionally she does feel fab, the steering is more communicated and you can feel grip now better, arb bushes and drop links, well worth it.
So why am I not happy? I think I should have gone firmer or possibly left the damn original dampers on. I drove 400 miles yesterday, and the car doesn't creak anymore, no sound from underneath at all, but she felt soft. I thought with new bushes and the fact the Konis are supposed to firm up at speed, the car would feel taught and firm, but nope she feels soft. Also which could be irritating, is that I think with the slightly lowered M033s, the FSDs have a little bit of floating going on. I noticed on a dual carriageway yesterday, that at a constant speed on a smooth road, the nose slightly rises and falls. However saying that, it might just be me being OCD at the moment.
Basically I just feel as I possibly made a mistake, I am warming to the setup, just not as impressed as I expected to be. I think I feel its all a bit boring. £3.5K spent and it could have been at least been 1K more, for what?
All this waffle, just to point out that FSDs might not be that great for everyone, so do even more homework than I did, and I spent two years.
Before I bought her in early 2012, suspension wise she had had replaced only one new front drop link and 2 x new front wishbone ball joints (Not new wishbones), nothing else, everything was original from build.
Now you would think that a 911 that had so little work, would not have been well looked after, this was not the case. Every single invoice is with the car, she's been serviced every year and had work done when required. I think the reason the suspension has had so little work is because the previous owner who had the car for 14 years, was a women of 'age', so possibly the car had little abuse. :dont know:
Now I love my 993, and when she needs something done, its done. I have read on here and other sites about deteriorating dampers and especially the Monroe's being pretty worn after 40K miles (Though when mine were removed they were Boge), I always thought the stock stuff on my car was still pretty good, and I really didn't have any complaints, however I still thought it was time to save for the refurb, as surely I'm not getting the full 933 experience with worn suspension.
Lately I was starting to hear a few knocks under the car, so for the last six months I have quietly been purchasing up parts for the suspension renewal.
When the 911 came back from service last month, the list of worn parts found was startling, something had to be done, and done soon, as I'm off on a driving holiday to Spain with the lads in July.
Lesson to be learnt here. OPC stated
Worn out suspension as follows:
Top front and rear control arms
Top mounts front split
Bump stops perished
Front wishbones worn out
Dampers shot
Rear ARB shot
There was no way I was letting an OPC do the job, so I booked her in with a well known Indy local to me in Worcestershire.
Firstly It should be pointed out just how expensive replacing suspension can be. Since December 2013 I have bought the following ready for the refurb:
Set of Koni FSDs £775.00
Set of M033 Springs £400.00
New 4 x Top mounts, bump stops, boots, misc etc etc £800.00
Total of around £2K
On top of this I have spent a further £1.5K on install and replacement of worn parts found when installing the above.
Total of £3.5k
I told the Indy to ring me, if any parts needs replacing, in other words go over the damn lot inch by inch. I wanted to do this once, and once only.
I feared the worst, and prepared myself for his phone call.
Interestingly, the Indy (Well known for setting up cars, road and race, especially Porsche and the 911) found only the following wear other than the top mounts of.
Front ARB bushes
Rear ARB bushes
ARB links x 2 front and back.
Front wishbones were absolutely fine, as well as rear upper and lower control arms, even the dampers hadn't a weep. I was concerned that I had no paperwork on replaced front wishbones, but the Indy was firm with the fact I'd be wasting my money on replacing them. So there you go, second opinion where suspension is concerned can be important and save you dosh.
Reason I went with the FSDs and M033 were for the following reason. Compliance. Everything I have read, states that the FSDs are a good all round improvement to the OE setup, and as I do a lot of fast B road driving compared to no track driving, I thought these and the lowering springs would be ideal. The last thing I wanted was a crashy hard setup for B road driving.
Anyway, Thursday night I picked up my refurbed 911, complete with all these new shiny bits and pieces. I'd heard such great things about FSDs and I couldn't wait for the test drive. The Indy really rated my car and thought the ride now as good as when she was built.
Directionally she does feel fab, the steering is more communicated and you can feel grip now better, arb bushes and drop links, well worth it.
So why am I not happy? I think I should have gone firmer or possibly left the damn original dampers on. I drove 400 miles yesterday, and the car doesn't creak anymore, no sound from underneath at all, but she felt soft. I thought with new bushes and the fact the Konis are supposed to firm up at speed, the car would feel taught and firm, but nope she feels soft. Also which could be irritating, is that I think with the slightly lowered M033s, the FSDs have a little bit of floating going on. I noticed on a dual carriageway yesterday, that at a constant speed on a smooth road, the nose slightly rises and falls. However saying that, it might just be me being OCD at the moment.
Basically I just feel as I possibly made a mistake, I am warming to the setup, just not as impressed as I expected to be. I think I feel its all a bit boring. £3.5K spent and it could have been at least been 1K more, for what?
All this waffle, just to point out that FSDs might not be that great for everyone, so do even more homework than I did, and I spent two years.
