Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

Shocks & dampers lost springiness

Chris W

Well-known member
Joined
17 Sep 2006
Messages
7,851
How do I tell if my shocks/dampers need replacing? They feel like they have lost some of their springiness when going over bumps. In fast bends the car seems to sit very flat and doesn't seem to have any body roll at all. :cry: Could they be leaking? :?
 
Are they still OEM ? if OEM then they only have an effective life of circa 40k ?

a simple bounce test (when stationery) on each corner should highlight any issues i.e. they should return to their position evenly
 
OEM shocks need replacing after 30-40k miles. Try a car with fresh units and the difference is night and day.
 
be careful where you place your hands when you push. I did it years ago and the pop sound of the bodywork brought tears to the eyes as did the little crease line afterwards....
:)
 
LOL Numpties the lot of you :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Yes, this was after all Ask A Stupid Question Day. :lol: :lol: :lol:

As far as I'm concerned dampers are meant to stop springiness and a car should be cornering flat without roll. I'd be very worried if my dampers were springy!!



But HTH thank you for your kind replies and actually I am interested in knowing how/when to change the dampers as I'd hate to miss out. The car handles really well, but if it can be improved thats cool.
 
If your car is still running the original dampers you can assume that they are past their best. This doesn't mean that they are necessary leaking or that they will fail the bounce test. Most people don't notice with a 993 as the handling abilities are so good even with worn dampers.

With my car, I found it could get unsettled if it hit a bump midway through a bend. Now it has new dampers it remains composed in the same bends. I did fit M030 springs, roll bars and new wishbones as well.

pp
 
Interesting to read these comments on dampers.

Camtune road tested my car a couple of months ago and said the dampers were. It has done 40k, and i would guess they are the originals.

However, last month, fast sweeping corner with a ridge across, really unsettled the car - i could have sworn it stepped slightly sideways. Nothing more, I did not have to change the steering angle or make any other correction, but was a bit unnerving...

Could this be the dampers?

cheers

Tim
 
That's the typical sign of knackered shocks. I didn't like my car at speed on a bumpy road with the original shocks; it seemed the steering needed a couple of corrections before the car would take a constant radius in a turn. Dips or bumps in the turn would cause the car to lose its composure and it would crash over cracks and the like. New Bilstein HD's from Carnewal transformed the car; it rode and handled mcuh better.
 
Thanks for your comment. I will plan for new shocks in the new year. Silly question maybe, but do the springs also wear out, or should i just replace the shocks and, are Bilstein HDs the best ones to use on a TT?

cheers

tim
 
Took my car (OK it's a 996) into OPC in cologne this morning for new shocks if needed and they have a proper testing jig there: The service 'leader' put the car on the jig and all four corners came up well within tolerance and he suggested that they weren't needed: In fact, he stated that he would have been very surprised if thay had been needed as he said he couldn't ever remember needing to chang shocks on a 996 under 200,000kms!

A couple of things to note here:

When was the last time a UK OPC advised any of you NOT to spend £1500 plus when you had suggested it?

Why don't UK OPC's have one of these testing jigs? (Probably answer my own question here, but the MoT test doesn't require a 'proper' scientific test of dampers - unlike the German bi-annual test)

How good an experience would it be for you to drive into an OPC and have their most senior technical person drive the car immediately into an inspection bay and go over the issues with you and show you waht they had found?

Astonishing level of service here - don't know whether I'm getting VIP treatment as a 'rare' visiting enthusiast from England, but I can't imagine a typical UK OPC even being able to communicate with anyone that can't speak English!


Back to the point of the thread though... I was experiencing the same and felt my shocks needed changing (at 90,000 miles), but the dealer has found worn track rod ends and is changing them and doing a full geo. and seems confident it will resolve the problem...

I'll report after my drive home tomorrow!
 
i'd best not jump to conclusions then! Camtune said mine were fine - car is 11 years old / 40k miles....
 
Just to add to the above, Herr Rudamacher said that worn shocks would not cause the suspension to get harsher - in fact quite the opposite, it would get bouncier! Unless of course all the fluid had escaped, in which case they would not pass the most rudimentary of pushing down on the corner tests!

(To check this open the bonnet or engine cover and push on something internal that won't dent!) :twisted:

As an engineer, that definitely makes sense... more likely to be bushes that cause the crashing and bumping, and others changing their entire suspension will have meant changing most of these bushes, and that may be the fix - rather than the springs or shocks themselves?
 
tim993 said:
but do the springs also wear out, or should i just replace the shocks and, are Bilstein HDs the best ones to use on a TT?

The springs should be fine. If it's for street use the HD's are a good choice; if you want to take the car on track the PSS-9's are the better choice. For real world road use the HD's are a good cest-effective choice but they are too soft at 120+ on sections of the the Ring. :D

Wattie said:
Just to add to the above, Herr Rudamacher said that worn shocks would not cause the suspension to get harsher - in fact quite the opposite, it would get bouncier! Unless of course all the fluid had escaped, in which case they would not pass the most rudimentary of pushing down on the corner tests!

I can't speak for what shocks 996s use (but they sound like better quality than the crap Monroes used on the 993tt) but I can assure you ride and handling improved. They had 7 years and 80K km on them.

I don't think you can test 993 shocks just by pushing down on the car; the car is so stiffly sprung you'll get little deflection. You need a shock dyno of some sort which German OPCs seem to have.

And I would steer clear of a UK OPC if you own a 993; I don't think many of them have technicians who worked there when the air-cooled cars were being sold. Most of those trained on the air-cooled cars have left and gone into business elsewhere. And the UK OPC labour rates are £110 per hour and above - ludicrous for people that don't know the cars very well any longer.
 
I'll second felix here. I also can't comment on 996s, but my own 993 felt terrible on it's original dampers at 59k miles. I replaced the dampers with Bilstein HDs and the car handles better and feels more comfortable - by this I don't mean it rides better, but more feels more secure and controlled, so is easier to drive and control. I kept the original springs BTW.
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,354
Messages
1,439,460
Members
48,711
Latest member
Silage
Back
Top