I finally got my new suspension put in a couple of days ago, and first of all I have to say I'm really impressed with the Bilstein/GC combo. Feels almost how you'd expect it to feel if the factory had built it with these spring rates. There's no impact harshness, but it stays firm and well controlled. And body roll is significantly reduced.

I do have a couple of gripes, however. First, I don't have as much ground clearance as I'd hoped for. The front perches are adjusted as high as they'll safely go, but I've got about .75"-1" less ground clearance than OEM. (I have 5.5" measured from the wheel jacking points to the ground. If anyone with a stock R cares to measure the ground clearance from the same point I'd be interested in hearing how much higher it is.) It looks great, with about 1.25" gap between the fender and the wheel, but I'd like to get another half inch or so of clearance. It does handle bad roads and speed bumps much better than before, though.

The rear end has plenty of available ground clearance, but the springs are too short. When the perches are lowered enough to get the rear ride height to match the front, the springs dangle. Since this only happens when the suspension is fully extended (which will only happen on a lift in my car), I'm not terribly worried about it. But I don't like it.

I think the kit should probably come with longer springs. They sent me 8" springs in front and 7" springs in back. Since I got the same rate front and back (400#), I'm thinking about getting 9" springs for the front and putting the 8" springs on the rear. Longer springs would give me more ground clearance in the front and keep the rear springs seated tightly. I do wonder if the handling characteristics are different between springs of the same rate and inequal lengths though.

Lastly, I wonder how eliminating the dust boots will effect the life of my dampers. This was something I didn't consider when I chose the GCs. The instructions from ground control said to cut the dust boots and use them, but they would have just barely covered the bumpstops. I didn't see the point, so I didn't install them.

BTW, I'm posting this from my Christmas present: a new iMac. First post with the new compy.

 

The lack of boots likelihood of it damaging your suspension is very small, but possible.

 

i have this combination as well and the dustboots will *not* fit on the gc's and bilsteins if you use 8" springs. I too tried to cut the boots down to size as recommended (i think 2"?) but it didnt work, nor did it look like it would protect much of anything anyhow.

i'm running 400/500 as per grandpas great suggestion a while back. the stocks springs are pretty much 1:1 progressive so your linear 1:1 should give you a slight improvement over the spring rates. if you swap the rears, i'd suggest talking to a few people about getting a higher spring rate so the car handles more neutrally... (less understeer). grandpa i think used to run 400/500 then upgraded to 500/700 or something like that with a more likings to the higher diff ratio between spring rates.

either way I have the boots off and all is well. Just be sure to wipe them down time to time if they look like theres dirt on them (mine still look fine after 1-2 years of use) and only use them if you avoid snow/salt. I dont daily drive my car anymore...it sees maybe 2000-3000 mi/year if that.... last year it saw 277 miles so take whatever i say with a grain of salt. (some will say do that with everything i say )

btw, did you have fun with installing the rear shocks? its annoying that you have to drop the LCA to get it to fit



Modified by uNF$@#! at 1:38 AM 1/13/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by uNF$@#! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">btw, did you have fun with installing the rear shocks? its annoying that you have to drop the LCA to get it to fit
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No, actually I was replacing the rear LCAs anyway, along with the trailing arm bushings. My bushings were shot, and new LCAs were cheaper than having new bushings pressed in. The real PITA was the frozen bolt on the left side toe-control arm.

I almost went with the 400/500 setup, but thought twice about it since I frequently carry expensive, somewhat fragile guitar amps back there.

 

unless you are pushing it on the streets beyond "normal" operation, then you wouldnt see the difference on the streets.

and antiseize on all those bolts in the back will help in prevent seizing again...if you are going to take them off again, besure to add a plenty amount. just my two cents

 

Oh, yeah. Everything went back together with new fasteners and anti-sieze.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MK Ultra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

BTW, I'm posting this from my Christmas present: a new iMac. First post with the new compy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol. Nice! Get ready to enjoy computing. You'll never look back to PC again.

&lt;----Powermac G5 Tower user

Suspension setup sounds dope.