rear dampers

[944Turbo]

I have recently sent my rear ledas off for repair, apparently they are completely knackered, and will be about £390 plus vat plus shipping to rebuild.


"Your dampers are rather badly corroded and have resisted all our efforts to remove the top mountings intact from the rods, even heat and soaking in diesel for the best part of a week has not helped. In the end we have had to cut them off, not a problem as far as the rods are concerned as these require replacing anyway due to a lack of chrome, however new top mounts are required as we cannot recover the blind threads. Internally both dampers were leaking due to valve problems, one was weeping from the main rod seal, and the oil in both had badly degraded and thinned."

Given that most of the problems are down to the design and construction I am wondering what other options are available for similar money. They were non-coilover but were adjustable and were close to standard on the softest setting, fair bit stiffer on the firmest.

I have found Bilstein B6 which I think are fixed but a bit stiffer than standard £105 each

Koni sport around £300 for a pair (think these might be the non adjustable?

Spax?

anything else I should consider? I would prefer adjustment

Thanks,
Tony


Oh and it is handy if they are available off the shelf, would like to put them on before Bedford.

 

[944Turbo]

Oh and the reason for sending the ledas off was the bottom mounting loop had detached from the body - I know of a couple of others that suffered the same fate,
Tony

 

[Eldavo]

Konis are adjustable. You unfasten one end and then compress them onto the cam lock to adjust for rebound.

 

[colin944]

I've got Koni's on the back. I've always used them and like the feel of them.

 

[944Turbo]

ORIGINAL: Eldavo

Konis are adjustable. You unfasten one end and then compress them onto the cam lock to adjust for rebound.

I know the MO30 ones are not sure if these are the same though (?) http://www.porsche968uk.co.uk/shop/product/koni-sport-rear-set_670.htm

 

[Eldavo]

Yup, they're the ones I had.

You remove the plastic disc and fully compress them. Then turn until the cam lock engages and you can then twist them to alter the rebound.

It's good in that there are no external parts to get manky but bad in that you have to remove at least one of the 2 bolts to adjust them once fitted.

 

[andy watson]

Tony,

I think I would go with the Koni's if you want adjustment or the B6's if not, but following my present saga with Spax I would recommend staying clear, ok mine are Coilovers but still!

 

[edh]

same problem I had with my ledas...

I'd go for the bilsteins

 

[944Turbo]

ORIGINAL: Eldavo

Yup, they're the ones I had.

You remove the plastic disc and fully compress them. Then turn until the cam lock engages and you can then twist them to alter the rebound.

It's good in that there are no external parts to get manky but bad in that you have to remove at least one of the 2 bolts to adjust them once fitted.

cheers and thanks for the other views! I am not sure the b6 Bilsteins will be stiff enough, anyone using them?

Tony

 

[edh]

what torsion bar do you have? is it standard turbo?

if it is then no reason why the bilsteins won't work. much less mucking about as well.

maybe olli s will be best to give an opinion

 

[TTM]

The "dampening" (or rather lack of) of the Konis is in my opinion rather poor. These shocks can be set relatively hard and they will work relatively well on smooth surfaces but wear out relatively quickly, or set soft enough to make enough of a mess of the car when running over poor roads.

I have not tried the B6 on my cars, but test drove someone else's 944 that had them all round and found them definitely better than the regular Koni yellows. They are slighly more expensive than the Konis, but well worth it I think.

 

[944Scott]

Im happy with my Spax (non coilover) rear adjustable shocks.

 

[944Turbo]

thanks for all the input, I went for the Bllstein, they were in stock at design911 and a good price at 105 each (+vat). I figured I would just adjust the fronts to suit the rears, Leda actually recommended them as well, they were very understanding of my situation and gave a very detailed reply on the merits/debits of the Bilstiens and the Koni's. They should be arriving tomorrow, unfortunately I will be away until at least Friday.
Tony

 

[ChasR]

I have B6s on the 205, and IMO they are one of the few dampers that work well with the rear end of that car.

Saying that, in tbe B6 range, Bilstein seem to hit the balance well going by other car reviews. So much so that I am considering them on my daily (self levelling shocks have become soft ).