Lowered the Aero. Hope it settles a LOT more :-/

[j006]

...dropped in Konis and G&M springs over the weekend, along with camber bolts for the front. G&M are Swedish springs, obtained because the drop claim is 60mm/40mm, as opposed to H&R which claim 40mm/40mm. I had H&Rs on my 9-5 and I wasn't pleased at how the rear was to low and the front not low enough, so I got these G&M springs and they ended up being perfect on the 9-5. I have high hopes for the 9000 G&M springs, but so far they haven't settled much at all in the front :-/

[WSW]

If anything just trim a coil off

[j006]

Originally Posted by WSW

If anything just trim a coil off

I may have to if it doesn't come down. I didn't trim the bump stops but I don't think I should have to. I'm guessing I would cut the bottom of the coil first if it comes to that. I'm gonna give it a week or so to settle and then make the decision..

[spadar]

hi.yes in the "olden" (pre1970) days we would trim a coil or 2 off and bob's your uncle!!!! today with the sophistication of irs(front and rear) and live beam rear axles this can destroy the dynamics---technical terms!!!-- yes the way your aero sits is really great.but do you want to feel all the bumps on not quite smooth bitumen/asphalt and have to /exit driveways almost parallel. my stocker '94 manual aero is a pain for driveways and i inadvertently used it as a bulldozer badly damaging the front airdam/lip. besides it probably handles better than 90+% of later euros now anyway.sometimes less is better. i pulled the front bilsteins from my 94 and put the original boge back in as the bilsteins were chewing out the top mounting bearings. in the '88,though, corners were as if i was in a go-kart.but in the long term it's "your car and money,ralph!" (an old aussie quote). love that car. cheers

[j006]

I was doing some research online for this lowering debacle :-P

I'm reading that sometimes control arm bushings can bind and keep the suspension from falling into proper position, and one suggestion I read was too take the wheel off, loosen the front wishbone bolts, jack the arm up and re-tighten. I never had to do anything like that on my 9-5 - it just settled.

Also read that with a dramatic drop, in this case 55mm/60mm in the front, the front sway bar links could actually be too long, causing the sway to be under too much load, again causing the car not to settle.

Don't know if there is any merit to either of these, but I'm almost inclined to try removing the sway bar just to see...

[gustavm]

Mine was sitting on the bump stops . Once they were trimmed it settled well. I would urge you not to go to low though . The suspension lower arms apparently shouldnt drop below horizontal from what Ive read.

[j006]

Originally Posted by gustavm

Mine was sitting on the bump stops . Once they were trimmed it settled well. I would urge you not to go to low though . The suspension lower arms apparently shouldnt drop below horizontal from what Ive read.

You know I thought of that about the bump stops, but I felt like the ride would be really harsh if that were the case-and it seems comparable to my 9-5 with Konis... Still I think I need to try something. How much did you trim off?

I've read that too about the low arms. I need to assess what the angle is and see if I'm close to parallel...

Cheers!

[gustavm]

One knuckle if you know what I mean .

[j006]

Originally Posted by gustavm

One knuckle if you know what I mean .

I do. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to pull up the shock boot and see if it's sitting there :-?

[SaabMick]

Never mind haven't read the whole thread yet auto guide app won't delete the post though so I had to put words I this post.

[KevinC]

Drop it too much, certainly 'below parellel' is too much, and you will get a terrible ride, poor handling, get used to changing ball joints and tie rod ends w/ the oil...don't overdue it.

For a full on track only 9000 I'm looking at 30 to 40mm drop from OEM, BUT it is a function of 4 corner balancing and results of wheelspin vs loose rear end experiments.

[Diamond Dave]

Originally Posted by j006

You know I thought of that about the bump stops, but I felt like the ride would be really harsh if that were the case.

I've had this same issue on other cars, but using Bilstein Sports. Always had to trim 1.5-2 dead coils off to get the front to sit properly.

As for the bump stop, you HAVE to trim them to reduce the bump steer action or bottoming. Try cutting them almost in half.

[j006]

So here's an update; took the front struts apart and it did indeed look like the suspension was resting on the bump stops, at least on one side. I trimmed them both down to one "rib" and re-assembled all. The results are not much difference really, if any:



Here's a pic from underneath, and as you can see the lower control arm is already slightly below parallel :-/



Not sure if I am going to try and cut the coils to go lower or not at this point. Need to think about it for a while...

[Diamond Dave]

The car looks REALLY NICE!

Originally Posted by j006

Not sure if I am going to try and cut the coils to go lower or not at this point. Need to think about it for a while...

That's always the issue with lowering 9000's; the low leading edge. IMHO, you could probably cut off one of the dead coils in front and be no worse off.

No reason not to let the decision hang for a month and see how things settle in.

[JeffX]

Wait 6 mos. You have some punishing springs for urbanscape.

[j006]

This sounds ridiculous, but I think the car has actually settled a bit.

Just after lowering:


Today:


Hope it continues!

[1quickbeater]

Your angle is slightly different. You can see less of your hood and windshield in today's pic.

But I still agree. It looks slightly lower. I like the height. Not like my 88. I've got a full fist above my tire(its a 75/235)

[VT9000CSE]

I modified only the front springs on my 1995 CSE. I cut one full coil off the front struts. I was going to cut the rears as well but being from Vermont we have some rough roads and I was concerned it would cause the bottom of the car to scrape. I will take a picture of my front A-arm later and post it. We also get real winters here so I need to make sure I can have enough clearance for my snow tires and snow and frost heaves.

[VT9000CSE]

My A Arms appear to be parallel after cutting 1 coil.