Is my rear end saggy?

[nbell]

With nothing in the boot (apare from the normal tools & spare) the distance from the floor to the wheel arch on my car is 635mm / 25". It has 15" wheels and the S suspension I believe. Can anyone out there with fresh standard S suspension tell me how theirs compares? Or indeed any type of new/newish shocks and springs.

Still trying to decide if I should go with the Killen springs or stock turbo springs.

[Si]

Is my rear end saggy?

Yea, i think you need to put a few hrs in down the gym .


It looks low for standard springs, but maybe OK if the Ruby ones were slightly lower.

With Sports Springs on the gap would probably be about 1/2 what it is in the picture.

[Albert Trout]

It looks toit like the toiger to me. I've got an S with 15's, don't think it's sagging, and I've got a lot less clearance than that. Bawheid recently bought an S as well, and his clearance is the same as mine. I'll try and post a pic tonight if you want?

[nbell]

Originally Posted by Albert Trout

I'll try and post a pic tonight if you want?

Cool, ta. I have the feeling that it does drop rather radically with any weight however. Is this an indication of worn springs?

[Albert Trout]

Tell a lie mate. Mine's is exactly the same. 25 inches to the wheel arch

[nbell]

Originally Posted by Albert Trout

Tell a lie mate. Mine's is exactly the same. 25 inches to the wheel arch

Does it drop loads if you load up the boot / rear seat?

[Albert Trout]

Yeah, drops a fair bit, but golf clubs is the limit of my normal load carrying, so I've never really worried about it. I think the fact that the 900's so long probably exaggerates how bad it looks.

[Saabstudent]

Go on Nick you know you want the Kilens (and at that price its gotta be worth a try - if you dont like em take em off and sell em on)

Also the above comparisons are only valid if someone has recently replaced their springs and dampers - anything over 6 years old can't count for this test surely?

And if you decide to go with stock turbo springs, PM me.

G

[nbell]

Originally Posted by john-w

Without going too deep, the difference in springs is their free length, sports springs being shorter, therefore, the car sits lower!! So you could fit sports springs with standard shocks which will sit the car lower but retain a softer ride. Sports shocks are stiffer, so they will give you a much harder ride, less roll on corners etc..
So you can combine springs/shocks to match your requirements!!

I thought this was a really interesting comment, from another post. Makes me think, I could maybe stop worrying about trying to get the exact match shocks/springs for the car (£££) and just stick on Kilens or standard springs and Sachs Advantage shocks (half the price of the 'correct' Sachs shock for the sports ARB car). The car would not then have the 'ultimate' handling but would deliver decent comfort and load carrying ability.

[li Arc]

I've been having some saggy problems as well. From the ground up, front = 28", rear = 27.75". However, ride height is 3cm difference between front and back, and from the wheel well to the tire the front is 10cm and the rear is 6cm...pretty strange, but it's possible tire inflation is inconsistent (the car is having the clutch repaired at the moment, so tires haven't been checked for the last three weeks). Still, the front looks way too high, and the rear looks saggy.

More importantly, when I have passengers in the car, even going over speed bumps and out of parking lots I bottom out...I think the rear springs are totally worn.

I'm looking into lowering springs, 40mm difference. Originally I was going to try stock (Bilstein on mine) dampers with Intrax lowering springs, but after reading several posts, I decided against it, and am going to replace both dampers and springs. Hopefully, I can get my hands on some B&G springs + Koni shocks, about $555 USD. Hopefully, that will fix my bottoming out problem, as well as the crazy high front.

li Arc

[nbell]

Looking at the car today it has that common 'nose too high' stance. Has anyway successfully experimented with regular springs at the back and lowered springs at the front? Or is that just plain dumb

Idea being that you would even up the gaps above the wheels at both ends. At the moment the space between the front wheel and the arch is greater than the rear and its arch.

[Saabstudent]

When i bought my car the front springs were lowered (unbeknown to me). Not sure what the technicalities are behind all that, but didn't seem to do much to the handling. I do prefer the kilens i aev now, but i'm not sure how new the springs were, or if they had just been cut down. Pic on original suspension....



Oh, and expect an email Nick...

G

[nbell]

Originally Posted by nbell

With nothing in the boot (apare from the normal tools & spare) the distance from the floor to the wheel arch on my car is 635mm / 25".

So I just had Lesfojors springs (only one variant available from PFS) and the correct spec Sachs shocks fitted on the rear. The height from floor to wheel arch is now 670mm. So either I ordered the wrong springs or my rear end WAS saggy. But I bet it will be a lot happier 4up or with a load of bricks in the boot now

[philjohnhb]

Originally Posted by nbell

Looking at the car today it has that common 'nose too high' stance. Has anyway successfully experimented with regular springs at the back and lowered springs at the front? Or is that just plain dumb

Idea being that you would even up the gaps above the wheels at both ends. At the moment the space between the front wheel and the arch is greater than the rear and its arch.

I have just fitted kilean springs, really pleased so far. I fitted the fronts first and took the car for a spin, felt pretty good to me, there was something of a mismatch front to rear but nothing serious.

Got the rears fitted now - v happy with the set up using standard shocks.

[nbell]

I avoided the Kilen springs because I wanted to go up or retain the same height - little did I know I would still have gone up, just not so much (maybe 15mm?). That would have been ok. But my car needs to be a workhorse, and it rides SO much better over speedbumps now

[DavidMorgan]

Is my rear end saggy?
Ask your missus .

Seriously, on apreviouys 9-3 I had the front suspension changed by a "brake, tyre, suspension" shop and they did not put in real SAAB parts and my front was too high.. Thought it would settle down but no.