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The Konis can be whatever you want, and can be 'tighened up' in the future as they wear. Bilstien HDs can definately be wrong for some drivers and some roads. So my choice is obvious.
I had HDs on a 97 Passat diesel. That was a bit severe some times!!!
The Saab has limited front suspension travel. Hacking the bump stops allows for more travel in which the shocks can do their job. This with the Koni's worked very well for me, with stock SE springs. Brad who has wrenched, modified and raced Saabs forever suggested this route and suggested that the whole setup would work much better and feel more controlled instead of riding so much on the stop in corners and braking etc, have to agree with that.
The SAS type swaybar is a must do and cheap and DIY, glad to see that you have that.
The rear suspension is fine, no need to play with bump stops. Rear shocks are easy to do. Note sealant issues in my DIY posts on that.
SKF as in upper mount thrust bearings? I can't imagine that anything from SKF would suck, and don't recall any issues posted here. I can't see why your mechanic could not inspect and repack the OEM bearings. At $23 a pair, you could have them on hand and use or not use them. Get the new modified design control arm bushings. While the control arms are out, suggest that the other two bushings be replace with poly.
With control arm bushing changes, the toe-in will need to be checked/adjusted. If just the shocks and upper mounts -not needed. I would defer the adjustment for a few days to let the bushings settle before doing the toe-in, unless the steering really feels wrong. The steering feel is very sensitive to toe-in. Suggest minimal toe-in the more poly bushings installed, otherwise the tires can fight each other in wet/snow/ice/slush and stability can be effected.
There is very little synergy in doing the strut shock & upper mount in combo with the control arm bushing work. Only operation in common is the popping of the ball joint taper. So you could DIY the shocks and upper mounts then go in for the control arm work. So there is an option there and you can fiddle with the thrust bearings yourself.
Doing brakes while doing the strut is an option.
With the Koni's I suggest that antifreeze not be used in the shock tubes, use oil instead. Fluid is added to create a heat coupling path from the shock to the strut tube. Degrease the strut tube threads and install the strut retaining nut, supplied with Koni shocks, with lots of loctite blue. It is very difficult to torque that pin wrench nut as there are no tools avialable which are big enough. I used a vice grip chain wrench. If the nut gets loose the suspension will start to hammer and you then have the whole job to do over again. Mechanic probably will not have suitable tools and Koni USA does not have and could not direct me to any source for anything really up to the job.
As you do this work, the subframe will be the weak link. A subframe brace would help. There are a couple of sources for these and different designs, but stay away from Abbott's, you will have ground clearance problems and when it bends, it distorts the subframe and changes the steering geometry.
For others, there are step by step posts on this stuff and other things. Search drs<underscore>install.
posted by 68.93.19...
, Sun, 24 Oct 2004 14:12:21
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