Suspension & Steering

Shocks and Alignment

I received my externally adjustable Koni shocks from David Roberts at
928 Specialists a few weeks ago and these are really TRICK! I now can
adjust the shocks stiffer (external adjuster knobs front and rear) at
the auto-x, but turn them back for a smooth ride home afterwards. I am
still tuning the adjustment settings (including changes to my driving)
and the car's auto-xing performance has taken a big step forward.

I had the shocks installed by Fordahl Motorsports in Belleview, WA.
They let me hang around for the experience and am glad I let them do
the work. Experience and the right tools reassured me that I made the
right decision not to do it myself at home. I also had them corner
balance the car and do an alignment. Greg (Fordahl) uses a cool setup
where he places the wheel scales under the Hunter alignment stands so
both can be done at the same time.

Settling of the car after installing the shocks was a major issue
before alignment. Greg knew this was a problem for 928's so he had his
own trick. He said the settling problem was due to the design geometry
of the front suspension causing the A-arm bushings to bind. His trick
is to loosen the mounts around the bushings, pull down on the car, and
then tighten the bushing mounts. Worked great.

I had lowered the front of the car last year and had a local Vancouver
tire shop do a front end only alignment. I remember the alignment guy
(who had never done a 928 before) tried to pull down on the car to
settle it after he had carefully lifted the car under the A-arms. I
had requested - 1.5 camber and zero toe. When Greg checked the
alignment before readjusting, the car actually had -1.6 R, -1.9 L and
about .25" Toe OUT. The caster was screwed up also. The car turned in
great during auto-x but darted terribly on the freeway and was wearing
the inside of the front tires severely. My rear tires are also wearing
quite fast and Greg discovered .5" toe IN at the rear (which I had
never checked). He felt this was excessive and was causing the rear
wear along with the patented Weissach action. Expensive tire lesson
especially with my 18" rubber.

Greg reset alignment to -1.3 camber and zero toe front and rear and set
front caster to maximum. The car drives like a dream now and still
handles on the auto-x course.