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Changing perch position on installed Bilsteins

Joined
15 November 2002
Messages
57
Location
Oak Ridge, TN, USA
I would like to return to stock ride height before I put another new spoiler on. Should also make it easier to get a proper alignment for a little better tire life. Can the perch position be changed just using spring compressors without disconnecting anything?
 
Yes, you can change the snap ring positions just using spring compressors without disconnecting anything.

Be careful when bending the snap rings open far enough to move them into another groove, though. A shop used spring compressors and changed the position of my snap rings after the Bilsteins were installed. In the process, they bent one of the snap rings so far open that it would no longer seat properly. Not good considering those things hold the car's weight. Also not good that they "forgot" to tell me about it. I found out about it myself shortly thereafter when I compressed the springs in my garage and changed the snap ring positions on my own. Just using spring compressors and without disconnecting anything.
 
I've decided on deinstalling them while changing the perch. There's much more control over the spring seats.
 
Do you mean the rubber spring seat on the top or the metal spring seat on the bottom or something else?

When the spring was compressed I rotated the metal spring seat on the bottom exactly where I wanted it (to get as much clearance from the tire as was possible), rotated the spring to perfectly fit into the metal spring seat, and then rotated the rubber spring seat on top to perfectly fit the spring. Did I miss something?
 
Fitting the spring correctly on the top is the difficult part for two reasons. One you've mentioned for sure: the rubber should align with the top metal 'seat'. I'm not sure about the second if we did point on the same: To ensure that the spring perfectly matches the rubber. You do this by rotating also but you need quite a good feel in your hands to get the right point. I even found this hard to do with the parts uninstalled.
 
Where can you buy OEM Bilstein snap rings? Or can I use "aftermarket" from the hardware store?
I would prefer to replace them with new ones instead of risking any damage (and have to wait for replacement) to the old ones when changing the ride height.
 
There's absolutely no need to buy new ones. Just get the right tool to change the ring and clean the perch you're using.
 
I bought the replacement snap ring from Bilstein Austria, so you can probably get some from Bilstein USA as well.

However, I agree with goldNSX - I don't think you'll need any. If you bend the snap ring open far enough to slide it into another groove, you only need to bend it open a few mm. And it's made of spring steel, so it's designed for that. I don't think it's designed to bend far enough for you to take it completely off the shock absorber at the shock absorber's thickest part. You'd need to bend it open several centimeters to do that and that's what I suspect my shop did. In any case, you shouldn't damage the snap ring in any way if you just carefully bend it open a few mm and then slide it into another groove.

When I put the snap rings into different grooves, I found I could see how the springs and the seats were oriented quite well just by sticking my head into the wheel well and using a flashlight. But there's usually more than one way to skin a cat. Have fun!
 
I was able to change the perch position without much trouble; it was just time consuming. Thanks greenberet for confirming it was possible.

Any ideas what effect the change has made on my fresh alignment? I'll have it redone when I get my new tires installed, but I'd like to take a short trip first.
 
Any ideas what effect the change has made on my fresh alignment? I'll have it redone when I get my new tires installed, but I'd like to take a short trip first.

With going higher in the rear you loose quite a lot toe-in, don't know exactly about the front. Mine went from +3 mm total toe-in to +2 mm in the rear by going 1/4 of the perch distance higher. Could be that you have toe-out now.
All depends on your driving. The sooner the better.
 
With going higher in the rear you loose quite a lot toe-in, don't know exactly about the front. Mine went from +3 mm total toe-in to +2 mm in the rear by going 1/4 of the perch distance higher. Could be that you have toe-out now.
All depends on your driving. The sooner the better.

What about the front? I just went about 1/3" higher recently.
 
Here's a picture of the cheap snap ring tool I've had for years.
It let's you squeeze open the ring just enough to move it.

I have a question on the blue shock boots.
The front fits closely around the shock body but the rear is of a larger diameter.
Is this to fit around some other part of the shock/spring assembly?
I haven't started removing the rear suspension yet and would like to know before I begin.
 

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...I have a question on the blue shock boots.
The front fits closely around the shock body but the rear is of a larger diameter.
Is this to fit around some other part of the shock/spring assembly?
I haven't started removing the rear suspension yet and would like to know before I begin.

I had the same question when I did mine. I thought something was wrong or they had sent me the wrong shocks. I found out that apparently the shock boots are just of a different design front-to-rear.
 
Did the larger diameter bottom of the rear boots fit snugly around something other than the shock body when you zip tied them?

The answer is, they are supposed to hang free. A call to Bilstein led me to the conclusion that the normal design is for dust boots to be rigid and hang free so as to not trap water, etc. In the case of the front, the free-hanging boot would make contact with the spring perch because it is so much higher compared with the rear; therefore, the front requires a more pliable boot which is to be zip-tied to prevent the interferance. So, you don't zip-tie the ridgid boots. The rears came with zip-ties (part of a standard kit?), but I still have them in my tool box. Here is my rear shock installation with loose, ridgid boot :smile: .

You do zip-tie the fronts. I had the same question some time ago. See this thread:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73634
 

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