New springs with dampers?

[BigBee1993]

Should you replace the springs with new shocks?
Just bought a new set of bilstien b4 for 997 c2s.
OEM springs are a lot. Concerned about the ride if I opt for eibach or kw lowering springs.. which are fairly reasonable.

Cheers people

[kambites]

If the springs are in good condition, no it's not necessary to replace them. However, can't you get some reasonably prices non-OEM springs of the same rate as the originals?

[buggalugs]

I believe B4’s are designed to work well with the original spring rates so as long as they’re not broken or badly corroded they should be OK.

[BigBee1993]

kambites said:

If the springs are in good condition, no it's not necessary to replace them. However, can't you get some reasonably prices non-OEM springs of the same rate as the originals?

I haven’t found any, just on design 911 a pair of front springs is same price as a set of kw 15mm lower springs.

They might be fine it they have just done well over 100,000 miles. Also if I could get a set for couple of hundred pounds it’s not really a big deal.

[Haltamer]

I'd say change them at the same time.

If the old ones are fine, you don't really need to - But equally, "Whilst you're there", it's better to get some fresh ones in for completeness and to avoid having to take it apart again if one of the springs were to give way.

Saves the faff of copmpressing for removal and refitting etc. too - Just need to fit them once and you're ready to bolt in.

[BigBee1993]

Haltamer said:

I'd say change them at the same time.

If the old ones are fine, you don't really need to - But equally, "Whilst you're there", it's better to get some fresh ones in for completeness and to avoid having to take it apart again if one of the springs were to give way.

Saves the faff of copmpressing for removal and refitting etc. too - Just need to fit them once and you're ready to bolt in.

Yeah I agree, just not for £600 pounds for oem set. So unless I can find some better value it’s kw at £250 for set and 15mm lower which I’m not sure about. So maybe go with the old.

[samoht]

Unlike dampers, springs don't 'wear out' with time / miles; they're just a long strip of coiled steel, so they don't lose functionality from use.


They can, if not properly protected from new, rust and then snap. On cars known for this, if the spring looks rusty I'd change them at this opportunity.

They can also 'sag' slightly over time, so the car sits maybe 1cm lower than when new, but with the same spring rate. If this develops to the point where the wheels are scrubbing the arches or you're finding the bump stops frequently, then again time to replace, but I think that's fairly rare. Otherwise it's just a little free lowering, which is a positive ;-)

So if they're not rusty and haven't sagged, then I think no benefit or reason to replace them, just spending money for no benefit.


The other thing is that springs and dampers should always be matched; sounds like the new dampers are specced for standard or just slightly higher rate springs, so no need to change unless you want slightly lower/firmer ones.

What's not good is to fit higher rate aftermarket springs with standard dampers, as it'll be bouncy and may wear the dampers out sooner. But that's not the issue here.

[buggalugs]

Haltamer said:

Saves the faff of copmpressing for removal and refitting etc. too - Just need to fit them once and you're ready to bolt in.

Good plan, just be aware there’s usually a load of other bits you’ll need to do that, like top mounts, the cover thingies, and the rubber pads that springs often sit on.