328 Shock removal

Chris
I've never removed the shocks but a tech told me that you need a spring compressor and that you should be very careful as it can be very dangerous. I think you can get a spring compressor at any auto parts store. They could probably advise you. Be careful. Let us know how you make out as I may try to do the samething on my 308.

 

If you are not sure, you really shouldn't be going near springs..

But to answer your question..

You can remove the whole spring/shock unit by unbolting it from full droop position once the car is jacked up and supported on its' chassis.

But to remove the shock alone, requires removal of the spring. This is potentially lethal if you make a mistake.

 

Just remove the shock. Then take it to a suspension store and they can remove the spring for a couple bucks. That is what I did when I was changing shocks on mine. Phil is correct if you don't have the proper equipment or knowledge it can take your hand or head off.

 

The springs have a compression force of several hundred pounds/inch. So there's a lot of force required to compress them just enough to remove the shocks. If one of them gets loose, it can easily shatter bones or worse.

It's much safe & inexpensive to just remove the shock/spring ass'y & take it to Midas or another shock/spring shop & have them do the spring removal & installation.

If you insist on doing it yourself, get a heavy duty 3-rod spring compressor with safety retainers for the hooks.

A 3-rod system encloses the spring inside the 3-rod triangle where it's much less likely to escape, and the force to compress the spring is spread over 3 rods instead of 2. The 2-rod spring compressors sold by AZ, etc. are unsafe as they're both on the weak side, AND the spring can escape sideways from between the 2 bars.

 

I guess I should have read your thread closer. They remove as one unit. One bolt on top and one bolt on the bottom. They will not spring apart on removal. However, once removed if you want to take the spring off the shock then go to someone who has the correct equipment and knowledge.

 

Depending on what exactly you are doing... but yes you can remove the shock absorber complete with the road spring from the car. The shock absorber will hold the spring safely.


At the rear it is simply remove top through bolt to chasis and botton through bolt to hub, then turn, lift, twist and lower the shock to get it out of the wheel arch (can be done with the arch liner still in place)...

At the front I found I also had to unbolt the pivot bolts to the top wishbone and pivot the suspension out to make space to remove the shock adsorber.


Once it is out of the car you WILL require a spring compressor if you want to remove the spring from the shock adsorber, say to adjust or replace the shock absorber.

I found the conventional two hook and screw thread type to be un-suited as the coils are closely spaced. Instead I have a compressor made up which compressed the top and bottom spring pans.

As the top spring pan is loaded by the spring compressor it moves down the shock absorber to reveal two half moon "circlips".

Remove these then start to relax the compressor, the spring and top plate will now extend off the top end of the shock absorber until it is entirely relaxed.


The spring is suprisingly long once relaxed! so make sure the compressor can open to about 450mm. Also the forces involved are quite significant, so as with the other replys I urge caution. If you have suitable equipment then okay, but I wouldn't reconmend improvising.


Yours,

David

308 GTS carb
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Is the 308 and 328 the same? If I want to just replace the bushings front and rear can I remove the shock and spring as one unit and still be able to replace the bushings? Is letting the wheels go to a full droop sufficient to safely remove the shock and spring as a unit? Where is a good place to get bushings in the USA?

 

Are you talking about the shock bushings, or the a-arm bushings?

 

I'm talking about the shock bushing for now but I later want to change the a-arm bushings if replaceing the shock bushings doesn't stop the clucking from under the car. Thanks for your reply.

 

First of all, thanks for all the previous dialog on this post!
A few additional notes about removing/adjusting/replacing the rear shocks for those looking for a little more granular description of what's involved. I did it on my 88 328 GTS and it actually took probably about 15 hours, though I could’ve done it in a day with what I know now. A previous description about the fronts is right on. You do have to disconnect the upper wishbone – one more bolt - in order to swing the wheel hub down, and have enough clearance to remove the shock. Doing this doesn’t affect alignment though, which is a good thing! Note: it would be handy to have a mirror and flashlight in order to line up the holes when it’s time to put it back together. Other than that, it’s quite straightforward. After I figured out what was required to remove/replace the first one, it took less than an hour to remove the other side, put the shock in a spring compressor, remove and adjust it, and then reassemble everything. One hour flat. I did it at a friend’s repair shop, where he had a wall mounted spring compressor, which is definitely the way to go.

The rear were a similar situation, but a little more involved. You have to unbolt the coolant overflow tank on the left side in order to access the top shock bolt. You don’t have to disconnect the water lines, and there is also an air valve with hoses bolted underneath that coolant tank that makes it pretty hard to move out of the way. But just unscrewing two 10mm bolts and one nut, you can move it out of the way enough to get sufficient clearance. I also had to unbolt and move the oil cooler slightly in order to get clearance to slide the shock bolt out of the top bracket. On the right hand side, you have to remove the air intake box in order to access that top shock bolt. That’s just one giant “O” ring and it’s up out of the way, so no biggie there, you just have to watch the big rubber sleeve that attaches it to the intake vent on that side.

Once you’re on the ground, you’ve got to disconnect the wheel hub from the upper wishbone as well as the sway bar, in order to get that hub low enough to get clearance to get the shock out. That bolt connecting it to that wishbone has a lot of rubber gaskets and washers so be sure to keep track of how they were assembled, and place them in their proper order on that long bolt when you take it out so you’ll remember. Very important, as there is a lot of up and down movement on that hub, so all those bits have to be able to do their job, so it’s important to reassemble everything in the proper order. You also have to disconnect the rear sway bar, and my advice is to take bolt on the lower link apart, as there are multiple rubber grommets and washers, and again, the sequence is important. That sequence is what allows you to reassemble it easily, as you first put the washer and one grommet on, slide the bar on, then put the outside washer and grommet on, and as you tighten it, it smoothly tightens everything up.

So, the rears are a bit time intensive, and not as easy as turn/lift/twist and remove as mentioned in a previous post . . . I inspected all the bushings and they were acceptable, so I didn’t feel a need to replace them.

Additionally, all four shocks were set differently. So I guess they didn’t have a “method” for installing them at the factory, at least for my car, which is an 88 with 43k miles, and these shocks seemed to be original, and never out of the car before. The least was a half turn, and the most was a turn and a quarter, so my handling was already inconsistent. I adjusted the fronts to two full turns, so four half turns out of a possible five, and I set the rears at 1 ¾ turns, slightly softer, based on the fact that a lot of members talk about stiffer springs at the front than the rear, so I wanted to compensate for that a bit. The fronts do more work than the back anyway, so that makes sense. Here's the Koni site for adjustment how-to: https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Technology/Adjustment-Guides/ The car is definitely a bit harsher on secondary roads, but felt much better in the twisties, much better control where I could concentrate on steering, and not hanging on as the car was rebounding from being a bit soft. Anecdotally, I also have a 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera S, which I took on a spirited drive about a week after I’d done this adjustment, and funny, but the suspension and road feel felt remarkably similar to my 328. The 400hp vs. 260 hp is another story of course . . .