Completed: DIY DRC removal/swap with Koni Yellow Sports....

[kismetcapitan]

2 years on my Konis + H&R springs. It's a very harsh ride but the performance is sublime....all for (relatively) stupid cheap!

[Bigglezworth]

2 years on my Konis + H&R springs. It's a very harsh ride but the performance is sublime....all for (relatively) stupid cheap!

And no crazy teeter totter like a cheap coil over suspension going over bumps right?

[humantic]

As of 10 pm last night most of the DRC had been torn down, lines ready to remove, and the front struts assembled and ready to go back in. We decided to set the stiffness at one notch above the softest to compensate for the eventual softening as reported. Hopefully by Wednesday the car will be back on the road. We did notice some cracking of the bushings in the upper control arms and debated replacing them now, I lost that argument, the guy doing work thinks we should wait figuring that replacing them later won't be too hard. After an evaluation period I'll make a decision on a sway bar, although I'm fairly certain that a new sway bar will be installed at the next oil change, which given the miles I drive is about two months away. As seen in the images below we acquire new strut mounts, not oem but the quality in terms of material thickness and such was similar to oem.

[mik15]

you could've done the upper arm bushes as well if they're shot or close to, in order to replace them you'll have to unbolt and lower(or twist it cca 30 degrees) the strut/spring assembly. Anyway, do let us know your feedback as soon as it's all back together and you get to drive it.

[lswing]

As of 10 pm last night most of the DRC had been torn down, lines ready to remove, and the front struts assembled and ready to go back in. We decided to set the stiffness at one notch above the softest to compensate for the eventual softening as reported. Hopefully by Wednesday the car will be back on the road. We did notice some cracking of the bushings in the upper control arms and debated replacing them now, I lost that argument, the guy doing work thinks we should wait figuring that replacing them later won't be too hard. After an evaluation period I'll make a decision on a sway bar, although I'm fairly certain that a new sway bar will be installed at the next oil change, which given the miles I drive is about two months away. As seen in the images below we acquire new strut mounts, not oem but the quality in terms of material thickness and such was similar to oem.

Nice, I often want mine set one firmer than base level, will be solid. I couldn't believe I waited so long for the sway bars, so good and level through corners, car is tight and responsive, predictable.

[04rs6cdn]

Help...I just did this swap but my tech installed the fronts out of the box with out adjusting them....I got there in time to adjust the back shocks to lowest perch and 1/2 a turn from soft...so do you guys know what the front might be set at from the factory??

[humantic]

Sorry 04rs5cdn I can't comment on the as received factory setting, I'll ask the guy who did the work for me to see if he knows. I can say this though, I'm very satisfied with the results. I've only driven 3 miles on the retrofitted system so far. Tomorrow it will get the 100 mile commute.

As i said before we sett the the height the same as DHall, however we ste the stiffness one notch stiffer than the softest. The ride quality is as good as the DRC, it feels firmer, but not a head jarring-back breaking firmer, more like a solid ride firmer. For the last week I have been driving my old A6, which had the springs replaced, after one of the oem springs broke, with the H&R lowering springs. That car has a fairly stiff ride probably similar to what kismetcaptain is experiencing. This ride is much nicer than that. If anybody else is on the fence about this you won't be sorry if you go this route. Thank you again Dave for your trail blazing and all the others who contributed to this effort.

Attached is an image that shows the way the car sits after the retrofit, we didn't notice any change in ride height or rake, but then again we didn't take measurements so that is a subjective assessment.

[humantic]

04rs6cdn, the guy who installed my struts thinks that out of the box the front struts were at one off soft, which is where we set my struts to for installation.

[DHall1]

Crap.

I get credit for stuff I never had a part in. Thats awesome

;-) I think it was the guy in MN that was the first.

I run KW V3s on one and H/R street coilovers on the other.

[humantic]

Damn, my mistake, my apologies 4.2crew, the thanks go to you. Although DHall1 you deserve some credit too as a contributor.

[mik15]

this should be added to the sticky list....

[2000c43]

Thank you 4.2Crew and others who have contributed to this thread. I've owned my car for many years now and have had periods of functioning DRC, factory DRC recall functioning with a high rear end, non-functioning, etc. I finally bit the bullet and pulled out the DRC for Koni Yellows per 4.2Crew's guide since the DRC started to show signs of leaking again. I set the shocks to: Front - 1/2 turn from full soft rebound and stock Koni perch height and Rear - 1/4 turn from full soft rebound and low Koni perch height. Car sits level with a really nice consistent gap around all four tires. Love the ride quality so far and I don't hear any suspension noise at all. Thanks again!

[lswing]

Very nice, another convert! Same height setting here, very good. I'm full soft all around, but on spirited drives would like just a bit more firmness, your setup should be great. Cheers!

[4.2Crew]

Glad to hear it all worked out well for you!... IMHO, the car has a much better "sit" than stock. BTW, keep your receipt for the Koni's----they have lifetime free replacement to the original purchaser.

[04rs6cdn]

I too did the swap, but a word of caution the lower retaining washer is very close to the axle shaft when clipped on the lowest setting on the rear shocks. One of my clips popped out and caused the washer to rub on the shaft until it snapped. After I fixed it I checked the other side and noticed that it too could fail. So I tack welded a few spots below it to make sure this wont happen again. Maybe I got bad clips? I dont know. The design seems weird to me for those tiny clips that slide into the grooves and then have to hold all that weight.

[lswing]

The design seems weird to me for those tiny clips that slide into the grooves and then have to hold all that weight.

Agreed. I always hoped there was some level of weight distribution occurring that I did not understand. Those clips are so small, made me scratch my head. But my experienced mechanic thought it was normal...

Another note, I never got the chance to stiffen mine up a turn, but since adding the Hotchkis sway bars, maybe no need. So much of the body roll was removed, and suspension really glides through uneven corners. The combination is excellent.

[petzl21]

OK, so question for you 4.2Crew and others that have done this swap. What other parts from this diagram (other than the strut) did you replace/refresh when doing the swap? Is the strut mount the lower, or upper one (part number 15, has an upper and lower one?

[lswing]

Quick photo update on level of the car. Seems to have settled just a touch in the back. On the low perch for the rear, setting soft all around. Two fingers gap for the back, about three up front, fairly close to level. At full wheel lock there is just a tough of rubbing up front on the inner plastic, very minor though. All and all very solid setup and great performance.