My front ride height is also low at 14 inches. I am convinced the only effective way of solving excess negative camber and the associated tire wear and handling issues is to correct this. The top bolts remain centered, so I do not know for certain what the condition of the upper mounts are. But based on other posts here, I think it would be wishful thinking to believe mounts alone will fix the issue. When the car comes out of the barn in the spring, I think new mounts, road springs and, hang the expense while it is apart anyway, new shocks will be in order.

The questions are what parts? Differing opinions here on poly vs. standard, which springs and shocks?


Bilstein only lists one part number for the front shocks, but the price varies from about$100 at Rock Auto to $150 at SNG Barrett to the moon elsewhere. Are they all the same?


SNG Barrett seems has a good price on springs, so long as they are a good fit and performance.


Those who have used Welsh poly mounts, how are they working out? I have read the horror stories about melting poly, but also the short-lived foam from parts geek. I also have questions about "pre-assembled" vs. labour intensive mounts needing drilling and riveting.


Any advice on this related topic is appreciated.


Andy

 

The Bilsteins are Bilsteins. For other cars there are multiple Bilstein shocks, but for non CATS X100's, the $110 shipped bilstein is the same as the $150 + shipping bilstein. You'll probably need new splash boots and bumpstops (another $20) as these don't come with the front bilsteins.

Welsh ent poly mounts of Ebay are the ones to get. Cheaper than Welsh std mount or poly when purchased direct from welsh. No assy required with the Ebay Poly from Welsh. They aren't $115/pr anymore, but are still reasonable at $140/pr.

You may need new springs but likely do not. Upper mounts and new shocks do a good job restoring height.

While you are in their, you may want to put in 4 new upper wishbone bushings, since its easiest to remove the spring/shock with the upper wishbone out.

 

Thanks ungn. I appreciate the advice.

The ball joints and bushings were changed when I got the car last year.


I remain skeptical that upper mounts alone would restore the ride height by 1 and 3/4 inches, so do suspect the springs have sagged over the almost 20 years on the road, especially as other threads have reported the same situation. For all the effort involved to repeat the disassembly, the cost of the springs is probably an incremental increase overall. If I had known when I got the car what I have learned on the forum since then, I would have done all of it once!


Cheers


Andy

 

To get my blue cat back to full ride height, I had to do top mounts and springs. Changed the shocks while I was at it and used Rock Auto Bilsteins.

Make sure you get the right springs, there is a difference between the coupe and convertible. Also get the OEM springs. I used aftermarket at first and they sagged worse than the 100k+ original springs I took off.

Front now sits at 15.7 after ~20k miles on the new springs.

 

Good info Jag 4.

I see SNG Barrett has two versions for my coupe, one much less expensive than the other. My experience with SNG has so far been positive, but do you suggest the cheaper alternative may not be up to par?


I am also curious after seeing all the different part numbers for non-CAT cars, what really is the difference? What is so different about coupes and convertibles of the same year?


Andy