Suspension renewal.

[sgould]

My Hirsch suspension needs renewing.  I'm planning on keeping the springs, maybe with a repaint and fitting Bilstein B8 shock absorbers.  Others with this set-up seem to like it.

But, has anyone done this, who can advise?

I probably need to renew the bushes and bearings, but I need to know whether the bearings, bushes and bump stops on the existing Hirsch suspension are the same as standard ones, or whether I need to order new from Hirsch.

And will they fit the Bilsteins?  Or do I need to go to standard for those?

Finally, what bushes, spring seats, etc. come with the new B8's?


If the springs look completely corroded, I could go for Eibach springs, or a full Bilstein/Eibach B12 kit.  But do these springs or kits come with any bushes or bump stops and things?

[Audax]

If the springs look completely corroded, I could go for Eibach springs, or a full Bilstein/Eibach B12 kit.  But do these springs or kits come with any bushes or bump stops and things?

I believe that the Hirsch stuff just uses the standard Saab bushes. What I would say is that at this point get the car on a ramp and work out which bushes it actually needs right now. You'll want to check all the wishbone bushes, rear trailing arms, engine sub frame.

Once you have that list and know what state the shocks and springs are in you can start by ordering the suspension kit and see what is in it (although, I would not be expecting any suspension bushes in these kits or anything other than the shocks and maybe the top bolts) and then shop around for replacement bushes. The genuine Saab bushes are very good but also expensive, I would be advocating you buy either genuine Saab or investigate poly bush options although some poly bushes can be noisy and squeak.

[mikeloadsasaabs]

My Hirsch suspension needs renewing.

Any particular reason Will? Mine all seems to be OK still. I had a rear shock fail (oil leak) after 61k miles at 133k, but the fronts were fitted at c.71k and have now covered 153k. The rears fitted at 133k seem to be OK. The springs are all the original Hirsch ones and have therefore covered c.153k as well.

On the other point, the replacement rears mentioned above were supplied bare, except IIRC for the bush in the lower attachment eye, and I can't even remember if that was there, I have a feeling not. I know I bought some replacement bushes for that location at some point, but I'm darned if I can remember why! 

[sgould]

I've done 110,000 miles on the shock absorbers and while they seem OK to the bounce test, on the road and fully loaded, it's not as pointy as it was.  And it seems that the rear left is a bit rattly.  There's a knock of some sort that no one can identify.  I've stripped the back of the car of every bit of trim.  And two garages have checked it all out, but nothing external has been found.  I thought it might be a rear drop link, but the garages say "no".  One found that the shock absorber felt "granular" if it was held when bounced.  When I looked it was all getting quite rusty as well.

I was going to get this all done before I went on holiday, but there is no stock of Bilsteins in the UK until May and by then it will be too late.  So I will be driving to Nice with four adults and luggage…..

[David]

Hi Will

Regarding the noise: Obvious I know, but have you checked the spare wheel and tools are well secured. This happened to me once and it took some time before I found the source.

Regards

David

[sgould]

Yes.  I was tearing my hair out.  I had the tools out, the spare wheel out, even the wooden floor panel was left behind.  I went for a drive and the b***** noise was still there.

The garage reckon that "nothing is going to fall off" and that the shock absorber may not be moving smoothly.

The noise doesn't change with fuel level.  i've packed the handbrake cable away from the body with foam.  the noise remains!

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Are you sure it's at the back left, we all know that our Saabs make noises that seem to come from elsewhere - rear tyres anyone? The rear left front subframe bush being badly worn on my car manifested itself as a bonk from the front right wheel, but once the car was in the air it was all obvious - lever the subframe bush and the noise stops when you bash the front wheel!

[phoenix]

IIRC everything is standard apart from the shocks & springs. Things that may need renewing:

- top strut bearings at the front
- spring seats at the front

As regards not being so pointy, I'd look at eliminating other things like

- front subframe bushes
- front wishbone bushes
- rear trailing arm & rose bushes

If you're going DIY the rears are the hardest to get out- the screws holding the shock housings are veryhard work to undo if they've been fitted properly with thread lock.

[Audax]

If you're going DIY the rears are the hardest to get out- the screws holding the shock housings are veryhard work to undo if they've been fitted properly with thread lock.

These will not be a problem if you invest in a £65 Clarke CEW1000 Electric Impact Wrench.

[sgould]

I'm going to discuss buying the bits.  Someone else will do the work. I'm taking it easy on heavy stuff now.  After suffering from Tennis Elbow. I wouldn't want to get halfway and not be able to finish it.

The rear end was re-bushed a year ago.

Front bushes look OK, but I will be getting them checked while it's all in the air and apart.

The car drive OK when I'm in it alone, but when loaded on the motorway it feels a bit "floppy".  Not horrendous, but nothing like as good as it used to be.  The empty/loaded handling was much the same.  Now it isn't.  At least we aren't going to Germany next month, just the empty French autoroutes.

[nine-fiver]

Its amazing how important the front subframe bushes are to the whole feel of the front end of the car. Hers was a bit floaty in the front, particularly over wallowing speed humps. But after a blast with the impact drivers up on a hoist the boys did a great job getting the car to feel more taught and much more crisp. Turn in is better, short bump rebound rate is tighter and four up fully loaded the car tracks well on the highway. It's a different car. All I did a while back too was change the rear shockers to new aftermarket Lipp units, and the front end benefitted at the same time.
But get the Bilsteins, you can't do better than that. I have them on my E21 all round, and the thing is tied to the ground like it is on rails in a corner.