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Tallafero has a decent deal on OEM Saab 9-5 sport shocks and springs for an Aero sedan. Got the kit - 4 shocks, 4 springs, F&R sway bars. Genuinesaab.com
I'd done some reading on the cupping problem on the rear tires and it pointed to the rear suspension toe in being off. I might be wrong between toe and camber as I don't have my notes in front of me - buried somewhere around here. Easy solution is a shim that Genuinesaab.com has that can be doubled up. Problem with mine was the spec was too far out even for a pair of the thicker shims. That problem is caused by the rear springs sagging, the rear shocks being shot or both. Bilsteins will help as it seems to 'pump up' the height of the car a bit - just don't get them out of the proper operating range or they will fail in a short period of time. I was going to go with Bilsteins but my wife is the primary driver of this one and doesn't appreciate the harder ride. Other folks on the web point to the springs being weak in these 9-5s of ours and my experience is that that has some validity unless the previous owner of my car carried cement blocks around with him all the time. Like I said, no need to compress the original springs in the rear when disassembled as the unit wasn't under any spring tension. They were about a half in shorter than the replacement units and were very weak. Spring compressor needed to reassemble the rear unit with the new springs. Just be careful out there as your springs may be a bit stronger than mine. A compressor to take some load off would be prudent when dis-assembling...
The tires that are cupped are still on mine; but now, instead of it sounding like I'm driving over a washboard, it is much quiter - no longer driving on the inner side of the tire. The inner section of the rear tire looks like a series of flat sections around the circumference - they are cupped that badly (didn't take but a few thousand miles).
I had the local Saab place do the job for me. Have a good relation with them and they cut me a bit of a break on the price. If you do the job, it shouldn't be too bad. Just have a good source of heat and a torquey air tool. Take your time so you don't round off the nut as it will be very rusty. Might want to chase the threads on the shock with a die as mine seem to have been 'dinged' a bit in shipping.
I'm curious if anyone has tried the Bilstein and Abbott Racing spring combo. Thought of that one but went OEM to keep 'the boss' happy.
BC
posted by 69.243.21...
, Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:48:46
, Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:31:50, Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:11:30, Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:21:58
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