1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
2004 Arc sedan, about 80-90k miles, bought used last spring, sagging rear (we load it heavily), all 4 tires worn off on the insides (one shredded). I'm a fellow Canuck, a 4 hour drive NE of you, we found our 9-5 in Toronto... these are great cars!
I put Koni Yellows on all 4 corners, bought from Genuine Saab (Tallifero Imports). They weren't the lowest price, but the price was fair. Shipping to Canada was not super cheap, but service was fantastic, parts arrived within a day or 2 and there were no fees on pickup. They worked out + prepaid duty + brokerage costs in advance. I also bought spacers from them (designed specifically for the Konis). Konis have 2 perches but you might need the spacers to get the ride height correct (I didn't, but many do + not bad to have on hand anyway). Good source of silicone vacuum hose as well! I went with them to support a Saab-centered place + because of the great service. shox dot c o m often has low prices on koni (and other brands) if that is what you are after, but I'm not sure how the shipping works out. The guy on the phone was hard to communicate with. There are often sales on Koni in the spring. I paid $100 more last fall (for a set of 4) than I would have last spring!!
If you consider bilstein, there is a dealer in Vancouver (google essex distributors) that has good prices on those. I bought rear shocks for a c900 from them for a great price shipped to my door. Jeff (see above in this thread) sells spacers also if you go with another source of shocks. Advice from him + saabsince93b was very useful when I did it. I agree with them that new springs are not worth doing, though I did go that route, only because I wanted wagon springs on our sedan to better cope with heavier loads + they were cheap enough new vs used that I didn't care. New springs will still sag + you will need to correct for that... in short, don't bother, keep your old ones unless there is a real problem. I did the install myself + had my Saab indy do the alignment. He aligns for less camber than spec (closer to 0 degree iirc). I did not do the bushings, and that is my only regret on this (as I may open it up again someday), but there is a great thread on this bb re diy options for that. Search "rosebush tool"... there are also lots of tips here from myself and others... see link below for an example. this is virtually a faq for the 9-5!
All in all, I am very happy with the Konis. Yellow, set ++ (iirc), so about 2 stops up from most soft - kind of midway. Stiff, but fairly smooth (we have some bad roads), though I've only had winter tires on the car so far (michelin alpin pa3 touring, 16" on steel wheels). I was looking for stiffer than stock, as I am used to c900's and find the arc as stock a bit too cushy + plush. I had another 2004 arc sedan to compare to + before I put the konis on, ours bounced more over bumps, even though pushing the corners of the car showed no ill effects wrt damping. Will report further wrt ride in springtime when I put 17" summers back on the car. I think for someone DIY'ing it on the cheap, Monroe might be a great way to save $$ (Konis aren't cheap). If paying for labour (or if your time is valuable), parts cost is less critical imho, so the premium for Koni/Bilstein is fine for me + they should last a little longer... but depends on your biases + if you are doing just the rears or both front + rear. I'm pretty sure I did not need fronts but wanted a balanced setup... I just did rears on a c900 + while better, I wish I'd done all 4 corners at once... depends how fussy you are!
good luck!
James...
posted by 69.63.60...
one of many installation tips threads
, Sat, 3 Mar 2012 20:13:04
, Sun, 4 Mar 2012 08:20:08, Sun, 4 Mar 2012 10:53:06, Mon, 5 Mar 2012 09:18:24, Mon, 5 Mar 2012 09:21:32, Tue, 6 Mar 2012 16:15:12, Wed, 7 Mar 2012 06:22:09, Wed, 7 Mar 2012 00:23:55
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