[Rally900]

I need advice from the saab guys again, what do you all recomend for shocks and springs for a 88 900, keeping in mind that money is a bit of an issue? also who makes stiffer(poly) bushings for this car? i haven't been able to find anythign yet, and the stock bushings have seen better days...thanks in advance


Ryan Malinchak
1988 Saab 900
1994 Volkswagen Jetta GL

 

[Pete Gossett]

Keep in mind that I don't know much of anything about Saabs....

But I've heard that if you have access to a lathe, you can buy Delrin by the rod & turn your own bushings pretty cheap. I haven't personally tried it yet, though.


Pete Gossett
Central IL Region SCCA
Solo-2 Chair
93 VW Corrado/42GS

 

[Rallyho]

The cheapest way to get a decent susp under a saab that will hold up is to find some Saab "roadholding kit" or later year spg springs and put some Bilsteins in. Rubber bushings will be fine for shocks. Remove all sway bars. Dial in +4.5 deg caster, -1 deg camber, zero toe. Move the batt back to behind the seats or into the trunk. The next step would be to have the shocks custom valved..can't remember the values...and get even stiffer springs. But, the above combination does work, and is pretty cheap.

 

[RichardM]

Or call Scanwest in Seattle. I actually like the feel of my car with the swaybars front and rear. We originally put them in for the Tarmac Express events and ended up leaving them. Reinforce the shock mounts and front lower a-frames.
Richard Miller

 

[John Vanlandingham]

John Vanlandingham
Poly-urethane lower A arm bushing: JVAB Imports Seattle 206 431 9696
Poly-urethane for especally front shock lower eye: NW Offroad Center, Bellingham WA for 'virgin' poly wich really last better than any others I know, far better than than for example Rauncho. Pain in the drain to deal with as they are 4wd jeep/toyota rip the forest to shreads types but tell them your need 5/8 hourglass bush.

For new correct rally valved,rally length actual 900 Bilstein Front and rear again call JVAB in Seattle, where recently current price info was sent from Bilstein Sweden for 96, 99, and 900.

I can check about availability of front springs specificaly as '900 rally' spring, since it was me who organised a co-production run between the then SaabMasters, now Scan-West, back in I don't know when. I imported some rally springs from Sweden for 99, and sent them to where I have 96 rally springs made, but that was 11 years ago so the data on actual springs rates.
I do know now the the front spring diameter is such that Circle track fronts would sit on your perches and if one of the guys could go out and measure the wire diameter and count coils, we could without doubt get you springs that way. Anybody have a 'veri-near caliper'? 16mm wire? 10.5 turns?

What are you intending to do for strengthening the A arms, something you had better do well. Well means well, not just heavy, you know.
Maybe the poor guy with the MA 900 could post photos of just how their A arm failed at CT, that was the caused listed as DNF wasn't it.

Again JVAB has done thouroughly welded exchange upper and lower A arms for numerous 99/900 guys with zero failures, must have learned something after 3 different sorts of failures on his own, eh?
Maybe its time for a mini-run of A arms.

Too bad i haven't figured out how to post photos yet, I have nice photos of JVAB lower arms. Newbie Prole-le-rallist 'Wild' Billy Milligan and Derek 'Uncorked' Bottles came over yesterday and got the scanner and this click clacky thing working. Today maybe we can post photos?

 

[John Vanlandingham]

>The cheapest way to get a decent susp under a saab that will
>hold up is to find some Saab "roadholding kit" or later year
>spg springs and put some Bilsteins in. Rubber bushings will
>be fine for shocks.
Mike depending on which Billies you get, you'll pound this rubber bushes to pooo on the STREET in no time flat, lower poly a must.


Remove all sway bars. Dial in +4.5 deg
>caster, -1 deg camber, zero toe.
You might want to dail in 1mm toe, esp with the camber
Move the batt back to
>behind the seats or into the trunk.
Old Think was to move the battery back, later think was 'why move weight off the drive wheels?' you should make a box in the shelf on paas side and have the thing at the base of the windshield, sorta next to the heater assy. agreed you should get it away from the exposed area where they sit in street cars.
Rear wheels there mostly for preventing muffler from dragging. assuming the exhaust system stays on the car!!



The next step would be
>to have the shocks custom valved..can't remember the
>values...and get even stiffer springs. But, the above
>combination does work, and is pretty cheap.
Say, Mike, what did YOU do for A arms? Got any 900 ones dismounted for the poor kid, I don't, I gave you all mine remember?
John Vanlandingham

 

[fiasco]

Looking for this? :7

http://home.attbi.com/~merkur/jvab/saabaarm.JPG

I'll try to get the pictures onto an actual page this afternoon.


--Andrew Steere
Dover, NH
[email protected]

 

[John Vanlandingham]

John Vanlandingham

yeah, that's the ticket... Thanks

 

[Rallyho]

...You must be refering to the patented "Brake-Away" exhaust system. Fun for the whole family. Fool your friends and fellow rally competitors into thinking they are going to die as they approach your dismembered exhaust system laying across a logging road at close to the speed of sound! Uh, yeah...

Ok, I forgot a-arms. John's design is on my 99 right now and has about 5 events, 2 of those Maine Forest..land of the painted rocks...and they appear unscathed. Might add some support to the lower shock mount as I have seen those fail as well. Oh, that does have the JVAB lower bushings. The 99 does use poly (prob rancho..) shock bushings on the front. What else, oh, moving the batt...so leave the weight up fr...just make sure it's behind the drive axles...hmmm, interesting theory...

 

[Rally900]

Ok, so it looks like a lot of ideas to consider, so what do i have to do to get some of those A-arms? and what is the approx. cost for the Bilsteins that everyone is mentioning?

Ryan Malinchak
1988 Saab 900
1994 Volkswagen Jetta GL

 

[John Vanlandingham]

John Vanlandingham
looks like you should call JVAB Imports. number at the top.

 

[ethan]

Damn, what a great conversation!

Ryan, I think at this point it looks like you should give John V. a call and chat. He has a lot of good help to offer. The pic above is the A-arm which John had made a ways back and Mike White runs on his 99. Our (Saabworks) '85 900 runs a very similar "boxed" a-arm which we had ScanWest make for us last year. ([a href="http://www.saabworks.com/img/lower_a_arm.jpg" target="other"]here's a link to it[/a])

The a-arm which broke at Cherokee on John Groo's '83 900 was plated on the top only and the plating stopped about 1.5" from the inner end of the arm. That's where it broke. Still waiting on digital pics from John to post for ya'll.

Ethan
Co-Driver, Team Saabworks
www.saabworks.com

 

[james]

interesting handle you have there ryan...



james
[link:www.saabworks.com|saabworks]
http://www.saabworks.com/img/plate.gif

 

[Rally900]

James, is that really your plate? or just a photoshop edit? i had actually considered getting that plate...well, so much for that idea....

Ryan Malinchak
Rochester,NY
1988 Saab 900
1994 Volkswagen Jetta GL

 

[ethan]

Ryan,

Yep, thats our plate number for the rallycar. Sorry d00d.

Ethan
Co-driver, Team Saabworks

 

[saywhat]

>
>I can check about availability of front springs specificaly
>as '900 rally' spring, since it was me who organised a
>co-production run between the then SaabMasters, now
>Scan-West, back in I don't know when. I imported some rally
>springs from Sweden for 99, and sent them to where I have 96
>rally springs made, but that was 11 years ago so the data on
>actual springs rates.

John: The springs we use, and have used for many years are not related to your batch, sorry. They are springs I came up with and we used when we won the national championship.
JVAB is a load of help and very budget minded-money saved in car prep is money to be spent at rallies!