Installing H&R Springs and Bilstein B8, what else should I do while in there?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a set of H&R springs and Bilstein B8 shocks/struts for my 2003 C4S. What other parts should I service, replace, or upgrade during the job? I'm sure this has been discussed before, if so, please link me to the thread or site. Everything I've found is more about the install process than the, "While you are in there..." parts. Thanks!

If you don�t do anything else, remember to replace the bump stops. You may have to trim them to account for the decreased spring travel. I think it�s also recommended to replace all the rubber bushings. There are control arm kits that provide everything you need.

Quotes source post: 19443897

Check the LCAs! How many miles?

Quotes source post: 19444766

45K miles.

Part of me is like, "Just save up a few more bucks and get coilovers.", but I never adjust my coilovers outside of raising them if they sag (which most of them have done). I've had them on at least half a dozen cars over the years. As cool as coilovers are, they are overkill for what I actually do with the car.

What do you actually do with your car? Maybe coilovers may be a decent idea�

Live a little. Get a good set of coilovers on sale and put them on the car and enjoy. Your car only has 45k miles on it, doubt you need to worry about replacing anything else.

Quotes source posts: 19445137, 19445171

I drive around town. I open it up on the interstate periodically. Occasional winding mountain roads. Every now and then I'll use it for school drop off or pick up. I don't track it nor have any plans to (I've never had that itch). I guess.

Hmm, you may be right about it being overkill for your usage. But I�m also in agreement with GC996 about living a little because I�m sure this car can be transformed with some coilovers. Sorry for muddying your decision.

I had a similar discussion with my indie service facility which specializes in all things Porsche. He recommended B6 shocks and Eibach lowering springs and maybe spacers if desired. My usage is similar to yours with no plans to track it. He agreed coilovers are overkill. I'm going for the European M030 ride height and set up. May consider new sway bars too.

I’ve been running on B8 and H&R lowering springs on my 996.2 C2 for a number of years now. With mine, I had to also replace rear toe arms and add adjustable upper control arms in order to get alignment within a tire friendly street spec. I found the rear to be too low, so added some spacers recently to bring ride height to GT3 spec. After a number of years, I wish I had just spent a little more on coil overs, so that I could adjust ride height easier than making spacers.

Here's the reality of it all: H&R springs + Bilstein B8 (with taxes and shipping): $1,440 Ohlins Road & Track Coilovers (with taxes and shipping): $4,475 That's literally 3x the cost for the parts. That's a huuuge price difference.

I hear you. Consider Bilstein PSS10s. They have been on sale for a low as $2300 recently. You just have to look around. Adjustable and durable as heck. PSS9s and PSS10s may possibly be on more 996s than any other coilovers. Other option are Feals. Many guys love them here on RL. We are all just giving suggestions. But at the end of the day, you gotta go with what makes the most sense for you.

Quotes source post: 19448653

Yeah, PSS10s were tops on the list, but ECS tuning says they won't ship for at least 2 months (even though the website says 3 days) and FCP Euro has them no longer available. I'm not opposed to using coilovers that aren't Ohlins, Bilstein, H&R, etc... I feel like coilover tech is old enough that the budget manufacturers have simply caught up. I've had good success with higher-spec D2 coilovers in the past on a E55 AMG. For reasons mentioned above, I don't need race quality performance for how I use the car. Ride quality, build quality, and ride height are most important.

Quotes source post: 19445448

Just to be clear: Are you referring to spacers to raise the height of the rear, not wheel spacers? Did you fabricate these or buy them?

Quotes source post: 19451642

Fabricated spring perch spacers.

Quotes source post: 19451651

Did they solve the problem? I recall Mercedes using similar spring perch pads on the W210 generation E-class. Either to allow them to even-out each corner or to raise the height to meet US regulations (no idea either way). I do know that it was a thing back then to order the thinnest pads to lower them a bit on the cheap.

Quotes source post: 19451658

Brought the car up to GT3 spec ride height. Noticeable increase in rake. Feels good thus far.

Quotes source post: 19448480

Half that buy these dont use them for the intended purpose ....while a good board....I feel a lot of what is recommended if you just street drive is overkill and some have the cash for that

But the name says �road�, so I assume they�re being used for half of its intended purpose.

Quotes source post: 19452666

Yeah. I've seen this happen in almost every car enthusiast group I've been a pert of. A lot of people think, "Well, if 'sport' is good, then 'race spec' must be better!!", and proceed to do their best to make a race car and wind up with something that no one wants to ride in. Update: So, now I'm looking at: - H&R Springs + Bilstein B8 shocks: ~$1,500 USD - Bilstein B16/PSS10 coilovers: ~$3,000 USD - Ohlins Road and Track coilovers: ~$4,500 I'm now leaning towards Bilstein B16/PSS10, because: - The threat of uneven ride height is something that drives me nuts. - The threat of being too low with H&R springs also drives me nuts. I guess there are other spring options, though (Eibach, RoW, etc...) - Being able to adjust both ride height and dampening for an additional $1,500 is worth it to me. - If I ever sell this car, I don't think any buyer would count the PSS10s against me.

Oh, and on a related note: I put Dinan springs on my E60 M5 (using stock dampeners) and it was perfect. I was hoping to slide into something like that with this car, but I guess I'm not so lucky 😅

Quotes source post: 19453356

You just have so much more flexibility witg settings with them if your objectives change. When I got my PSS9s back in 2006, my oem suspension was only 4 years old. It was lowered to GT3 height but I don't remember what settings I started with. But the car drove substantially better than the oem set-up. I eventually went full monty and put on tarret sway bars and drop links and set the suspension up for the track. I still am running the same suspension. The PSS9s are still like new. No leaks, durable as he'll and I can still do the same things with the car on the track that I could do 15 years ago. It was money well spent. I suspect the PSS10 are just as durable. Just well made.

Quotes source post: 19453356

Base price of Feal 996 coil overs in US is $1619. The radial bearing upgrade is good. I swapped out Bilstein B8 with Vogtland springs for the Feals, suspension is subjective, but to me the Feals were better ride and handling.

Quotes source post: 19454007

Is there a thread here on the Feals? I don't know much about them. As mentioned high above, I'm open to considering brands that aren't the old standard ones.

Quotes source post: 19453356

Going with coils is probably the better option in the long run but just to be clear, there is no uneven ride height with B8/HR combo. There is also no threat of being too low. Why JTT had this problem is beyond me, maybe something to do with being a cab -- no idea? The B8/HR stance is pretty spot on.

Quotes source post: 19454402

This is very comforting. Thanks!! H&R and B8 are back on the menu!

Also to be clear, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of coilovers -- coilovers are great, I have them in another car and love them. However, for a painless proverbial plug-and-play option that achieves a better stance and greatly improves chassis balance compared to the base factory suspension, the B8/HR combo works. Install, alignment, done.

Quotes source post: 19454452

I get what you are saying. I've done both style setups on cars in the past, but back then coilovers were $2,000USD. Now everything is expensive as hell. And coming off of the success with the Dinan springs on my last car, I'm hoping to get something easy, quality, and not expensive. I mean, how many garage queens have Ohlins (or better) on them, right?

Quotes source post: 19454462

Truth!!

Quotes source post: 19454286

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...lovers-or.html

So, it seems that the Feals are $1,600-2,100 USD (with tax) depending on how they are configured. These seem like a step up from the H&R + B8 setup for sure, with only a modest increase in price. About the same as the H&R RSS (?) coilover set.

The H&R RSS looks like a nice set up as well. Good news is we have many viable options. Unless you are pressed for time and have do do it immediately, you can take a little more time and compare the options. Plenty of recent threads on the topic and old threads which are very interesting to see the thoughts from 10 to 20 years ago. But at the end of the day, it's your call as to what's the best fit for you.

I have H&R RSS on a different car and they are quite track focussed. The spring rates are quite high and the damping is stiff. I probably would not want them on a daily driver.

Quotes source post: 19457142

Ah! Thanks for the insight. Yeah, this is definitely a daily driver.

Something else to think about. Tires do wonders in softening up the feel of the suspension. My set up is pretty stiff. Have always run 225x40x18 and 285x30x18 tires. Just got a set of 235x40x18 and 285x35x18 Michelin AS4s on my second set of wheels. Holy cow. The extra tire diameter softens up the drive immensely around town.

Quotes source post: 19457210

Got any pics from the side of the setup?

I'll post tomorrow.

Forgot I had a couple of shots with 12mm spacers. I am putting the 15mm back in tomorrow. The 235x40x18 and 285x35x18 Mich AS4 really do soften the ride substantially for the street. But yet, I can keep the suspension setup for the track all the time. All I have to do is put on my RE71RS tires and I am set for a track day without having to adjust the coilovers or sway bars. then switch back to the larger diameter AS4s for a softer all season ride. I'll post pictures tomorrow with the 15mm spacers.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing! I'd imagine that the taller tires correct the built-in speedometer error making your actual speed closer to your speedo-reported speed. It's late and I don't have the energy now, but I use this site to see the speedo error (or correction) that different tire sizes produce: https://www.willtheyfit.com Another way is to use the Waze app and a long, straight stretch of highway. I haven't used that app in a while, but it used to report current speed as observed by GPS.

Quotes source post: 19457409

According to WAZE, at 80 mph, I am showing 3 mph faster on the speedo than what waze is showing. With the Mich AS4s Rears tires (285x35x18) are 0.5 inches taller in diameter than fronts (235x40x18). If you go with 235x40 and 275x35 they are the same diameter.

Whelp. Apparently PSS10s for the 996 C4S are no longer available from Bilstein. But, they are available for the Turbo. Can anyone comment on what the differences between the two setups might be? I've always understood that 996 C4S and Turbo would have the same suspension setups, OEM or aftermarket.

Eh. Nevermind. I just ordered the H&R springs and B8 dampeners. Should be here on Monday. Now I have to see when I can get in with my shop for install. Thanks, everyone!

Sales coupled with no inventory tell me that we may be seeing a new version of Bilstein coilovers coming to the market sometime this year. Time will tell.

Congrats! Where did you order the B8s from?

Quotes source post: 19481938

I ordered the springs and dampeners from Tire Rack. They were in stock and are already on a truck headed my way.

Quotes source post: 19482166

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to seeing the car after installation.

A long time ago I had some noises so I ordered a set of B6 struts only to discover my problem was control arm bushings, so I saved the shocks. I'm still only at 60k miles on the C4 cabriolet but I think it's time to install them. Problem is I don't know if I should use the stock springs, which was my plan, or go with H&R (which I dislike, but H&R says you can use the B6 with them). Or sell these and go with something else. While I do autocross the car once a year or so, I'm not doing anything else crazy. I'm thinking a well cared, seldom driven set of stock springs can be reused, but I don't want to have to install this twice. So I will be curious to see how @cqhall likes his setup.

Quality springs like the Porsche ones don't wear as such. Their protective coating can wear or get damaged and then after some time corrosion will take its toll and the last coil may break off. As such you're fine reusing them when fitting the B6 dampers. Since these aren't shortened but have the same stroke as stock dampers do, it will be a good combo. They will provide you a firmer ride and better body control than stock or B4 dampers would.

Quotes source post: 19485867

Yeah that's what I figured. CA car that I brought here to NC so zero rust, sounds like a plan.

Update: Got them installed. Here's a fresh pic. H&R Sport springs, Bilstein B8 shocks, stock C4S widebody wheels, 15mm spacers rear, 12mm spacers front. I have maybe 30 miles on them, so I figure they'll settle more soon. I'm gonna drive it more tomorrow then try to book an alignment for Thursday or Friday. I've also included a pic where I adjusted the color levels in order to separate the tires from the wheel well shadows. I'm very pleased with the ride. As far as road compliance and comfort goes, It feels almost indistinguishable from stock. I haven't pushed the car hard until I get a proper alignment to make sure I don't have any understeer going on. Since I've put this kit on my "Thumbs up per day" while driving around town metrics have more than doubled 😂

Very nice! The car looks much sportier and aggressive. Glad to hear the ride is still comfortable and I'm sure it'll handle even better.

I got the alignment done today. It feels A LOT better. I just got home from the shop so I haven't taken it on any "spirited drives", yet. But, the car felt much improved on few curves I did hit on the way home. Earlier today I found a nice spot to snap a pic:

Update. Worst (first-world) fears realized. It seems that the rears have settled 15mm lower than the front...and it's driving me nuts. Also, the ride is not as firm as I would like. Using the BMW method for measuring from the bottom of the rim through the center of the wheel to the bottom of the fender, I get: - Rear: 575mm - Front: 590mm Give/take a few mm on both sides. I assumed that it's because the engine is back there and this caused the rears to settle faster, but the fronts simply have not caught up. Notes: I did not replace the spring pads in the back as the current ones were in good condition. Should I have? I did replace the front strut tops with non-OEM Meyle tops: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...e-4146410003kt

I have the Ohlins kit in my cart now...just under $5,000USD not counting sway bar links 😖

Buy the ohlins.....its just the natural progression. Next will be a truck and trailer for going to the track........

Quotes source post: 19549056

Hahaha. I already have an X5 M that can tow it, but I've never been interested in getting on the track (or driving exceptionally fast in general). I just want a car that feels tight and looks great. It'll cost me another $5K to get into the Ohlins. I figure whatever I make on selling the near-new H&R/Bilstein kit (if they sell) will be offset by the Ohlins installation cost. Could this be as simple as the old spring pads in the rear needing to be replaced?

Im pretty sure the standard c2 ohlins just bolt right in. Factory tops and sways and u r done. I went with tarett high camber stuff but i track the car. U could just add a 15mm spacer under the spring of your current set up?

Quotes source posts: 19549104, 19549104

👍🏾 I don't know. Are those a thing? I would love to. I'm sure those would be cheaper than $5K.

+1 on the Ohlins. I know you�re a C4 but this is how �low� you can go.

Quotes source post: 19549160

U just need to put the spacers between the top mount and underside of the car. Here is a 1/2" spacer for a toyota but if u search "stut spacer" there is a lot out there. U just have to make sure the bolts r long enough. Amazon Amazon

Quotes source posts: 19549271, 19549302

Thanks. The objective is to simply go lower than stock but not tucked. I like a 1 finger gap. Kinda like how modern high-end 911s are stock these days. Yours looks exactly like what I want. I'll look into those. They might be perfect. Thanks!!

Whole can of worms in the shape of unwanted side effects by putting a spacer between strut top mount and body due to it moving also the damper relative to the body. Much better to replace the springs through a warranty claim with H&R. If they cannot provide a spring that settles to the correct ride height, then a thicker bottom spring pad is the next possibility to get rear ride height up to where you want it, without changing anything wrt the damper.

Quotes source post: 19549776

Well, poop.

Quotes source post: 19549351

We had the same thought. My car is a factory M030 so it was already lower than normal. Black wheels photograph terribly but I�m at the �one finger� height. Think Ohlin�s come with Tarett uppers so you�ll have the adjustability you�re looking for. The car rides really well even with spherical endlinks. I know you said you�re not looking to do track days but man, my instructor was very very surprised how the car handled at speed. You won�t regret it.

Quotes source posts: 19549797, 19549797

I have no doubt that Ohlins will work. I'm not about to spend $5,000 on coilovers. I'm pretty sure I would. "Porsche owners are weird. I watched this guy spend over $5,000 to replace a new suspension because the rear on his 21 year old 911 sat 1.5cm lower than the front."

Quotes source post: 19549810

I got a used set for $3k and it came with Taretts. Just keep an eye out. I�m also one of those guys 😂

Quotes source post: 19549880

I would pay $3K for a used set with Tarret links just like I was willing to pay $3K for a set of PSS10s. But, a $5K race coilover setup for the look is a waste for how I use the car. As most of us here, I also have other projects (house, garage, X5 M, wife's Panamera S/T, etc...)

Quotes source post: 19549888

True, you know my other project car so I totally get you.

I think I'm gonna experiment with using the new OEM rear spring pads (which are marked "997...") and put the OEM front strut tops back on.

Have you considered switching to RoW M030 springs?

I had a similar issue with my H&R and B8s. I made up a spacer that I fitted under the spring. This had the effect of raising the spring perch, just as you would with a coil over. Worked perfect and feels good. Actually sharpened the steering a bit adding load to the front. I simply took ride height measurements from the frame members (as in the Porsche manual) and added a spacer to make up the difference. Brought it to GT3 spec.

Quotes source post: 19549776

I am not sure I agree with this. I have 996 Cup Moton's on my car. The 6Cup dampers are about 4" shorter than stock. To get reasonable ride height I am running a 15mm spacer between the rear top mount and the body shell. I have 25mm spacers that I may install next time it's apart. Do watch the bolt lengths. I replaced the pressed in studs in the 6Cup top mounts with extended lug studs for a side-by-side ATV. The car handles great and I can't see a real downside. The rear dampers don't have any effect on the alignment. Although I do agree the proper thing to do in the OP's case is to get the springs replaced under warranty.

Quotes source posts: 19549945, 19549967

I did early on, but they were (are) really expensive and I was convinced that the H&R setup would work. If I'm gonna consider spending a significant amount of money, throwing good money after bad, it probably won't be on another set of springs. Did you happen to take pics of the updated configuration and/or the spacer you made?

Quotes source post: 19549993

This is good to hear. Who makes the spacers that you used?

Quotes source post: 19550017

Im sure theprf made them as he is a pretty good machinist. I too cant see how adding 15mm under the mounting surface could effect the dynamics. Loads r still transfered to the same spot and since the studs on top just retain the strut in compression it will be fine. Expecially since u r not performance driving. Adding 15mm between the mount and the spring top or bottom would be better but its a harder part to make.....even better would be replacing the spring.

Quotes source post: 19550062

Wouldn't this reduce the upper travel of the dampener?

Quotes source post: 19550095

No u r just making up the distance of the overly compressed spring. The shock will still fully extend if u "floated" the car and it puts the shock hight back in its intended ride height position.

Quotes source post: 19549995

If I were in the market for coilovers, I would also look to the Ohlins Road & Track first. However, I would be extra careful about researching their height adjustment range. I remember reading about Ohlins being pretty low even when adjusted to their tallest height. If you�re unhappy with the lowering of the H&R springs (given they�re not defective), there is a possibility you will also be disappointed with these.

Quotes source post: 19549995

I didn�t but will take one when I get home if I remember. Super simple though, as it�s simply a collar that sits between the spring and the lower perch (the silver collar on the damper that the bottom of the spring sits on). Cut it to the rise I needed. Only downside is that you have to remove the spring to install it vs spacer on top of mount where you don�t have to remove the spring.

Quotes source posts: 19549993, 19550017

There is a bumpstop/auxiliary spring around the damper piston rod (on the stock shock absorber as well as on the B8 Bilstein). The top mount spacer has the same effect as putting a spacer around the piston, above the aux spring. I.e. it makes the aux spring come into action at less wheel (bump) travel than designed. Also, with said spacer, the wheel travel in rebound is increased as the wheel must extend lower to reach the end of shock travel. This results in greater than designed angles in the CV joints in the half shafts and higher stresses in all rubber bushes. It could potentially even lead to contact between control arms and subframe/rear axle carrier halves. With a 4" shorter shock the wheel travel is reduced so much that a 15mm spacer is not a problem. Some shock absorbers have a coil spring inside that is compressed when the shock absorber is extended beyond a designed amount (think spirited cornering levels of wheel travel, nothing close to full extension). Putting a spacer in would effectively increase the rebound travel of the wheel before said spring starts to get compressed. Not saying it won't work but I do think it is like opening a can of worms. Not worth it imo if a spacer below (or above) the spring itself yields the desired result without above unwanted side effects.

@cqhall check the part numbers on your springs. There are different H&R springs for cabrio/targa and regular. I wonder if that's what happened. My C4 is sitting level with B6+H&R.

Quotes source post: 19549880

The R&T�s don�t come with front top mounts, they�re designed to be run with the stock top mounts. If you want to track the car, and need additional front camber adjustment or better strut top location, they can also be used with aftermarket camber plates.

Quotes source post: 19555832

Will do. My mechanic wasn't able to get to the job last week. Hoping he'll finish up today. I've asked him to take pics. Here is the car as it sits in his lot. One can kinda see the droop I'm dealing with:

Quotes source post: 19557364

When they had their recall, they began including the Taretts but I don�t know for how long.

Quotes source post: 19558307

The recall was only for the AWD cars. I believe they were shipping Elephant Racing top mounts.

Update: Got pics of the part numbers for the rear springs that were installed. No front pics yet, but they came in the same kit box. According to the H&R website, 29466 is the correct spring and that's what I ordered from Tire Rack (see pics).

Looking into this setup myself. When I measure off the ride height with the stock setup, the front is about 1/2" higher than the back. The H&R springs look like a 1" drop front, 1" drop rear. I'm assuming that if there was a 1/2" disparity before, it will still exist if the front and rear are dropped the same. Probably just easier to see with the wheel gap made smaller front and rear. If/when I pull the trigger, I wonder if stacking one or two of these up in the rear would correct the front / rear difference: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...or-99634351101

Quotes source post: 19549302

UPDATE: The "Taco Lean" spacers worked! The rear and the fronts are now within 5mm of each other and we can probably chalk that 5mm in the front to a near-empty fuel tank. I didn't experience any noises or squeaks from the spacers. My mechanic says that the install was very easy. I could have done it myself at home, but I had him look at other stuff, too. The was plenty of thread available after the spacers were in place (like 4-5 turns). The suspension did feel a small bit different, but I didn't experience any adverse handling on the drive home. But, I didn't push it because I want to make sure that everything is settled and I re-torque after a couple dozen miles. I think the shadows in the pic below make it look worse than it is. I measured all 4 corners with a measuring tape from bottom lip of rim to bottom of fender and I got 190mm front and 185mm rear with about 1/8th tank of gas. It should be noted that I have 15mm spacers front and 12mm spacers rear. I found that that looks pretty even to me (haven't measured...probably should). So far, it's a win. Thanks De Jeeper! Now I can put that $5K towards some E88s or something 😅 For anyone following, I got the ones here. Same link as De Jeeper, just without all of the extra stuff in the URL: https://www.amazon.com/MotoFab-Lifts-Taco-lean-Spacer-Leveling/dp/B07FYPCVJM/

Quotes source post: 19559067

I think you are right about the 1" drop front/rear. Looking back at old pics when I first got it, the front was always noticeably higher than the rear. That seems to be the case with a lot of US-spec German cars from years ago (in my limited experience). Regarding the part you link above, it's not spec'd for my 2003 C4S. It's listed as "May not fit" on FCP Euro. The part 99733350400 is recommended for my car: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...or-99733350400 ...which is what I bought and had installed today. To make part-number-soup even spicier, the spring pads that I removed today (which seem to be original) are stamped 99333350400. Note the 993 (previous generation) prefix, but it kept the same suffix "33350400" as the 997 (subsequent generation) part. The two parts 99333350400 and 99733350400 looked to be the same with the older being black and the newer being a creme color. Same blocky ridges on one side. Vets here who are familiar with Porsche part number schemes can probably explain what's happening.

Well sh*t. Let's confuse ourselves even more (see attached pic). What's the difference between "spring seats", "spring pads", "spacer spacers"? (no mm), 3.0mm, 4.0mm, and 6.5mm? This might be my problem...and may explain people's mixed results. I recall that the W210 EClass Benz offered multiple spring pads to allow for the fine-tuning of ride height. The US cars all seemed to have the thickest pads. So, a cheap way to lower the car a bit was to swap in the thinnest pads.

Quotes source post: 19518324

So, I started searching for "Spring Pads" here on Rennlist and ran across this posted just last month on the 997 forum:

Quotes source post: 19559067

Sorry for the multiple posts. But, I think you are on to something with the stacking. The front spacers come in 3mm and 6.5mm options. 1 piece system. I think that the rear comes with the cream colored base plate [i]then[/] uses the "spacers" to stack on top (like Legos) to hike the rear up to match the front. It's a two-piece system! (I think). Take a look here and you can see how the underside of the black spacer mates up with the top side of the creme base plate: REAR: - OEM Base: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/99733350400/ - OEM 4mm stack: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/99633351103/ I wonder if you can stack multiple 4mm stacks if necessary. I bet this is covered in the tech docs somewhere. I started a thread asking for info: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-when-why.html

I am fairly certain the OEM ride heights for AWD cars are a little higher in front. Coupled with the taller front tires it gives an unusual sight picture.

Quotes source post: 19559789

So I ordered the rear spacers and can confirm that they do indeed stack with the rear pads like Lego blocks. But, only one spacer on the pad. You can't stack multiple spacers. The stack is about 4-5mm. I also ordered the thinner front pad. When I have the suspension apart again, I'll remove the "Taco Lean" spacer and use the OEM spacer for the rear and thinner pad in the front to see if I get it even. BTW, the "Taco Lean" spacer has been just fine. No abnormal handling issues. Spacing is dead-on. The only reason I'd ditch them is because they are a hack and I'd rather use the OEM solution...but damn, I don't feel like pulling all of this out again (or paying someone to do it).

Cqhall, I'm experience the same problem on my 04 c4s. To clarify, you're saying cream base pad with black spacer and you can't stack spacers... but can you stack the cream base pads?

Quotes source post: 19663580

No. You cannot stack the rubber base with another rubber base because the mating surfaces won't engage. The bottom of the rubber base has one finger-wide channel that's used to seat it on top of the spring coil. The top of the rubber base has the cube-like shapes that are designed to fit only one way with the spacer. Here are pics of the same base pad top/bottom: EDIT: My old base pad (pictured here) is black. I think the new ones are now creme colored.

Good info cqhal, thanks! You think that option would level it with front? I'm thinking maybe thinner pad for front and spacer + taco lean rear... because my differential is easily 1/2 inch so I'm concerned that 4mm spacer and 3mm front pad will not make up the difference. Is the link for the taco lean the one you used or were you able to find one for our cars? I wonder if running taco lean plus thinner front pad may be better option to prevent preload on rear. This has been frustrating to say the least. The way it currently sits looks like crap.

Quotes source post: 19663950

My next experiment will be to remove the Taco spacer from the rear as well as the OEM spacer from the front and hope that levels it out. I'm happy with the look now, but the ride is stock soft. I want it more stiff. After that, it will be custom Ceika coilovers for $1,300. There's a guy in the 996 Turbo forum here that has a set and likes them. I bought some for my Lexus LS (converting from dead OEM air suspension), and I love them.