RESTORING HANDLING

After I had bought my current 99, I was surprized by its mediocre handling and poor roadholding. When conquering a roundabout in 60 Kmh, damp tarmac, the front wheels let go and scrubbed through the last half. Severe body lean was clearly evidend, even at moderate pace. This wasn't what I expected, my previous 99's were surely better than this? It had been twelve years since the first one, but only four years since my nr. two Saab 99, and as far as I could remember, they were both eager performers. My memory couldn't be that bad? No, something had to be wrong with this one. It became quite clear that this car was in need of a serious suspension overhaul/modification.

If you'd like to copy my recepie, be my guest.

First of all, you will need one or two donor cars. Well, you don't really need to have the cars, you can find them on a scrapyard and rob them there.
- One m82 or newer 99. Preferably a low mileage m87 90. An m81-m87 900 will also do.
Remove the COMPLETE front axle. (upper/lower a-arms, shims for upper a-arms, springs, hubs with brake-calipers, and driveshafts)
Pre -m75 cars: Also take the handbrake-lever and handbrake-cables.
Pre -m73 cars: The upper a-arm is different. On the newer ones, the lower spring seat is pivoted. -That's a good thing.
The whole hub assembly/driveshaft outer joint is of a different construction. The wheel bearings on this new-type is half the price, but most important: The new-type hubs weigh TWO Kiloes less each!
Four Kiloes less unsprung mass: -That really is a good thing.

Renew all bushes. Now is the time to decide if you want to use poly-urethan bushes or rubber ones. Renew all balljoints.
Remove your front axle, and the handbrake cables. (Pre -m75 cars only) Install the new one. To remove upper a-arms, you need to take the engine/gearbox out of the car. Really amusing. With the engine back in the car, install a front anti-roll bar from Swedish Auto Specialties

Also renew the steering rack bushings. Install new dampers. (One-tube gas, Bilstein or Fictel & Sachs ) Haven't bought new ones yet, so I don't know where to get them)

Have the front wheel alignment checked/adjusted. When alignment is correct, add a few extra shims, to create more negative camber. (haven't done this yet, so I don't know how much) Check again, both sides must be equal.

Rear axle:
The 900 axle has up to 3cm wider track. -thats a good thing.
This alone will NOT work miracles for your car. It is the sum of ALL modifications that does. M81-m87 has a different type of wheel-bearing. It's three times the price of a m79-m81 bearing.
The dampers are different. -m78 99's has PIN's in both ends. in late -78 they changed the lower end to an EYE. All 900 has this "eye".
(Try to remove an old 99 rear damper, and you'll understand why) The old design also made a lot of noise!
The 900 Turbo 16 also came with anti roll bars. -That's a good thing.

Now, find a decent donor car. Remove the rear axle assembly, including the upper arms, and the panhard rod. Renew all bushings. (Polyurethan?)
Place the axle in a hydraulic press, and bend it, to develop more negative camber. (1,5degree?) Install it on your car. It will bolt right on.

Altering the car's wheel angles, will alter the car's behaviour. Especially at high speed, on the limit. It might get a bit "snappy", -gripping good, and suddently letting go. Don't overdo it.

900 REAR AXLE SWAP INTO A pre m75 99.
I decided to fit a 900 axle to my72 99 so that I could fit a pair of Koni shocks that require the a bottom eyelet mount found only on post 78 99s and all classic 900s rear axles. For an early 99 (such as 1972) you may need to source a saab 9000 panhard rod as the panhard rod is a different length to later models.

Removing the original axle is not too difficult and can be done without an assistant if you are patient. To correctly remove the rear axle it is best to follow the instructions from a workshop manual. The only difficulties you may encounter if you have an early model 99, is that the bolts on the front of the spring links are not captive. The bolt's heads are located underneath the rear seat (this is where an assistant comes in handy to hold a spanner to these bolts) You may have some difficulty removing these bolts and it is a good idea to replace these bolts with new ones, and new lock nuts.

On the early 99's you will find that the panhard rod of the later model (99 m75-onwards+900) is about an inch too short. You can make it fit (with difficulty), but the whole axle will be positioned about an inch off centre. Unfortunately the pre m75 panhard rod will be about 6 inches too long. I was able to get around this problem by using a panhard rod from a SAAB 9000. This rod has an unusual bend in the middle to clear the body or exhaust in the 9000, and it has exactly the right length to correctly position the rear end using standard springs. The eylets may need drilling out to fit the original bolts, and eylets do not fit exactly square into the mounting brackets, but is close enough. Alternatively you can manufacture a custom rod by cutting two 900 panhard rods in half and welding two slightly longer ends together.

By this stage you will also have realised that the original brake hoses are too short and will need to be replaced with longer ones. Beware, brake hoses are not cheap.

On a final note: the rear springs are not easily interchangeable. The early 99 has springs with a narrower overall diameter and utilise an unusual cone shaped rubber mount at the top, while the later model springs have a circular rubber mounting that couples the spring to the body. When fitting the 900 axle you will need to retain the original springs, but you can use the lower rubber spring mounts from the 900 on the lower trailing arm.

Author: Justin Sauvage

Lowering the car
There are two well known methods to make a car hug tarmac more.
- Shortening the coil springs with an angle grinder.
- Buying shorter/firmer springs.
I strongly reccommend the latter method, and I'll get back to the subject when I've done this.

Wheels:
For optimum performance, the original EMS soccer alloy wheels are useless. They are only 5 inches wide! And the offset is 45 mm. Instead, use the "INCA" wheels, or the Saab-Ronal eight spoke "MINILITE" alloy wheels. Actually they are only 5,5" wide, but they do make a difference! The offset is 40 mm, so track-width is increased with 1 cm. Shoe it with proper 185/65-15 rubber.

Remember: A good 185 tyre will grip better than a bad 205 tyre. It will look better too, 205 tyres on 5,5" wheels look a little balloonish!

Recepie for an "original-purist", owning an early 99:
- Renew all rubber bushings.
- Renew the steering rack bushings
- Renew all six balljoints.
- Renew all four dampers.
- buy new 175/70-15 tyres of a GOOD brand. (Michelin/Avon/Pirelli/etc), and put them on your "SOCCER" wheels.
- Visit a Saab workshop, and have the front wheel alignement checked/adjusted.
This will improve/restore roadholding. To a degree....