I spent a good chunk of time last night trying to get the new Sachs Advantage shocks and IPD overload springs in-place. Now that I've got everything back together I've noticed that she sits a lot higher, enough so that the rear is higher than the front by a tad.

After finishing the work last night the car was sitting a full two inches higher than it had been before the work started (rear only), I was a little worried that I hadn't put it together correctly because IPD says that customers report back that the springs raised the car by *up to* an inch. Things seem to have settled now that I've made the 35 mile commute to work.

The only problem I've got is the much-reported rear end rattle/clunk on the driver's side shock. From what I've read, people usually encounter the rattling with Bilsteins, is it a problem with Sachs' too? I'm waiting for some replacement lower bolts to come from McMaster-Carr, hopefully that'll solve the problem.

Something else I found out was that Grade 8 (grade 8.8) metric bolts/nuts aren't equivalent to SAE Grade 8, rather, they're comparable to Grade 5 SAE. That's what the guys at McMaster Carr and a local fastener supplier told me. Is this any cause for concern? I guess not, since the car's been running with Grade 8.8 metric for 17 years now.