driveshaft/anti roll bar rubbing. worse now on coilovers..

marshall-12

marshall-12

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Hi guys,

i had this problem even on standard springs, when i turn right slowly, it grinds.
now coilovers are fitted, it grinds all the time, right,straight,left. horrible having to drive 55 miles back from a mates where we fitted them lol
i bought adjustable drop links but tbh theres less scrub at its lowest.
Anyone else had this problem?
pic:

pics019.jpg


i did a search and noticed some people said its quite common and that i should buy a whiteline anti roll bar?
which are about 160 quid on ebay.
Audi A3 (96-03) Whiteline Front Anti Roll Bar BAF13 | eBay

is it common and why? anyone else fitted one of these? or anything else out there worth buying?
im looking to order one up tonight so it can be sent tomorow as id like to have it fitted asap as i need my car and its unbearable to drive atm haha get alot of horrible looks so im guessing its even louder then what i think it is.

thanks, much appreciated.
 
That looks ridiculously low. Bet it's a real sump smasher. The adjustable drop links are pointless and yes it is very common on A3's, Get uprated anti roll bar to sort it.
 
extended roll bar will do the trick.also ive noticed on ebay theres some adjustable rollbar droplinks that jom make,only 20 quid or somthing .
 
its not actually that low lol just sitting on the tyre on the front and above tyre on rear. saying that, 2 mins after fitting and heading home, forgot its lowered when i went over a speed bump a bit quick... ****! lol massive bang and alot of people looking lol

yeah i got those adjustable drop links, pointless dont help at all.
yeah i did a search and that whiteline one goes under the driveshaft so eliminates all rubbing. just wondering if anyone else has fitted one or got something better?
on the plus side ill get a bit better handling with an uprated ARB
 
Anyone know if i need the adjustable whiteline ARB or non adjustable ? i wouldnt of thought id need an adjustable one considering its going under the driveshaft anyway
 
anyone? know of anything good i could get next day deliv
i now know the non adjustable will be fine.
 
this may be the exact same problem im having... i've been blaming the rear dif, best check this out first before i break the bank sorting out a new dif!
 
frenchman recommended the Eibach or H&R uprated ones because for the extra few quid its thicker and the H&R ones are adjustable.
 
Front arb?
How do they compare to the whiteline arb?
 
If your coilovers have the tabs, then chuck a standard S3/LCR/TT front antiroll bar on it.

Thick front ARB will just make the car understeer more.
 
What tabs?
The whiteline ain't thicker, it goes underneath the driveshafts.
 
It all depends on what you want from the car, if it is low and slow your aiming for go for something like the Whiteline if FK arb as they solve the driveshaft rubbing issue.

If you actually want to improve handling got for an Eibach or H&R setup but as aragorn has said, just fitting a thicker front is going to make the car even worse. You would need to put a rear one on there too.
 
as of now, im looking to just be able to drive the car haha and have a bonus of having it lowered, only way i can get away without it scrubbing is putting it back to standard, even though it still rubs when i turned right.
I've highered it to 35 tabs and its still scrubbing.
i just dont really want to be spending anouther 160 quid on a whiteline front arb.
 
the whiteline ARB has been changed in it's design, so now isn't any good if you are lower than 50mm, instead of rubbing os the D/S it catches on the wishbones. so i don't know if it is really the right answer (lots of people very annoyed with whiteline over this one)

the FK ARB, in my experience doesn't help, it is supposed to have larger "loops" to allow more D/S clearance, but it doesn't (or if it does, they are marginally bigger, making no difference)

as above, the best way forward for you would be either an S3/TT/R32 ARB, which goes under the D/S, but you have to have the right "tab" on the coilovers for the special droplinks to attach to (what coilies do you have? )

another option is the H&R ARB, which does have larger hoops and will clear the D/D but as above, it is thicker and without sorting other bits out int he suspension, could promote oversteer.

the final option, is to cut down your droplinks, either the adjustable ones, or a pair of standard metal ones, the common misconception is that having longer droplinks will cure the rubbing, when in reality, that doesn't help at all (in most cases it causes more rubbing)

if you look at that picture, now imagine the droplink was far shorter (say half normal size) you can imagine that it would pull the ARB bacward and down, so that the D/S is sitting more centrally in the loop of the ARB, therefore eliminating the rubbing... This is what i did on my old MK4 GTI T and it sorted it, ran it for about a year with the cur droplinks until i got the S3 ARB.

hope this helps.

James
 
have you got a pic with shorter drop links?

ill go get a couple pics of the coilovers and post, see if anyone recognises these "tabs"
 
is this the tab your on about? at the back...

pics021.jpg


the fronts.

pics016-1.jpg
 
i might get the whiteline if an s3 or audi tt 225 ARB doesnt solve the problem, as there alot cheaper.
have you got them in stock damian?
all ill have to do is buy online. and is it next day deliv?
 
that's the tab for the ARB yes!

What coilovers are those? Rare to see cheap coilovers with the ARB tab.

Get a second hand TT or S3 ARB, should pay around £30-40 on ebay, then some S3/TT drop links, and it'll never rub again.
 
Prawn said:
that's the tab for the ARB yes!

What coilovers are those? Rare to see cheap coilovers with the ARB tab.

Get a second hand TT or S3 ARB, should pay around £30-40 on ebay, then some S3/TT drop links, and it'll never rub again.
Click to expand...

took your time to comment on this :p

they are these ones: AUDI A3 8L COILOVER SUSPENSION KIT COILOVERS | eBay

there differ slightly to jom coilovers and now i find out this :D shweettt

im emailing people now, ideally i need this by tuesday, i have a week off work and i'd like my car so i can go places lol know anyone selling one prawn?
im guessing ill get a3 bushes?
and i have adjustable drop links so i can make them longer, will they be alright or will i defo need S3/TT ones depending on what ARB i source?
 
Interesting, lucky that they have the tabs though, that's good news for you.


I don't have an arb at the moment, but there are loads on eBay. Get a bar, and new bushes for whatever size bar you get.

You will need s3 drop links though, they're 100% different to the a3 ones.
 
audi upgrades
yes defo :)

yeah ive emailed loads of breaking s3's/tt 225's
2 got back to me with prices and havent got back to me after i asked for paypal address lol
i cant find any ARB's for sale though other then uprated ones, unless im playing blind man.
think what i'll do is source myself a bar, then go to a parts dealer for bushes and drop links, that way i know for sure ill have them on the day
 
yeah i saw that, bloke got back to me. £50 for tt ARB posted useing parcelforce 24 hour :) sorted.
any idea of best place to get a3 bushes and TT drop links at a good price?
 
you need bushes to match the ARB mate, not the car.

Either ask for the reg of the car that was breaking and use that at the motorfactors, or just measure the ARB when it arrives and get the right size bushes.
 
oh really. i thought the tt and a3 buches were the same. ill get the reg off the seller, quicker lol
or order off ebay
 
well it all depends on the bar doesn't it?

The TT and A3 have the same bush clamps, but the bars are all different thickness across years and models, so you get the bushes to suit the size of bar you have.

No point fitting a 19mm arb into a 21mm bush, or visa versa....
 
ahh i see. im an obvious amateur lol still learning.

all ordered, just waiting on a mate thats helping fit it as he can get cheap parts for the bushes and drop links.
spose ill whack the adjustables back on ebay, see what happens haha

cheers for the help guys! so close to forking out near 200 quid for a whiteline one so saved me a whole bunch of money!
ill update when its all done.

currently spraying my mirror caps black and getting a sunstrip on :)
 
Lucky you man, glad it's all sorted for less money :)

First decent day we've had in ages, and I have a broken car that I can't drive, and the parts I ordered back on Monday still havn't turned up so I can't get on with fixing it :(
 
that sucks.

yeah awsome day, but i cant get out, live pretty far away from everything and the car is horrendous with the rubbing, even after ive highered it lol
maybe call them, almost a week waiting for parts cant be right.
 
it's all used parts from ebay, Won sunday / Monday night, so they'd probably see it's been paid on Tuesday, arrange courier for weds, no doubht as cheap as poss so 3-5 day..... Just gotta deal with it sadly.

If the rubbing is really bad and you need to use the car still, just remove the drop links all together and turn the ARB backwards and Zip tie it so it doesn't drop back down. No rubbing that way and perfectly safe to use :)
 
thats the thing with ebay, i normally email them first so they know im buying, try blag quicker deliv lol like i donw with this ARB.

haha might be safe.... just doesnt sound it haha id rather just hack the srubbing noises if i have to take it somewhere. i got a new one on the way so not to bothered about destroying it lol
 
the issue is that you won't destroy the ARB, but you will destroy the driveshaft.

The shafts are hollow, and in time you can actually wear through them and it'll snap. I've heard of cars that had driveshaft rubbing issues for yonks, eventually solved by a new ARB, then when they've been remapped further down the line the increased torque has snapped the shaft at the point where it's worn thin.
 
ah. i wouldnt say its that bad, if you run your finger across the shaft its like its only peel away at the top layer.
hopefully will be fine, part will be here tuesday dont need to drive tonight, possobly tomorow but will only be about 20 miles tops, and ill take the dual carrigeway as its not rubbing in a stright line anymore
 
any chance of write up on how to change a front ARB prawn?
mate is busy so im gonna give this a go myself.
 
i may have a spare tt roll bar by the end of next week but im sure you will probably need it sooner than this ?
 
v5 tt said:
i may have a spare tt roll bar by the end of next week but im sure you will probably need it sooner than this ?
Click to expand...

yeah thanks anyway plus ive already bought one :) cheers though
 
anyone know the size bushes i should get?

ARB is off an audi TT 1999
 
haha yeah think ill get the 20mm.
would it make a huge difference if its too big/small ?
 
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