Vibration after lowering??

~RS~

~RS~

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Had my springs and shocks (FK shocks + KW 35mm springs) and S3 front brakes fitted yesterday. As I had the S3 hub and brakes attached they were just swapped around for my old TDi ones. Drop is pretty nice although front is about 0.5mm higher than rear... I know coilovers :ermm: lol, they'll be coming later!

Ride is better than my aging OEM set up too which is great, but I have an issue... Since getting the alignment done today on a Hunter system there is a vibration that feels like it's coming from the front driver side wheel. Feels like I'm driving over the raised markings on the motor way and becomes apparent at about 30 - 70.... If I steer slightly left the vibrating goes away or becomes very faint... I read that it could be the driveshaft but seems strange as I've never heard of anybody else having this problem after lowering their A3, especially as it's only a 35mm drop. I'm pretty sure I can hear it when the car is slowing down as well (not when braking though).

It will be getting it looked at asap, but wondered if anybody else knew what it maybe or has had a similar problem. Do you think I should not drive it until inspected?

I should add the inner cv boot was replaced, at which point I understand the driveshaft comes out but that was on the passenger side.
 
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Couple of things come to mind ..
Were the discs replaced? if so were they new? might be a warped disc Rich ?
I have heard of this happen after the inner drive shaft dislodges and basically there not hom so causes a few problems etc

Also did you let it settle prior to re alignment ?
 
When you say settle how long do you mean? Not really as I had it done the next day as the car was pulling to one side quite a bit. The brakes and discs were basically brand new bought inc hub off a rear end damage S3, they were also cleaned up (as a load of rust on em) and pads were slightly filed on edges to try avoid any squeeks etc not that this sorted squeeks completely as I still have a lil one from passenger side that seems to be getting better the more brakes are used. There is no wobble or shake when braking though as I would have thought there would be if discs were warped.

So maybe driveshaft issue?

I was just reading that drivers of the Honda S2000 have this issue a lot and is shaft related, they say the tripod type thing on the end of shaft goes into a new position in the shaft housing when lowered and there maybe a wear mark that it is now in since moving position hence the wobble. Rectified by removing shaft and swapping housings from left to right and visa versa..... ***! :keule:

I'm ****** useless when it comes to mechanical issues!!
 
Recon its the drive shaft then mate .Me personally i would take it to whoever sorted it and tel them to sort the driveshaft out
On the settling in i would have left it a couple weeks personally .But i am sure once you have payed you could pop back and say it feels pully so they recheck it ;)
 
its deff not warpped brakes, if it was you would feel it through the wheel when you step on them, deff sounds more drive shaft sounding then anything else
 
Also, when doing the suspension on 8P's its always a good idea to fit new top mounts as these are synonymous for becoming worn over time, I fitted my uprated suspension, only to find it was vibrating etc, hence removed fitted new mounts & issue resolved.

But, if they removed the shaft, then did they fit the wheel side in properly as this is a common screw up & if tripodic shaft inner, then did they verify nothings been damaged dislodged, also the shaft shouldnt be left sitting on its own weight as such, as much as they're hard as nails, the weight of them can cause the most minute distortion on the inner shaft socket if tripodic, could cause some damage to that area.

I'd be looking at various things tbh, discount each part.
 
Thanks for the replies guys...

The brakes grind a bit just before coming to a halt... assume this is debris related from where there was a lot of rust (since removed) on the discs. I'll get them to look at this as well.

Driveshaft they removed was passenger side to swap over leaking inner cv boot. Noise is coming from drivers side where driveshaft wasn't removed. Top mounts on front were changed rears where left though, but no issue from rears cept a lil gas pressure sound.

The place that done the swap are just a regular local mechanic, I'm back down there on Tuesday so he can have a look at what's up... But failing him finding the fault I'm thinking of taking it to somewhere with more Audi experience... What a pita!! Looks great though:3sadwalk: lol!
 
P1020244.jpg


Front- Space for two fingers on top of each other between wheel and arch

P1020247.jpg


Rear- Space for 1 finger between wheel and arch

P1020246.jpg
 
I had similar vibrations, turned out it was the inner CV joints but was both! Is the other one ok?? Any play in it up and down??
 
Hi Sarah, the drivers side inner cv seemed fine when doing the install no sign of leakage, but I don't remember checking it for play so I'll get them to look at that as well... Cheers for the post.

Lingy, I'm not sure but I notice the same with Eibach's sportlines, in that the front's are slightly higher than the rears, only H&R springs seem to sit at the same height front and rear... factory S3's and teh RS3 is the same though in that the front is slightly higher than rear??
Anyway, I'll be going coilovers when I can afford the set I want with damping adjustment then get it bang on height wise, this kit was always a stand in and didn't set me back to much tbf, and I doubt I'll make a bad loss on sale if I make a loss at all ;) so shouldn't be to bad, just costs of fitting and alignment again! Lol....
 
~RS~ said:
Hi Sarah, the drivers side inner cv seemed fine when doing the install no sign of leakage, but I don't remember checking it for play so I'll get them to look at that as well... Cheers for the post.
.
Click to expand...

When mine was checked the joint was totally dry, no grease anywhere. The wear in the joint was unbelieveable so it resulted in up/down play which didnt always show itself. Just worth a look.
 
Little update on this. Car has been pretty much parked up... Garage where I took it to check it out were booked up for about a week and then work took it's toll so I managed to get the car down to them yesterday and the report says that the nsf lower suspension arm and ball joints are the cause... Tbh, these may also be on the way out but I am convinced it's the driveshaft as all was well before this was tampered with to change split inner CV boot. They wanted £479 to do both lower arms and ball joints which also sounded kinda pricey to me... I'm sure parts are about £180... they charge £71 per hour labour.

The mechanic that sorted the suspension and CV boot is a mate, he didn't really charge much to do it so I don't feel like getting on his case for £££ back. Nor having him mess about with it again... lol!

Anyways, I'm wondering is it OK to fit a second hand driveshaft from say a 2008 car? Or is a new one the way forward? I'm just thinking if my hunch is wrong and it's not the shaft then it will be more money down the drain following the £120 for the wheel bearing I bought when the mechanic that fitted thought that was the cause!:mad:

Any help would be appreciated, I'm going to try and get a 2nd opinion on it today if I can...
 
Not all shafts are the same on the 8P, you may well have the tripodic version.
 
it's definitely the tripodic type Nige, I remember seeing the tri-bearing arrangement when he took it off.

Been to another VW/Audi indie today and had them take a look at it.

They lifted it up on the 4 post lift for inspection and found that the N/S ball joint had a fair amount of play. He proceeded to show me it was literally jumping up and down where it's attached to the wishbone... Compared to the O/S, which didn't budge at all.

They had a fiddle with the driveshaft without removing it to check for movement after I badgered him about the shaft being removed, but no play or movement there so fingers crossed the £25 OEM ball joint+ labour charges (circa 45 min job) gets the job done! Will report back in a bit...

Think the lads at the first indie garage might have been trying to do a number on me now... £479inc VAT to change 2 x balljoints and 2 x wishbones.... Doesn't that sound expensive?

BTW, is it recommended that both ball joints be changed when 1 is dodgy? As the first place recommended this whereas this 2nd garage hasn't mentioned it nor needing to change the wishbone.... Maybe that was because of bushes?
 
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all the suspension will have done the same amount of miles so technically should have the same amount of wear on either side so the 1st lot thought it may be prudent as opposed to actually be necessary. Maybe time to fit some nice TT arms with adjustable camber? LOL
 
Khufu, I got enough on my plate getting this car finished without adding further expensive of TT arms! Although that was the first thing on my mind when I got the first report :eyebrows: I'm gonna get the lower arm bushes replaced as the arms themselves must be fine right?
 
:shrug::banghead: No ****** joy! The rubbing vibration is still present just before 40mph although the N/S feels much better after the ball joint was replaced. I'll be back down there tom as they said that they could still feel something, looks like they'll have to have a good dig around to find out what's up.... Ah well, looks like the rest of the project finishing car off is on hold until I get this sorted....
 
Well thought I should update this thread with some good news for a change!

Turn's out Russell Automotive were wrong! As were Audi... It wasn't the control arms nor ball joints (although I'll give russell automtive a plus there as Audi didn't even notice one of the ball joints was ******** :shrug:) Still Russell Automotive wanted £470 and the problem was the N/S wheel bearing costing far less to sort... and diagnosed by the fella that fit the suspension in the first place, a small garage :eyebrows: lol... He did say before he went away that it's probably the wheel bearing on the N/S as we already changed the O/S one.:drag:

After that I'd not feel comfortable having Russell Automotive diagnose anything else on the car which they charged me £72 for the pleasure of doing and didn't even get it right!

Audi at least checked it for free and didn't spend the day looking at it as RA did... Ah well. Really need a good indie that knows there stuff in London, think I'll let AMD check stuff out in the future until I find someone reliable closer to home.

So with that issue is sorted, and my freaking squeaking S3 N/S brake now also sorted- skimmed discs so vibration free and calipers cleaned and plastilubed :eyebrows: as per the Audi technical bulletin for TT/R32 and S3 brakes. They are now working great and stop on a dime! My Mpg had plummeted with the wheel bearing issue glad to say that's now also sorted....

Now I can finally give a half assed, I meant half decent :p review on the suspension mods performed that I thought had ruined the car! Lol.... With all as it should be I can say that the FK shocks and KW springs deliver a ride comfort near exactly the same as my sport set up when I first got the car. Not was I was looking for :(

Handling however has improved drastically, reduced understeer and cornering on tracks ala matchbox is good stuff :) Though It's a little low for my liking tbh.... As much as I wanted to reduce the 'unforgivable wheel arch gap' that you get running 19's on a sport, I would have been happier a bit higher up I think as I don't wanna run 225/215's and I get a lil rubbing @ the back when going over high bumps... I still gotta take out that pesky screw that causes it when I can be bothered, haha... The ride is a bit bumpier over rough surfaces, but nice on a smooth road or motor way. It's definitely made me more confident pushing on a bit more for sure.

Anyway, I thinking about dropping back down to a set of 18's for some more rubber on the rims as these London roads are unforgiving! Also I wanna get a suspension set up that handles like this one or better ;) but is more comfortable... I don't rate S line or Sport suspension unless your running 17's and thick *** tyres, for 18's+ is hard as nails IME.

So any suggestions on a good comfortable competent set up that doesn't cost a bomb? What are the FSD's like compared to the OEM kit? Which coilovers have the best mix of comfort, ride and handling for under £600?
 
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Mate congrats on fixing the car... but where is this indie that did such a great job? i need to get hold of a decent garage in London that wont try and have me for all the cash they can!
 
FSD's, Eibach pro's 30mm, job done, got on 2 cars, ride height is perfect & comfy too, no more bouncy castle, give Damian@dpm a shout if you need any suspension gear.
 
In defence of Russell Automotive - I've always found them to be EXCELLENT.
I had problems with my steering rack and they were the only ones who correctly diagnosed the problem. Audi couldn't.
Also, they inspected free of charge and offered a discounted labour rate for the repair.
And when I had knocking suspension they diagnosed the problem straight away too.
Also on my service they carried out a few extras free of charge.

Unfortunate that you have had this experience with them but from my experience I wouldn't let it put you off using them again.
 
Cheers itwasntme, the small garage is just a mate's down in Cricklewood, he's no Audi expert that for sure lmao! But is handy with the tools and knows what he's doing most of the time. I need a good indie myself like I said in the post.... I've heard good things about 'AVIT' in slough, but have yet to try them myself.. Link- Home

Cheers Nige I read that the KW springs I have are made by eibach although the pro's are 30mm and these are more like 35-40mm drop. I'll probably be going this route in the near future mate, lol@ bouncy castle it's really not as bad as that tbh :)

Aythree, they changed my engine when it had a nasty issue with the alternator belt lodging itself into the timing belt area to the tune of £6k *warranty paid fortunately:notme: I'm not saying that they are **** as my engine feels good and they've also serviced the car etc. But and it's a big but.... the wishbones and ball joints have been inspected by Audi, Green Garage in Kilburn and 2 local places that found 1 ball joint bush shagged, but all else fine... If I had shed the monkey they were asking for only to find out I still had they same vibration I would have been livid trust me! Plus it's not a 4 hour job IMO Steve was charging £60 labour per hour inc vat and parts are about £200+ with a some discount.... They're a well equipped garage with techs that are experienced I feel missing such a simple diagnosis is the cause of my lack of faith in them sorting any future probs (may there be none lol!) They did a tidy job on the engine swap + rebuild I'll give them that.... Although I should add one of the clips that holds the piping from the turbo was replaced the wrong way round causing this pipe to come off while I was out of London... a tow and few quid later all sorted but this along with the latest incident leaves me wondering about them tbh mate
 
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~RS~ said:
Cheers itwasntme, the small garage is just a mate's down in Cricklewood, he's no Audi expert that for sure lmao! But is handy with the tools and knows what he's doing most of the time. I need a good indie myself like I said in the post.... I've heard good things about 'AVIT' in slough, but have yet to try them myself.. Link- Home

Cheers Nige I read that the KW springs I have are made by eibach although the pro's are 30mm and these are more like 35-40mm drop. I'll probably be going this route in the near future mate, lol@ bouncy castle it's really not as bad as that tbh :)

Aythree, they changed my engine when it had a nasty issue with the alternator belt lodging itself into the timing belt area to the tune of £6k *warranty paid fortunately:notme: I'm not saying that they are **** as my engine feels good and they've also serviced the car etc. But and it's a big but.... the wishbones and ball joints have been inspected by Audi, Green Garage in Kilburn and 2 local places that found 1 ball joint bush shagged, but all else fine... If I had shed the monkey they were asking for only to find out I still had they same vibration I would have been livid trust me! Plus it's not a 4 hour job IMO Steve was charging £60 labour per hour inc vat and parts are about £200+ with a some discount.... They're a well equipped garage with techs that are experienced I feel missing such a simple diagnosis is the cause of my lack of faith in them sorting any future probs (may there be none lol!) They did a tidy job on the engine swap + rebuild I'll give them that.... Although I should add one of the clips that holds the piping from the turbo was replaced the wrong way round causing this pipe to come off while I was out of London... a tow and few quid later all sorted but this along with the latest incident leaves me wondering about them tbh mate
Click to expand...

Hmmm... I guess thats fair enough then mate. Doesn't sound like your experiences with them have been as good as mine.
I was planning on going to them soon for a cambelt change. We'll see.
 
Glad you got it sorted mate,did you buy the S3 bearings/hubs second hand ?i know its easy to say now but with your desription that would have been the first thing i would have looked at before even thinking about the driveshafts or joints,its amazing how some garages pick up on somethings but miss the other obvious one's though
 
Cheers phil76 just happy it's driving well again, fingers crossed nothing else crops up anytime soon problem wise that is.... Yes, I got the S3 hubs and brakes all attached so I thought I'd just stick em on in situ to save having to strips them down from the S3 hubs, mistake! This lead to the month plus of headache as they'd been sitting about for a bit and the fella I got them off had them sitting about a while too. When I got to thinking about all I'd read regarding driveshafts and how finicky they can be when removing/ refitting etc I started to think it was this. They guy who fitted the shocks etc changed the O/S bearing which did make it feel a bit better but as this didn't sort it I started to think maybe he'd screwed up something else, so was uneasy with them trying to sort it although he did insist from the get go it was wheel bearing related to give him credit.

Went to a bunch of so called Audi specialists and only 1 realized what it was within a few mins of driving it, confirming this was the case with a look on the ramp... exactly what the guy whom fitted the suspension originally had thought, so I gave it back to the original guy and wallah!
 
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yeah i was just about to ask if you would still recommend Russell, as i would be looking for a new place to do service/repairs.

as RS I did the same when I got my eibachs fitted went to AMD as felt they do that sort of thing regularly.
 
I can't really bad mouth them tbh as Steve is a decent bloke and they have a good reputation, as I said it's just my experience with them has been a lil ropey all things considered, but as Aythree has said, his has been the polar opposite... swings and roundabouts
 
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