Coilover/suspension advice required please

[B5QUAT]

Hi,

Gonna take the plunge and invest in some coilovers at the end of the month. I've just got a few queries. The car is a 99 with 111k miles

1. Should I change the strut top mounts at the same time for new OEM or uprated?

2. What about the control arms? Do they need changing too for new and will they need adjusting or anything like that?

I know the car will need 4 wheel alignment after the lowering but I've seen some adjustable control arms on 034 Motorsport's website, are they worth the while or not?

What else need to be done (if anything) or is is just a question of old suspension off, new suspension on?

Thanks!

 

[AndyC]

you may need to repair the rear spring platforms as they sometimes rust

bushes could be an option, I have vibratechnics working on some better bushings as we speak

I am also looking at AST suspension for mine now

I would highly recommend using some dismantling spray on all the nuts and bolts, several times before you attempt removal.

I would also wire bush them before you spray

the top rubbers are not normally a problem.... however not hard to change

Andy

 

[B5QUAT]

Nice one. Thanks for that!

What about the control arms? Are they ok to leave as is?

 

[AndyC]

is they have not been done before, I would change the lot?

 

[B5QUAT]

Ok will do. Thanks. I've found a full kit on ebay for the front for about £115 but there doesn't appear to be anything for the rear???

 

[mad cornish pastie]

there's loads of coilover kits on ebay for all 4 corners...

 

[AndyC]

Personally, unless your just concerned with ride height I would not use a cheap set....... but thats my personal opinion...

I would rather use a set of std or uprated dampers and some springs.!

 

[tdia4]

As mentioned above, give all the bolts you are removing a good spray with wd40, I did mine about a week before I did mine and then gave them another spray the night before I was going to lower it and they all came out fine, I used all new bolts though once they were out, you don't need to but I wanted to so I did, Also replaced the strut gaskets at the same time.

As for control arms, make sure you get a decent kit, alot of the ebay stuff is cheap tat, if yours are all ok and you've got no knocks and bangs I would stick with them till they go because chances are they will still outlive the cheap control arm set that you can get off ebay.

 

[B5QUAT]

there's loads of coilover kits on ebay for all 4 corners...

No, sorry I don't mean coilovers for £115, I mean control arm kits.

There only seem to be ones for the front.

Coilovers I'm looking at are APs and Eibach pro street depending on spondoolies

 

[B5QUAT]

As mentioned above, give all the bolts you are removing a good spray with wd40, I did mine about a week before I did mine and then gave them another spray the night before I was going to lower it and they all came out fine, I used all new bolts though once they were out, you don't need to but I wanted to so I did, Also replaced the strut gaskets at the same time.

As for control arms, make sure you get a decent kit, alot of the ebay stuff is cheap tat, if yours are all ok and you've got no knocks and bangs I would stick with them till they go because chances are they will still outlive the cheap control arm set that you can get off ebay.

Thanks for that. I think I'll stick with the OEM then cos they feel fine

 

[aragorn]

if you fit a £115 control arm kit you'll be doing it again in a few months time.

Been there, done that, cost me two goodyear eagles that the knackered arms killed as well as a new set of arms.

Meyle arms are the only aftermarkets i'd touch.

Its also well worth doing, massively improves the feel of the car compared with the soggy 10yo bushes.

 

[fARQUARE]

Okay, speaking as someone who has replaced all the suspension components on my car recently I feel qualified to give an opinion.
I was forced into a set of coils due to breaking a spring going over a speedbump at work. I decided to order fk ap street which were just over 200.
When I went to the garage to see if any other work was needing done EVERY single control arm was worn like f****, quite surprisingly though the car was not wearing tyres at an alarming rate (20k even wear with >5mm left).

I decided to bite the bullet and replace the all the front arms, top mounts and tre's. After reading posts from many users recommending only lermfoder and meyle arms at over 400 for the set I decided to go half way between this and the cheap ebay set. I bought a full set from ECP which had 8 upper control arms, 4 lower control arms, arb droplinks, tre's and all hardware inc the pinchbolts. It was made by a company called q-drive and after scouring the net I couldn't find any reviews of their stuff, either positive or negative.
At the same time I done the steering rack gaitors, front top mounts, rear axle bushes and rear wheel bearings. (splashing the cash eh?)
I clock up silly miles and after 10k there is no play in any of the suspension components whatsoever and as a result the tyres are still going strong. I think all in the coils plus all the parts came to about 550.

One thing I would say is that I seem to have got a noisey set of coilovers. Strangely when you drive from cold they clunk quite loudly for the first few compressions and rebounds then they settle down and are silent for the rest of the journey. Rightly or wrongly i've had this diagnosed as ring slip by mechanic who used to experience similar symptoms when servicing hydraulic rams on jcb's.......

I would say, to sum up that the q-drive stuff, while maybe not as good as melye, is better than the e-bay tat, and in 50k miles (about 20 mins driving for me) i'll update this and let you know how they are holding up


Sent from my U20i using Tapatalk

 

[B5QUAT]

Thanks for all the replies. Very informative.

I'll do some searches on meyle and q drive and get some prices together and make a decison.

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[jcb]

whats your budget? what is your reason for wanting them?
ride height only?
ride height and adjustability of stiffness?

to be brutally honest if you are running the original bushes and control arms you may as well give me the money as your driveability and control will suffer as a result.

Soft OEM suspension is not pushed as hard as your coilovers will be.
They will probably have less travel and a harder bump and rebound (compression damping and spring rate) that stock.
The give factor you currently have in your stock set up will be transfered directly to every ball joint and bush. accelerating what little life may be left in the stock/original ones.

you need to sort the control arms and bushes out first.
you will find that if you do them all and get the geometry done that your car will handle MUCH better on your stock shocks/springs.

to coin a phrase, you cant polish a ****...
(not saying your car is a **** BTW, but at 10 years old it needs new socks before it gets new shoes!)

you would be far better off with
a) a decent spring kit on your stock shocks (limited reduction in ride height but some choice on stiffness) - cheapest option
b) a decent set of shocks and springs matched - choice of ride height or more accurately "drop from stock"
c) a decent set of coilovers

I speak from experience. I went from stock 1.8tqs suspension to KW v3 coilovers on a fully poly/solid bushed car that had brand new front arms at the time of fitting.
I chose the KW because they are one of the best, stainless, 3 way adjustable
I polybushed as you will only ever do it once, they are two peice and transferable should you replace any suspension arms (as I had to when I bent my rear subframe!)
the new arms were a no brainer as my car was 8 years old and some of the ball joints were toast!

yes my set up is hard but that is down to the coilover choice (it out corners an E46 M3 though!)

cheap suspension is exactly that. expect to buy it all over again some time soon if you fit it.
I had Delphi arms fitted once, lasted less than 5000 miles and they are infinitely better than the crap on eBay!

 

[B5QUAT]

Thanks for your advice JCB. To answer your questions my budget to spend on the car at the moment is about 3 grand but I need wheels and tyres, full stainless exhaust (the OEM one is ******) and a few other bits n bobs too and there's a bit of bodywork and painting to do too.

The reason for coilovers is I have a cracked back spring for one and also, yeah I do want to lower the car a bit and as you say, the car is 12 years old now and I don't want to just do springs on my tired old shocks. Totally agree with the polishing **** thing.

I've been speaking to All German Parts today in Leeds who are Meyle agents and as you suggest, I'm going to replace all the arms at the same time as the coilovers. For what they cost, I'm also going to do the strut top mounts as well.

Bearing in mind the budget and the fact that the arm kit is virtually £400, what coilovers would you recommend? Eibach pro street sound good , but at close to a grand it doesn't leave much left in the kitty for other mods.

 

[jcb]

Eibach are great quality, dont know much about their coilovers
think the RS4 boys use the PSS900 or something that sounds like that. think those are meant to be a bit more compliant than KW but still pricey.
only thing I look for on coilovers is stainless tubes and spring plates and servicability. can it be stripped and serviced.
most cant

 

[AndyC]

There will be a set of Bilstein B6 shocks and Eibach Pro springs for sale in about 3 weeks time. (covered 2000 miles)..

Circa £350