Another good day today
Started off by fitting the new Silver-Project adjustable top mounts
I previously had Eibach eccentric top mounts fitted, and whilst these have been great, they're eccentric, offsetting the strut by a set amount. And then you rotate the mount to alter the camber / caster gain, but the two are very much dependant on each other. As one goes, up, the other goes down. For a fast road setup I think they're ideal, as they retain the rubber top mount, and improve geo, but I wanted more!
...so, the eibach mounts prior to stripping down:
I had modified these by removing the locating pin and tapping a thread into them, so allow a bolt to be screwed down into the mount to lock it's rotation. This worked better than the eibach design, which could easily break off if you didn't have it aligned 100% when torquing it down.
Top caps off, and just the lower nut to remove:
One Silver Project top mount waiting to go on:
Old mounts removed, and I took the spring cap off the KW's to check how it'd all mate together.
Now, I was told that these could replace all the standard top mounts and bearings totally, but if I were to use the lower fitting from the kit only, it would put all the rotation of the strut through the spherical bearing, which, as Sam highlighted earlier, could well shorten the life of the bearing:
However, When you fitted the OE top mount bearing in between the spring cap and the new part, everything seemed to fit together rather perfectly:
The OE bearing fits the KW's pefectly, and the lower collar of the top mount kit fits inside the casing of the OE top mount perfectly.
This cannot be co-incidence, it's got to go like this. This way, the pillowball takes all the weight, and seals with strut location and any angular changes during the shock travel, but the OE bearing deals with all rotational forces from steering. Cheap and dead easy to replace, and proven to last very well. It seems like a good combo to me.
So, time to fit it all
Lower plate and bearing installed on the strut:
Lower half of the topmount in the turret:
And coming together:
Then the top cap goes on, and the bolts go in, and it's looking complete:
Repeat for the other side:
And they're done!
I'm now showing around 2.8 degrees of negative camber, and I expect around 9 degrees caster
(Alignment later showed -2.4 camber and 8.8 caster). On the test drive initial impressions are very promising, the ride is smooth and good, and not anywhere near as harsh as I thought it might be. The car feels incredibly pointy on turn in and just goes where I want it, with no delay. Steering feel seems better, you can you really feel the effects of the increased caster with a nice weight around centre to the steering.
Once I've got some new wishbone bushes I'll get it all corner weighted and aligned again, but first impressions are that this kit is VERY good value for money. It fits perfectly, it's very easy to adjust, the rose joints are a standard size and replaced for just a few quid if needs be, and by utilising the OE upper bearings also it should give everything a decent life span.
I wouldn't hesitate to run these on a road car either.
Massive thanks to Silver-Project for the top mounts, if anyone is intersted they can be found here:
SilverProject
Or on ebay here:
Camber Plates Golf MK4 , SEAT LEON , AUDI A3 - CAMBER CASTER | eBay
