So... an update of sorts at last
My suspension has been very annoying of late... front seems very crashy and I genuinely fear for my life every time I go out in the car due to having to swerve potholes, sunken drains and all the other cr*p our lovely UK roads have to throw at us...
I can't enjoy a spirited drive in the car as I am constantly wincing whenever I hit a small bump and on occasion have had a massive 'bang' as the suspension catches the mearest of bumps... this appears to have damaged the spherical bearing in the camber plates too so decided they had to go too...
I had to do something... I have considered replacing the lot with KW v2 coilovers but tbh even with my discount its an expense I'd rather put towards a lens than suspension these days so decided to replace the springs instead and go from there..
Was at the unit today so cracked on with the job... as you can see I was in good company surrounded by S3's
Did consider a new set of Apex 30mm but decided on some H&R 25mm instead and managed to get a set at a really good price new...
My previous LCR top rubbers and some new bearings as I wasn't sure how good the ones I was taking out would be...
Started on the fronts... don't forget to undo the Xenon level sensor arm from the front arm (if you have this) else you can snap the arm off the sensor...
Near side camber plate was toast as suspected...
Bearing had been forced up from the constant tw*tting against the bump stops...
Built up the struts with the new springs and LCR mounts...
The plastic caps for the top of the suspension were split... normally I'd consider replacing them...
...but there isn't much duck tape or a cable tie won't fix lol...
With the fronts all bolted up it was on to the rears...
...again don't forget to undo the Xenon level sensor arm... this is a favorite to break...
Normally you would undo the lower damper bolt to allow the arm to drop...
...but I have seen a fair few of these strip threads and when I tried to undo the bolt it didn't feel 'happy' so I left it and undid the damper top bolt instead... just need to undo one screw on the inner arch to be able to peel it away to get to the bolt..
..it uses a flat washer with 'serrations' on so is tough to undo but its out of the elements up there and more likely to survive than the lower one...
Undid the drop link to the ARB too and got the spring out... it did need spring compressors though...
Top rubber locator thingy has seen better days so will need to replace them at some point but it will do for now...
Bit of wrestling and the spring was in...
...and done...
Done the other side next...
...and all finished... dropped the car off the jacks, reversed her out into the unit entrance to settle the suspension a bit and checked the front alignment... was nearly 1 degree to out so pulled that in a bit enough to not make the car feel too twitchy on the drive home... will let the suspension settle a bit then go for a full alignment
Ride height is a little higher but will see where it settles... not silly high but not tucking the tyres under the arches like before which in all honesty is fine...
In terms of ride and handling... I have not given her a spirited drive as yet as the roads were wet and congested but in terms of how she rides now its like a different car... I have taken her on the route I normally take where I know I generally dart about like something on crack avoiding drains and shizzle and she just seems to ride those without batting an eyelid...
Steering seems lighter so not sure if the camber plates were adding drag but considering the state of the one bearing and the other had more play in it than I expected tbh (considering how little mileage I do and that they were new bearings not long back) I would not be surprised if that was the case.
Will push her a little harder once the geo is sorted and see if there is an improvement there...
The only other noticeable difference is steering is not as 'positive' a feeling when turning in... not sure if this is because the geo is out (incorrect geo can make steering feel dull) or the swap from spherical bearings to a more compliant rubber top mount... not that its bad in anyway as steering is still 'sharp' but not quite got the same feel as before... again I'll leave judgement until I have had the alignment done..
The main thing I wanted to achieve is to get the suspension back to a place where driving the car didn't have me in constant fear of the smallest imperfection in the road... I think that the Apex springs may have sagged a tad and that 30mm or more on B8's might be too much for them... this was another reason to go for a 25mm drop over the 30mm drop...
I am not massively fussed about losing the 0.7 degree of negative camber I had from the plates either as my car is primarily a road car... if I am in a position where that 0.7 degrees would make an actual difference while I am driving on the road considering the power my car has I will most likely deserve to be locked up...
<tuffty/>
