Suspension Issues

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THE MONSTER

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Audi A4 B5 1997 1.8t Sport...It's been a few weeks now since I changed the Suspension from the standard Sports suspension to the Bilstein B12 Kit(Eibach Springs with Bilstein B8 Shocks)..

I was worried it would not lower the car enough for me which before it sat up quite high..now however I would say it's spot on as regards the height..

I have however problems now it as settled down a bit with rubbing on the front and more so the rear..
When you go round a left hand corner the right hand rear tends to be rubbing and vice versa when you go round a right hand corner the left is rubbing...

The front if you go round a roundabout with a good lock on you can also feel it rubbing..

I have changed the Front suspension arms all of them some time ago but done nothing to the rear as regards bushes ect...

Tyres and Wheels:- Dunlop Sport 9000... 235/45/17 ..Wheels 7.5J x 17 ET45

Any of you guy's had similar problems with changing to the B12 Kit...
 
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Yeah that's the thing I have left it this long to see if I can see where it is rubbing and maybe leave marks but not had chance to take the wheels off and have a good look yet...
 
Can you give your assesment for both senarios Wheel Arch rubbing and Rubbing on Suspension...

Today it's not stopped raining so cannot get ot it on the drive and my garage is full of gear at the moment..
 
235's can rub on the inside, a lot depends on the exact shape of the tyre. If your running stock offset with no spacers its going to be the inside somewhere that its rubbing on as theres lots of room out the way. Lots of people run much lower offsets without issue.

If it were a quattro, the usual spot is the rear upright where it wraps up round the tyre. Not sure on a front wheel drive though.
 
Do you think Spacers are the answer....
aragorn said:
235's can rub on the inside, a lot depends on the exact shape of the tyre. If your running stock offset with no spacers its going to be the inside somewhere that its rubbing on as theres lots of room out the way. Lots of people run much lower offsets without issue.

If it were a quattro, the usual spot is the rear upright where it wraps up round the tyre. Not sure on a front wheel drive though.
Click to expand...
 
if its rubbing on the inside then sure.

Mines running 235/40r18, with ET42 8J wheels. The rear also has a 12mm spacer. Doesnt catch at all.
 
Kev..Just checked the front hard to see where it is rubbing only doe's it on islands half lock..

Cannot take Rear off yet just started raining big time again...

Yours is ET 42 mine is ET45 mine is deeper than yours then, which will put it closer to the strut on the front will it not than yours...??
 
yep, mine will be around 3mm further out. Not much, but could be enough.

If its only rubbing on half lock thats a bit pecuilar, hopefully you can see some witness marks on the arch liners.
 
aragorn said:
yep, mine will be around 3mm further out. Not much, but could be enough.

If its only rubbing on half lock thats a bit pecuilar, hopefully you can see some witness marks on the arch liners.
Click to expand...

Had a look at the front and back with wheels off difficult to see if rubbing on the Arches...

Looks to me like the front maybe rubbing on the Suspension arm joint at the top where they meet and almost touch the tyre..

The rear maybe rubbing on the Spring Susupension bottom cup support that sticks out almost touching the tyre ..

Both are on the inside of the Suspension..

I know there can be a problem with using the standard ET45 and the 235 Tyres for rubbing on the inside of the Suspension...and not the arches..

Although when you are driving you would swear the sound is like it's hitting the arches..
 
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Add hubcentric spacers , high offsets usually bring the wheels close to the suspension .

Most VAG look good / even with extra 5mm on rear on a Passat I've 15mm front and 20mm rear spacers on ET 47 , 235 45 17 .
 
Gazwould said:
Add hubcentric spacers , high offsets usually bring the wheels close to the suspension .

Most VAG look good / even with extra 5mm on rear on a Passat I've 15mm front and 20mm rear spacers on ET 47 , 235 45 17 .
Click to expand...

Your Passat as actually become 32mm Front and 27 Rear offset...

If I were to put Spacers on the front and back what size mm would I go for and are Hubcentric ones the ones to have...

I suppose if you over do it you have the opposite problem of being too near the wing inner arches..

Which ones are reccommended I suppose like all things now there are cheap and nasty ones out there..
 
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Measure how many mm the tyre is away from the arch on flat ground and go from there, I'd go 5-10mm minimum as anything less won't make much difference, remember to get longer bolts too.
 
I recall someone saying once that you could not get Hubcentric which apparently are the ones to have 10mm or under...

I would be looking for a kit which I presume would come with the nessesary longer bolts included..

Yeah 10mm would be the same as putting on 225 tyres which are no problem rubbing so it's said..

I suppose I could go that way and wait for the tyres to wear and put the 225's on...but less rubber on the ground..

The Spacers seem a quick fix though..
 
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The spacers are both an immediate fix and a visual delight as the wheels become more prominent and also visually reduce arch gap .

Despite my radically reduced offsets the wheels are still tucked .

I decided by measuring and first trying a pair of 20mm on one side to find the front poked out very slightly hense now 15mm front .

I suggest you do the same and purchase one pair of ??mm and try .
 
Gaswould.. is your car very much the same set up as mine... tyres look the same apart probably different make but are your wheels 7.5J x 17 ET45

I think maybe 15mm alround for mine ..maybe ..
 
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Yes 7.5J x 17 , but ET is 2mm difference at 47 .

Try one pair of 15mm front and rear on one side to decide .

5f7936e7-d7f9-4d86-8485-32cf393af0dd_zpsaa22cbba.jpg


20140127_162255_zps495b6e02.jpg
 
Gazwould... looks like it just sticks out a bit on the Rear...compared to the bodyline on that pic..

But that is on a Passat is it not....??
 
Yes Passat , doesn't physically stick out , just the camera angle .

Look at the first pic of the front , rear doesn't poke .
 
Gazwould said:
Yes Passat , doesn't physically stick out , just the camera angle .

Look at the first pic of the front , rear doesn't poke .
Click to expand...

Just had a quick look to find Hubcentric Spacers for front and rear....you can get some that come with their mini bolt that are put on the hub then you put your original bolts onto the actual Spacer to accept your bolts..

Need to decide size front and rear and which to get there are quite a few available out there..

Gazwould...What Spacers did you use(I know the size you used) and where from...??

Don't want to be going for it down the road and the Rear wheels pass me :)
 
comparing what works on a passat to a B5 doesnt make any sense.

I suspect you'll get away with 10-12 front 15-20 rear, and maybe even more.

Mine has some "cheap" spacers from ebay. Think they are Bimecc brand, but they're nice enough, made of alloy, and fit nicely. On a FWD you need to be very careful with the rear hub. The wheel spigot on the rear hub sticks out a lot more than it does on the front, and that means that often it will bottom out on the inside of a spacer. You'll probably need a minimum of 15 on the rear to clear that.
 
aragorn said:
comparing what works on a passat to a B5 doesnt make any sense.

I suspect you'll get away with 10-12 front 15-20 rear, and maybe even more.

Mine has some "cheap" spacers from ebay. Think they are Bimecc brand, but they're nice enough, made of alloy, and fit nicely. On a FWD you need to be very careful with the rear hub. The wheel spigot on the rear hub sticks out a lot more than it does on the front, and that means that often it will bottom out on the inside of a spacer. You'll probably need a minimum of 15 on the rear to clear that.
Click to expand...

If I put 15mm all round doe's that mean I will still have 15mm clear on the rear taking the spigot into consideration..

Just cannot picture the rear in my mind with the so called spigot..
 
First try one pair of 15mm front and rear on one side , drive around the block and observe down that one side.

It's common on VAG to find an increase in spacer thickness to the rear to make both front and rear more even in the arches .
 
audi upgrades
Just spoke to the guy at Mtec take no notice of how many is left he as loads they have them made on a regular basis...

Right he said if you put a straight edge down the outside arch to the floor then measure the inside from the edge to the tyre you will find the size of the gap..

You can buy ones that have been tanadised in Black for a tenner more beause the plain alloy ones are just straight off the machining raw as it were..

He did say that's why you pay over £100 for H+R ones because they have been finished in a protective coating...

But if you buy the raw ones as it were they will only tarnish I suppose like alloy wheels if you leave them...

Might go for them it's all about what size the same front and rear eg:_15mm all round or more on the rear....
 
I have received the Spacers today and just tried to fit them on the Rear but they don't fit doe's not go over the the nut casing on the end ...

Been back to the guy that sold them me and he said he had not known Spacers not to go on over the brass nut casing on the end..

Has anyone experianced this before...could it be the Brake disc is not the same as it should be VW /Audi
 
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THE MONSTER said:
I have received the Spacers today and just tried to fit them on the Rear but they don't fit doe's not go over the the nut casing on the end ...

Been back to the guy that sold them me and he said he had not known Spacers not to go on over the brass nut casing on the end..

Has anyone experianced this before...could it be the Brake disc is not the same as it should be VW /Audi
Click to expand...

This is what my Rear bearing nut with dome on it looks like... doe's that look normal to anyone because the Spacer will not go over it...

https://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/6/7/2/4/8/5/webimg/963101217_o.jpg
 
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