FITTING LOWERING SPRINGS TO AUDI A3/S3 8V SERIES
FOLLOW THIS GUIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK, IM NOT SAYING THIS IS “THE” WAY TO DO IT, BUT IT’S THE WAY I SUCCESSFULLY DID MINE.
OFFSIDE FRONT
This is the hardest one of all because you have less movement on the driveshaft when you come to lower the hub.
Jack up the car securely with your preferred method.
Remove wheel
Undo the bolt that clamps the suspension leg in place ( You will need an M14 XZN triple square bit and an 18mm spanner or socket )
You now need to open the clamp, I used a chisel and lightly tapped it in from underneath, alternatively VW sell a spreader tool if you want to buy one.
Due to the limited movement of the drive shaft you now need to put your spring compressors on the spring and compress about 20mm so you have enough room to drop the hub.
Once compressed press down on the hub assembly and it should drop enough to free the leg.
You can now remove the 3 bolts from the engine bay securing the top mount under the plastic cover. I found that with the rubber strip pulled off there is enough room to do it without fully removing the wipers and cover as suggested in the service manual. ( make sure you support the leg as you undo these bolts )
The next step is to swap the spring, which should already be compressed.
Put a 7mm Allen key in the top of the shock and undo the nut to remove the top plate.
Replace the stock spring with you aftermarket spring making sure it’s the right way up and correctly seated on the rubber seat.
Refit the top plate and tighten.
Don’t remove the spring compressors as it needs to be compressed to fit back to the car.
Reassemble to the car in reverse order.
I used a trolley jack to assist raising the hub back up onto the shock leg.
Remove chisel / spreader and re tighten clamp bolt
Remove spring compressors carefully checking the spring seats correctly
Refit wheel and remove the jack.
NEARSIDE FRONT
This is exactly the same as the offside, but there IS enough play to drop the hub without compressing the spring, so it’s a bit quicker to remove but then you have to compress the spring before you undo the top plate to change the spring.
You also can remove the spring compressors from the lowered spring prior to refitting to the car.
REARS
The rears are identical both sides apart from one thing !!!
On the nearside there is a little device that calibrates the headlight level.
You must pop the arm off the ball socket or you will damage the arm.
So, the rears are simple, no need for spring compressors.
Jack up the car securely
Remove the Wheel
Place a trolley jack under the rear arm and just take it up till it supports it.
Remove the 18mm Bolt securing the hub to the arm ( closest to brake disk )
Remove the 18mm Bolt securing the shock absorber ( about 3 inches further in )
(NOTE ONE OF THESE 18MM BOLTS IS LONGER THAN THE OTHER)
Jack up approx. another 2-3 inches and remove the 12mm bolt ( about 6-7 inches further in ) – this is the anti roll bar link bolt ( it may jump up a bit when the bolt comes out but its not an issue )
With all these 3 bolts removed if you lower the trolley jack the arm will drop enough to allow you to just remove the spring and replace.
Note the spring locates against a pin at the bottom of the mount, which you can easily see with the arm lowered. I give it a quick squirt with WD40 to make adjusting the spring position easier.
Jack the arm back up locating the top of the spring on its cup and keep going until its high enough to put the 12mm anti roll bar bolt back through, then refit the 2 18mm bolts for the hub and the shock.
Tighten all back up and if you are working on the nearside then pop the arm back on the headlamp leveler.
Refit wheel and remove the jack.
If you get it right it will look something like this !
FOLLOW THIS GUIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK, IM NOT SAYING THIS IS “THE” WAY TO DO IT, BUT IT’S THE WAY I SUCCESSFULLY DID MINE.
OFFSIDE FRONT
This is the hardest one of all because you have less movement on the driveshaft when you come to lower the hub.
Jack up the car securely with your preferred method.
Remove wheel
Undo the bolt that clamps the suspension leg in place ( You will need an M14 XZN triple square bit and an 18mm spanner or socket )
You now need to open the clamp, I used a chisel and lightly tapped it in from underneath, alternatively VW sell a spreader tool if you want to buy one.
Due to the limited movement of the drive shaft you now need to put your spring compressors on the spring and compress about 20mm so you have enough room to drop the hub.
Once compressed press down on the hub assembly and it should drop enough to free the leg.
You can now remove the 3 bolts from the engine bay securing the top mount under the plastic cover. I found that with the rubber strip pulled off there is enough room to do it without fully removing the wipers and cover as suggested in the service manual. ( make sure you support the leg as you undo these bolts )
The next step is to swap the spring, which should already be compressed.
Put a 7mm Allen key in the top of the shock and undo the nut to remove the top plate.
Replace the stock spring with you aftermarket spring making sure it’s the right way up and correctly seated on the rubber seat.
Refit the top plate and tighten.
Don’t remove the spring compressors as it needs to be compressed to fit back to the car.
Reassemble to the car in reverse order.
I used a trolley jack to assist raising the hub back up onto the shock leg.
Remove chisel / spreader and re tighten clamp bolt
Remove spring compressors carefully checking the spring seats correctly
Refit wheel and remove the jack.
NEARSIDE FRONT
This is exactly the same as the offside, but there IS enough play to drop the hub without compressing the spring, so it’s a bit quicker to remove but then you have to compress the spring before you undo the top plate to change the spring.
You also can remove the spring compressors from the lowered spring prior to refitting to the car.
REARS
The rears are identical both sides apart from one thing !!!
On the nearside there is a little device that calibrates the headlight level.
You must pop the arm off the ball socket or you will damage the arm.
So, the rears are simple, no need for spring compressors.
Jack up the car securely
Remove the Wheel
Place a trolley jack under the rear arm and just take it up till it supports it.
Remove the 18mm Bolt securing the hub to the arm ( closest to brake disk )
Remove the 18mm Bolt securing the shock absorber ( about 3 inches further in )
(NOTE ONE OF THESE 18MM BOLTS IS LONGER THAN THE OTHER)
Jack up approx. another 2-3 inches and remove the 12mm bolt ( about 6-7 inches further in ) – this is the anti roll bar link bolt ( it may jump up a bit when the bolt comes out but its not an issue )
With all these 3 bolts removed if you lower the trolley jack the arm will drop enough to allow you to just remove the spring and replace.
Note the spring locates against a pin at the bottom of the mount, which you can easily see with the arm lowered. I give it a quick squirt with WD40 to make adjusting the spring position easier.
Jack the arm back up locating the top of the spring on its cup and keep going until its high enough to put the 12mm anti roll bar bolt back through, then refit the 2 18mm bolts for the hub and the shock.
Tighten all back up and if you are working on the nearside then pop the arm back on the headlamp leveler.
Refit wheel and remove the jack.
If you get it right it will look something like this !
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