DIY Large Chassis Coilovers

[crimson ghost]

Sounds like the way OEM works. I'm going to try and cut one up to be able to use.

[uberaudi]

Maybe a little wire tying the open ends of the snap ring together would be cheap insurance. I'd hate for this to happen to me too.

What about a clamp collar with a lip machined into it to take the place of the snap ring. This way you have a positive lock on the snap ring groove, but also some clamping action to keep everything in place.

[loxxrider]

Yep, thats what I was thinking too on the clamp.

[uberaudi]

So this is what you guys are talking about with the sleeve constraining the snap ring:

http://www.miataturbo.net/suspension-br ... 51/page11/

Then the easiest solution would to obviously use the factory Bilstein snap ring with the correct sleeve...I wonder if the Allstar 64162 would work? I can't seem to find any other relevant dimensions for any sleeves though, no matter the brand. The OD of my rear Bilstein is 1.975", then a bump out to the seated Bilstein snap ring diameter if that helps at all ahaha.

[loxxrider]

Yes, that's exactly the kind of situation we'd want.

[Wheeljack]

For a recent set, I reclaimed the ring from the bilstein perch by cutting it out of the stamped spring holder. It has a nice counterbore to capture the factory ring and works as they have intended. I then silicone'd the ring and sleeve in place.

[pilihp2]

For a recent set, I reclaimed the ring from the bilstein perch by cutting it out of the stamped spring holder. It has a nice counterbore to capture the factory ring and works as they have intended. I then silicone'd the ring and sleeve in place.

I like that alot....

[paradox11235]

What's the consensus on moving the steering arm down? Not looking to go super low but after trimming the sleeve it looks like you're limited to about 3.5" or so of adjustability in the front

[pilihp2]

What's the consensus on moving the steering arm down? Not looking to go super low but after trimming the sleeve it looks like you're limited to about 3.5" or so of adjustability in the front

As long as you keep it at the correct angle, there's not really a downside. Brings the tierods back to their correct geometry when lowered. You should not turn them in however.

[mushasho]

What's the consensus on moving the steering arm down? Not looking to go super low but after trimming the sleeve it looks like you're limited to about 3.5" or so of adjustability in the front

are you looking for a 3.5" drop...?

[paradox11235]

No, probably 2" max, but I figure with more adjustability I could also swap to a longer spring down the road if I wanted to. I'm probably not going to bother with the set I'm building now, they're going on my avant which is my DD in colorado, so probably 1.5" drop or so

[ringbearer]

What's the consensus on moving the steering arm down? Not looking to go super low but after trimming the sleeve it looks like you're limited to about 3.5" or so of adjustability in the front

As long as you keep it at the correct angle, there's not really a downside. Brings the tierods back to their correct geometry when lowered. You should not turn them in however.

Why not turn them in?

[paradox11235]

Well small PSA here, the old koni 80-2630sport rear struts are a smaller diameter, 40mm. The sleeves listed here are much too large. It looks like the a1 racing 12459 sleeves will fit with some minor clearancing, and the 12462 perches to match.

On the plus side they have a nice flat ring welded to the shock body, the lower perch is just pressed on and comes off with a few taps of a hammer.

Also I have rear sleeves and perches for bilstiens or the newer konis for sale now...

[A1QSHIP]

What's the consensus on moving the steering arm down? Not looking to go super low but after trimming the sleeve it looks like you're limited to about 3.5" or so of adjustability in the front

As long as you keep it at the correct angle, there's not really a downside. Brings the tierods back to their correct geometry when lowered. You should not turn them in however.

Why not turn them in?

Turning in the steering arms changes Ackerman angle. Using the information from the book Race Car & Vehicle Dynamics, http://books.sae.org/r-146/, & measuring suspension components to my best ability, I determined that what the Audi engineers set the steering arm angle was correct for the C4 chassis. For the racetrack this might be something to play with but for the street, no.
HTH, Chris

[ringbearer]

Thanks for the reply, mine are turned in a bit for tire clearance.

[A1QSHIP]

How wide a wheel/tire & what "ET" offset are you running on the front ?

[pilihp2]

What's the consensus on moving the steering arm down? Not looking to go super low but after trimming the sleeve it looks like you're limited to about 3.5" or so of adjustability in the front

As long as you keep it at the correct angle, there's not really a downside. Brings the tierods back to their correct geometry when lowered. You should not turn them in however.

Why not turn them in?

Sorry Dan, didn't see the question. Reasoning was posted above as you saw.

[deaner]

Do any of you guys have a loose tophat you could measure for me? Would save me from ordering up a couple different ones for my BBSE set up. I need the total height/thickness of it to figure out how much slack(if any) I need to take up with these CompBrake 3pc strut mounts. Thanks!

[mushasho]

I would like to add a small piece to this puzzle that will noticeably improve bump steer. My friend Dave has been using them on his custom coilover car and highly recommends them to correct "roll center"

What does it do?... well these things extend the balljoint, and properly place the tie-rod back to their natural horizontal state. Popular among the VW crowd, the 19mm MK3 version fits our cars perfectly.

Attached is picture of his Avant at it's current height. It's Low!

BallJoint Xxxtenders

556035_940629889325212_7736680412323933797_n.jpg (104.24 KiB) Viewed 59331 times

And this is how they fit....

12347654_941489725905895_5580011709208002819_n.jpg (96.63 KiB) Viewed 59331 times

[ringbearer]

I like those, don't want another alignment yet tho.

[jcarrick]

I posted this in my build thread, but I figured I post it here as well.

I started doing the DIY Coilovers on my new urS6 Avant, and after getting the struts out, I realized that the rear Koni struts have a welded on spring perch. I re-read the different T44/urS DIY Coilover threads and could not find any info on how guys have dealt with this. I found one guy on Audizine who used, what looks like, some sort of snap ring, above the weld, for the sleeve to sit on, but personally it looked like it would eventually expand and slide over the weld. Does anyone have any experience with this? Would it be ok to just let the sleeve sit on the weld? I considered make a ring for it, like the front struts need, and just tacking it to the weld, but I figured I'd see if others have dealt with this first.

[loxxrider]

I guess this hasn't been dealt with because almost everyone has used Bilstein struts. If it were me, I'd make a ring of something to sit over the weld. You are right that the sleeve could eventually split. I'm sure you could do it for a while with no problems until you have time to come up with another solution though.

Also, the QA1 solution Nick came up with for the rears is really nice if you want to go that route instead.

[pilihp2]

Ringbearer had his sent out to Koni and they cut off the stock perch and welded on a ring for coilovers.
I plan on doing the same, some day....
In the meantime, I got a coil sleeve that was as tight as possible and just slipped it on and let it sit on the weld.
It's starting to crack, but it's been about 2 years now.
My next attempt while I procrastinate on sending them out to koni, is getting a ring that can sit ontop of the weld.

I need to re-valve mine soon though, so I might be sending mine out sooner rather than later.

[loxxrider]

Well there you go. First hand experience!

[jcarrick]

I actually came up with a solution today.

Last night I was really not looking forward to cutting the rings out with the drill press/hole saw and was also trying to figure out what to do for the rear struts. I called the local steel shop, that I normally source my steel through, and asked if they had any 2.75" x .25" wall DOM and 2.5" x .25" wall DOM tube. I was in luck! I went down and picked up a foot of each. Then I used my horizontal band saw and cut .25" rings out of the two pieces of tubing.



Since the Koni's were just a hair over 2" in diameter, I used a sandpaper flap wheel on a drill to open them up to where they would slide down the shock. They fit nice and tight and will just sit on top of the weld, like Chris suggested.



Then I cut my OE spring perches off and lowered my steering arms. I turned my steering arms in just a hair, incase I want to run wider wheels/tires some day.



I found that both of my front wheel bearings were loose, so I am having new ones pressed in tomorrow. Hopefully they will be done in the AM and I can get the car back on the road early in the day!

I have plenty of material left, if anyone needs some rings for their own DIY Coilovers. Just pay for the material cost and shipping!