A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.) Updated

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Greyhare
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Year and Trim: 1996 VW Jetta 2.0 with Eaton m45
Location: Adair Village, OR Survivor: WCBF '06, WCBF '07, WCBF '08

A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.) Updated

Post by Greyhare »

I decided it was time for a little upgrade.

New knuckles:
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Bushings to flip the tie rods: (Bump steer correction.)
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Big groove in knuckle:
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Gets big snap ring:
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For new front bearing:
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Shade tree engineered press:
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Then the new hub:
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A few other parts: (Control arms, bushings, ball joints, ball joint extenders, camber/caster mounts.)
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Extender:
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Mocked up:
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Camber/caster mount:
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Front coil over: (It is cleaner now)
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OEM mount:
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Everything above the spring is replaced by:
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Before:
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After:
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Front is done, now the rear:

Something is missing?
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Here it is.
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A little persuasion required:
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I win:
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Now to fill this:
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With this:
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The urethane bushing has fingers that fill the voids in the OEM rubber bushing:
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Everything is back together and corner weights are set. Alignment is on Wednesday; after that I can test it more aggressively.
Last edited by Greyhare on Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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BonneMe
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Re: A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.)

Post by BonneMe »

Yay camber plates!

/jealous

GC coils i'm guessing by seeing the GC camber plates? Are those RE-01rs?

A few local MK3/MK4 guys have found their cars like some extra weight over the rear, full tanks of gas, and one even left his spare in, just to keep the rear in check at AutoX.

What sort of power does that put down? I'm guessing it's a 2.slow with the M45?
Jason Z - Exposed Autos
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2001 BMW 330i
- Titanium Silver - Sport Package - 3 Pedals - Koni Yellow/H&R Sport
2006 Volkswagen GTI - (gone) Tornado Red - DSG, Stage II~280hp/325tq
1993 Pontiac Bonneville - (gone) Purple Pearl H4U/SLE. Loud
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Greyhare
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Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 1:12 pm
Year and Trim: 1996 VW Jetta 2.0 with Eaton m45
Location: Adair Village, OR Survivor: WCBF '06, WCBF '07, WCBF '08

Re: A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.)

Post by Greyhare »

Coils are Bilstein PSS. I am using the camber plates for caster. The A3 and earlier have plenty of camber adjustment but barely 2 deg of caster. I will still be less than +5 degrees caster.

I run in full street trim, stock spare etc... Yes RE-01R's. This will be the last summer I get out of them, then some new RE-11's.

2.0 with M45. Puts down about the same as a 12v VR6 with less weight and a flatter torque curve. I am running an 02j with Eurospec 6 speed conversion; the 020 was just shrapnel waiting to happen.
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BonneMe
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Re: A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.)

Post by BonneMe »

I thought those plates looked funny, lol. Posting late FTL.

Tomorrow I'm codriving a 2008 MKV because my ECU froze during an APR reflash and had to be sent ro them.

An instructor who was in both cars said the 2008 was much more responsive, it sits lower from the factory than my 4x4 06. I've never been able to top a local in an 08, now I will be able to see why...

Won't matter as I will be STX once my car is up and running.... :banana:
Jason Z - Exposed Autos
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2001 BMW 330i
- Titanium Silver - Sport Package - 3 Pedals - Koni Yellow/H&R Sport
2006 Volkswagen GTI - (gone) Tornado Red - DSG, Stage II~280hp/325tq
1993 Pontiac Bonneville - (gone) Purple Pearl H4U/SLE. Loud
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2000Silverbullet
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Re: A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.)

Post by 2000Silverbullet »

Looks great Mike. :)

I did some work on my Jeep too. New front springs and Bilstein shocks. Definite improvement.
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2000 SSEi - SilverBullet - 78,000 kms, 4" "straight shot" custom headlight ram air inlet, TOGs, 1.9's, Lsd, 2.9-3.4"MPS 10-15 psi, Ported GenV, EGR eliminated, OR pushrods, oil volume kit, trani cooler & shift kit, Titanium retainers, 90 lb springs, 160 Stat, 42# injectors, Fuel pump voltage increase, Wideband O2, 3" to dual 2 1/2" Magnaflows, Snow Meth/water injection, after SC temp gauge, 255/50WR17, timing commander set 15-18*@WOT, 2 speed Fan over-ride, disabled DRL, Solid motor mount, Meziere Electric water pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, Drilled & slotted rotors/ceramics, GXP sway bars and STB, Upgraded and rebuilt transmission with ZZP 2500 rpm stall TC, Pioneer Bluetooth stereo with sub and 800 W amps, PB 13.5 quarter, (April 2014 car of the month)
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Greyhare
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Posts: 599
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 1:12 pm
Year and Trim: 1996 VW Jetta 2.0 with Eaton m45
Location: Adair Village, OR Survivor: WCBF '06, WCBF '07, WCBF '08

Re: A little suspension work. (56K not recommended.)

Post by Greyhare »

More road noise with the camber/caster plates.

Looks just like it did last time you saw it Paul. (Unless you know what to look for.) :)

Alignment will be done Wednesday. Then I get get to see what it will do. :twisted:

Front roll center is about 3" higher and there is near 1 degree more camber gain.


Update:
I have had some thime to play now the alignment is done.
Wow! The front just sticks. I have a "test" road near that I could run at the edge. (Starting to slip and slide.)
I can now run the same road at 5 to 10mph faster without reacing the slip and slide point. :banana:
This should shave 10's of seconds off my lap time at PIR. :)
Last edited by Greyhare on Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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