Taller suspension

[road_tripper]

are there any sources of higher suspension? I thought about allroad-style air suspension, not sure if I'm looking at bolt-on or major fab work.

I'm looking for more ground clearance. My car is beat to hell and I want to take it off road.

[onceover]

OEM non-sport not high enough?

why in hell would you EVER want to take an a4 off road? go buy a subaru.

[road_tripper]

I don't mean hard-core off road and bouldering... I have a land rover for that.

This summer I'd like to go to Canyonlands, and the minimal clearance oem non-sport gives is not enough.

Some people like to increase HP until it breaks... I like to go off the pavement. No difference, just picking a different part of the car to optimize to failure!

[AudiBama]

sell your a4...get an allroad.

[road_tripper]

don't want an avant. If I did, a 4.2L allroad would be perfect... except for the horrific increase in maintenance costs.

[AudiBama]

well i have one word for you if you're wanting to raise an A4



Donk.

[Charlescrs6]

buy an outback sedan.

[road_tripper]

well i have one word for you if you're wanting to raise an A4



Donk.

Nice advice from someone who hasn't realized they want an S4.

Or so it looks to me from your sig.

[trueno429]

go get a s10.

[AudiBama]

Nice advice from someone who hasn't realized they want an S4.

Or so it looks to me from your sig.

oh i've realized this...cash is the problem

[B6JoeS4]

so you want it something like this miata

[road_tripper]

No, I'm thinking upscale and capable, like this rolls-royce .

I think saw a gun rack in there as I drove by...

[cjonesgo]

?!?!

What tracks did Audi make a name for itself on? Rally tracks!


I say raise it and race it!!

Anyone who says that an Audi should not be taken off the pavement please turn in your quattro badges.

[cjonesgo]

nuff said.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Why is everyone jumping on this guy? He doesn't want an S-10, he doesn't want a Subaru. He wants an Audi. He didn't ask for opinions of his project, he asked if anyone could help him accomplish his goal. If you don't have anything constructive to add, go kick a puppy or something.

Good luck with your project. I'm sure you're not the first to look into this and likely won't be the last. Keep us posted!

[Kerschera4]

do you have non sport suspension? PM me if you want one

[Exanimas]

If you raise it up can you please throw some 28"s on it? Haha, just joking man.

Hopefully someone can post something productive in this thread for you, but I just had to throw in my worthless $.02.

[road_tripper]

I did some measuring, and an additional couple of inches of height will be nice, as well as much longer travel (down). Don't know if the travel is limited by the a-arms/anti-sway, or by the length of the shock. Unfortunately, it looks like bigger tires are going to tough to squeeze in, unless I can find some spacers and/or super-skinny tires-n-rims.

I suppose I could pull out the sawzall and put some allroad flares on...

If I get something done I'll post back here for posterity. And laughs.

[road_tripper]

do you have non sport suspension? PM me if you want one

I've got non-sport already... looking for a more serious amount of lift (can I use that term with an Audi????).

[317ssayzarc]

Get coilovers and jack them up

[monkey323i]

Why is everyone jumping on this guy? He doesn't want an S-10, he doesn't want a Subaru. He wants an Audi. He didn't ask for opinions of his project, he asked if anyone could help him accomplish his goal. If you don't have anything constructive to add, go kick a puppy or something.

Good luck with your project. I'm sure you're not the first to look into this and likely won't be the last. Keep us posted!

+1.

[03 silverbullet]

Get coilovers and jack them up

Thats what i was thinking use coil overs and go up with them but will he get any more travel out of them ?

[SpacemanSpiff]

I'm not sure if it'd give him more travel, but he gave the impression he's just looking for clearance.

Good thing to consider though.

[dougyfresh]

I did some measuring, and an additional couple of inches of height will be nice, as well as much longer travel (down). Don't know if the travel is limited by the a-arms/anti-sway, or by the length of the shock. Unfortunately, it looks like bigger tires are going to tough to squeeze in, unless I can find some spacers and/or super-skinny tires-n-rims.

I suppose I could pull out the sawzall and put some allroad flares on...

If I get something done I'll post back here for posterity. And laughs.

Can you get the car higher than stock by using an air-ride system? Capt Obvious pieced together an air-ride system for his sedan (for the opposite... low).

Sawzall would be tough on the rear wheel-wells. They get dangerously close to the back door (like on a Jeep XJ 4-door).

Coilovers might work but I'm not sure if you'll gain travel but you will gain additional gain ride height.

anti-roll bars are limiting unless you can make a quick disconnect for the ends and/or a longer end bar.

Front and rear half-shafts most likely are not long enough to provide a substantial increase in ride height over stock.

If you can get the control arms to be down as far as they are when the car is on a lift (unweighted) then that should give you some height. Probably fab up some spacer between the front upper spring perch and the uni-body? To lower the upper control arms and strut further away from the body. In the rear you'll have to probably drop the subframe and insert spacers there as well as ontop of the coil spring and shock absorber. Extend the flexible brake lines too. However, I have a feeling the CVs in the halfshafts won't last long at that angle.

Its just like lifting an IFS truck like a 'Yoda. The concepts are the same but on the A4 it'll require custom fabb'd pieces. Easiest is just spacers. That'll get you ride height but retain stock-like suspension travel.



EDIT: That Rolls is awesome. Beauty with that is its got a full frame underneath that body to do anything you want. Hence the leaf spring suspension. That car should get a spring over axle conversion. More ground clearance and ride height You can stick some 35s in there then.

[Capt. Obvious]

To raise the front, I would pick up a set of Bilstein shocks with the adjustable spring perches and move them all the way up, that should give you at least an inch in the front. As for the rear, you may have to "reverse cut" your springs by heating them with a torch and stretching them out. I think the best option would be to have a machine shop fab you up some spacers for the upper spring perch in the rear. It's a pretty simple design, and making 1" or maybe larger spacers shouldn't be a huge issue. The hardest part would be getting the sonsabitches in there!

[NvrFllw]

there is someone on this forum i believe with an allroad and he lifted 2in if im not mistaken actually looked pretty cool but everyone raged on him for doing it. Below is a picture i found and posted yesterday on another thread this is a one inch lift i believe



There are companies that make lift kits for the vw/audi im not sure this is what you want even though they are only about 2 inch lifts

here is something i found when i googled http://www.metalnerd.com/cat09.htm , its not for an audi but im sure they can help you

[road_tripper]

2 inches of additional height would be great. Anything more than that (and probably 2" as well) is just going to look bad with the stock diameter wheels. Not sure if there is enough room in the wheel well to get a bigger diameter tire in there.

I like the idea of air suspension; the aftermarket ones for the allroad seem reasonably priced compared to coilovers. Not sure how much an aftermarket air compressor and control modules would run, though.

With just coilovers or the perches raised, I don't know if the handling is going to be pleasant enough. I'll probably put 40K-50K miles on my b6 this coming year, so a minor annoyance on a short trip becomes a major embuggerance 10 hours into an 18 hour drive.

[dougyfresh]

here is something i found when i googled http://www.metalnerd.com/cat09.htm , its not for an audi but im sure they can help you

Note: Not for use on vehicles with Electronic Stability Control.

Be careful with ESP. You might not be able to run the car with it turned on and the car raised. Depends on how high it goes. I know there are sensors tied to the anti-roll bars as well as the 'g' sensors within the car.


That raised Golf is pretty bad-ass looking.

[Capt. Obvious]

Be careful with ESP. You might not be able to run the car with it turned on and the car raised. Depends on how high it goes. I know there are sensors tied to the anti-roll bars as well as the 'g' sensors within the car.

I think it's just a liability thing, kinda like how test pipes are :for offroad use only." The ESP is programmed with a certain center of gravity in mind, raising the car will throw off these calculations a bit, resulting in it's not working exactly as designed. Unless you're driving like a total jackhole, I highly doubt you'll see a difference in anything.

[AudiA4_20T]

2 inches of additional height would be great. Anything more than that (and probably 2" as well) is just going to look bad with the stock diameter wheels. Not sure if there is enough room in the wheel well to get a bigger diameter tire in there.

I like the idea of air suspension; the aftermarket ones for the allroad seem reasonably priced compared to coilovers. Not sure how much an aftermarket air compressor and control modules would run, though.

With just coilovers or the perches raised, I don't know if the handling is going to be pleasant enough. I'll probably put 40K-50K miles on my b6 this coming year, so a minor annoyance on a short trip becomes a major embuggerance 10 hours into an 18 hour drive.

Honestly, 2" is going to look bad with stock wheels also lol

but hey, you need it so go for it

[road_tripper]

Honestly, 2" is going to look bad with stock wheels also lol

but hey, you need it so go for it

Well, a lot of people would argue the stock wheels w/stock suspension look bad.

And some would argue that lowering an inch doesn't look "good enough".

Maybe if I carbon-fiber the engine covers, people won't notice the jacked-up suspension on the tiny stocker wheels?

Or do I need S4 door blades for that?

[Capt. Obvious]

Eff it, if you're gonna raise it, you should get some 225/65/16's for that bad boy. The V6 can handle it.

[AudiA4_20T]

Well, a lot of people would argue the stock wheels w/stock suspension look bad.

And some would argue that lowering an inch doesn't look "good enough".

Maybe if I carbon-fiber the engine covers, people won't notice the jacked-up suspension on the tiny stocker wheels?

Or do I need S4 door blades for that?

Ha! I love it, and your so correct

[B6Lovin]

im glad that you're asking about this because i've been planning on getting a beater B5 to use as a rally machine...

i figured another 2inches of lift or so, some "reinforced" bits, and doing what i can to save the leftover stock parts should make a totally gutted/caged b5 1.8 atleast decently quick and light on it's feet.

one thing you can do as far as the axles/CV joints/driveshaft etc are concerned is to drop the transmission/rear diff an inch or so for every 2 inches of lift (kind of like people do on jeeps) that way the majority of the car is higher so you're not as likely to get hung up or bottom out, and it gets you to a balance between excessive wear and ground clearance for the drivetrain.

[dougyfresh]

one thing you can do as far as the axles/CV joints/driveshaft etc are concerned is to drop the transmission/rear diff an inch or so for every 2 inches of lift (kind of like people do on jeeps) that way the majority of the car is higher so you're not as likely to get hung up or bottom out, and it gets you to a balance between excessive wear and ground clearance for the drivetrain.

You know that is the cop-out method. Esp if you're going to rally the car.

Longer driveshafts are needed if you're going to rally the car at a higher ride height. BUT, do you need a ride height higher than the top of a CoilOver for rallying? I don't think so but is dependent on the course.

[Capt. Obvious]

Without being near my car to look at axle angles, I'd imagine raising the car an inch wouldn't be much worse than lowering the car an inch.

[B6Lovin]

Without being near my car to look at axle angles, I'd imagine raising the car an inch wouldn't be much worse than lowering the car an inch.

if that's the case then 3 inches should be no problem!

(that's what she said?)

You know that is the cop-out method. Esp if you're going to rally the car.

Longer driveshafts are needed if you're going to rally the car at a higher ride height. BUT, do you need a ride height higher than the top of a CoilOver for rallying? I don't think so but is dependent on the course.

it might be, but it works

[OCMI_Teddy]

you could just throw in some coil spacers in there if all you need is another inch or so.

[kastro]

isn't non sport high enough???????????????????????????????????? i got some if needed.. with 55 000km(35000miles) all boxed up and everything.. let me know

[SpacemanSpiff]

isn't non sport high enough???????????????????????????????????? i got some if needed.. with 55 000km(35000miles) all boxed up and everything.. let me know

...This summer I'd like to go to Canyonlands, and the minimal clearance oem non-sport gives is not enough.

And please, it takes at least 37 question marks to be taken seriously...