DIY - Suspension Removal and Install Redux - Tips, Tricks and a Gripload of Pics

[jmoneyslick]

2 things. First: great write up. has been put in my favorites for future reference. Second: What if i do not own a festive blanket to lay upon, is the suspension removal still doable?

[evo_ski]

Hopefully I'm not the only one who got the Dacia Sandero reference.

Bad news!...... the dacia sandero.... its been delayed! oh no... well back to the news it looks like ferrari has put out a new supercar...............

Almost as classic as the "i was looking around the internet and i found this......." haha

[Philthy]

This is a great write up and perfect timing. Installing my coils tomorrow and it will come in handy. Thanks! If I knew how to add Rep I would.

[a4darkness]

2 things. First: great write up. has been put in my favorites for future reference. Second: What if i do not own a festive blanket to lay upon, is the suspension removal still doable?

It will certainly be more difficult. The ability to accurately torque loaded components to spec is heavily dependent upon the properties of the festive blanket. Proceed with caution.

[jmoneyslick]

It will certainly be more difficult. The ability to accurately torque loaded components to spec is heavily dependent upon the properties of the festive blanket. Proceed with caution.

ill be sure to gather up said festive blanket then when I do my tein spring/bilstein shock install. thanks for answering the most critical question regarding this install.

[Philthy]

Done and done! This install went pretty smoothly thanks in big part to this DIY. One manned it for the most part. Taking out time for height adjustment in the fronts this install took about 9hrs. Most of that time was spent fighting the stupid speed washer on the guide posts.

After one side though the other came out super quick. The rears are easier but more nerve racking.

Overall a long but pretty simple process that pretty much anyone should be able go tackle if you take your time.

[Capt. Obvious]

Great update!

[a4darkness]

Thanks again for such a great writeup Darrick.

[Capt. Obvious]

Just my personal opinion on removing the fronts though.. I usually just remove the whole strut assembly like so:



All you have to do is remove the 3 top nuts, the single control arm bolt and the lower main bolt.. The whole thing comes out, you dont have to bother with the sway bar links or the tierods etc.. I got really good at removing the fronts when i was dealing with those Stasis control arms, i got to the point where i could remove the whole assembly in under 20 mins...

That's how I do it as well.

I don't know how many B5/6/7 suspensions I've done at this point, but on a good day I can do a complete suspension swap in about 2 hours now.

[a4darkness]

So annoyed I didn't do the same. Not so much for the time factor, just the amidoinitrite. Arg.

[JEENYUS]

yeah, removing the whole assembly makes it so much easier. great write up though!

[vhstejskal]

Yes, great write up. Again very thorough...

[jayiszraw]

just do one side at a time.. put a jack under the rear and remove the two 18mm sub frame bolts and then lower it down.. the springs literally fall out.

when you say under the rear, do you mean the rear diff? also when doing this do the sway bar linkages have to be disconnected?

[a4darkness]

when you say under the rear, do you mean the rear diff? also when doing this do the sway bar linkages have to be disconnected?

Yes. Exactly what I did... see here.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=1#post6380237

[airjordan223]

do you need a camber kit for alignment or can you adjust enough without one?

[a4darkness]

Got me. Letting them settle for another week or so and then going to get it aligned at a shop.

[Bische]

i got one question, can the rear subframe be shifted in sideways like the front can?

If so, how do you know its center when bolting it back up?

BTW, this makes life easy with the strut nut:

[a4darkness]

I only unbolted one side at a time so I'm unsure if the rear subframe can shift like that... but I'm thinking it can't. And part of the reason why I only did one side at a time was to avoid having possible issues of lining it back up.

[Philthy]

do you need a camber kit for alignment or can you adjust enough without one?

I assume you mean for the fronts? The rears are adjustable though I haven't looked into how far you can lower before you exceed the adjustment potential. The fronts require adjustable upper control arms to fix the camber. I will be ordering mine from 034 Motorsports within the next week or two. I really wish I would have just gotten them together, guess hind site is 20/20.

[boostedAvant]

Nice write up Thomas. First time takes a while but trust me next time you do it you'll cut your time in half. I can do them in no time now. As for the stupid lock washer on that stud I just loosen everything and pull on the whole assembly and it just comes right off. I do kind of a hybrid between your method and Charlie's for the rears but whatever works!

[Saturnine]

It depends on how low you have your suspension setup.. If its slammed, you arent going to much adjustment with the OEM setup.. Thats where adjustable control arms come into play etc...

do you need a camber kit for alignment or can you adjust enough without one?

[a4darkness]

Nice write up Thomas. First time takes a while but trust me next time you do it you'll cut your time in half. I can do them in no time now. As for the stupid lock washer on that stud I just loosen everything and pull on the whole assembly and it just comes right off. I do kind of a hybrid between your method and Charlie's for the rears but whatever works!

Thanks!

Agreed, this time around was a bit more of a learning experience... that and I was stopping to snap pics and take notes on everything I did. But regardless, you're right... next time around would really be far easier.

[alfalfa164]

Wanted to say thanks for the great write-up. I followed this DIY last week, as I changed out all the front control arms and replaced the stock struts and rear shocks/springs with a H&R/Bilstein sport combo. As you mentioned, the toughest part was getting the #%@$&! pinch bolts out of the steering knuckle holding the top control arms. Took me a good 5 hours to get the driver's side out, and another day to deal with the passenger's side (which resulted in driving to a junk yard to pick up a used passenger steering knuckle). In comparison, the rear portion was cake to take care of. Only part I'm unsure of is the step to remove the rear sway-bar end bolts. What is the necessity of this, as the entire sway-bar is mounted to the sub-frame, which is being dropped? Just curious if I'm overlooking something here. Oh, and you weren't kidding about all the crap behind the fender lining; I felt like "Gus, the lovable chimney sweep" afterward. Thanks again for the great write-up.

[A42007]

Nice and detailed, exactly what noobs need.

Good job man.

[a4darkness]

Wanted to say thanks for the great write-up. I followed this DIY last week, as I changed out all the front control arms and replaced the stock struts and rear shocks/springs with a H&R/Bilstein sport combo. As you mentioned, the toughest part was getting the #%@$&! pinch bolts out of the steering knuckle holding the top control arms. Took me a good 5 hours to get the driver's side out, and another day to deal with the passenger's side (which resulted in driving to a junk yard to pick up a used passenger steering knuckle). In comparison, the rear portion was cake to take care of. Only part I'm unsure of is the step to remove the rear sway-bar end bolts. What is the necessity of this, as the entire sway-bar is mounted to the sub-frame, which is being dropped? Just curious if I'm overlooking something here. Oh, and you weren't kidding about all the crap behind the fender lining; I felt like "Gus, the lovable chimney sweep" afterward. Thanks again for the great write-up.

You bet man, glad to hear it was helpful. lol @ "Gus, the lovable chimney sweep." Good call, it's ridiculous.

Per a few threads I dig up in the B5 section, I was being overly cautious about fully dropping the sub frame (both sides at the same time). So I was only disconnecting one side at a time and if you do that, the sway will somewhat hold the sub frame in place, if I'm recalling correctly. Pretty certain that's it. Now I understand why Charlie was saying that I overcomplicated the rear but really it's so easy once you get the hang of it that it doesn't matter all that much.

I still need to do my UCAs so maybe I'll be revising this project in a few months.

Side note, realized you're local... where?

Nice and detailed, exactly what noobs need.
Good job man.

I'm all about noob salvation. Thanks man.

[alfalfa164]

Side note, realized you're local... where?

I'm in Palo Alto.

Just came back from a weekend trip to the central coast; the ride with the new control arms and H&R/bilsteins is AMAZING compared to the stock suspension w/80k+ miles on it. Night and day difference. I fell in love with the car all over again. This has been the best upgrade so far. Well worth the bloody knuckles and hours of unadulterated profanities.

Forgot to mention: shifting has improved significantly. It's much, much crisper than it was prior to this repair/upgrade. Not entirely sure which portion of the repair/upgrade would attribute to this. I'm guessing the old, shot control arms may have had an effect on shifting?

[a4darkness]

Gotcha, I'm in SF or a bit north. Don't make it down there too much but hopefully we won't have to wait for AZ11 for a chance to meet up.

Isn't that the greatest? New suspension is like a whole new car. Totally changes everything, I couldn't agree more. The change in shifting can be largely attributed to the suspension itself but the new CA's don't hurt either. Basically, with a shot suspension a vehicle travels around a lot more when shifting. Tighter suspension = less body movement = car spends less time moving around and more time moving forward.

Similar, last week I raised my rears maybe 1/2" and it's really improved the ride. Pretty sure I need to drop the fronts maybe a turn max to finish it off. Then no touchy touchy.

[waldo1324]

will try this for the first time come spring during a caliper / rotor / ss line / sport spring install.
ill be getting shocks and upper arms hopefully too.

[ray_B6]

damn dude....i did my coil overs yesterday and used 2 other DIYs that WERE NOT as specific as this...i wish i had seen this one in my google search ....mine took 2 days b/c the fronts were so damn difficult...the rears i had out in 30 mins...i used pry bars to get the UCA bolts out thinking i was doing it wrong....now i see you did the same so i feel better now lol...damn good job!

[a4darkness]

Thanks man. Don't feel bad, it took me about that long to do this one too.

[ray_B6]

did you ever put spacers? we have the same wheels and same ride height (ish) and i was thinking 5mm on all 4 corners to make these 17 flush. I dont see any listed in your mod list.

[a4darkness]

What are you talking about? It's totally listed. Been there since I put em on.

Yes, did and I was so happy to do so. There was always something about my car I didn't like but could never put my finger on it. Then I realized...

OEM Stock Sport 17's, ET45



OEM Celebration 17's ET43 + 10mm F and 15mm R = ET33/28

[ray_B6]

wow i was so focused on the other stuff and i didn't even see them listed lol...oops....looks great!

[a4darkness]

lol, I just added it.

[ray_B6]

Lol i knew that

[andrew.k]

I don't usually give credit to people who do write-ups because they aren't very good...

But when I do... they must be good, and sir you deserve credit.

+1

[Saturnine]

PA Represent!

I'm in Palo Alto.

Just came back from a weekend trip to the central coast; the ride with the new control arms and H&R/bilsteins is AMAZING compared to the stock suspension w/80k+ miles on it. Night and day difference. I fell in love with the car all over again. This has been the best upgrade so far. Well worth the bloody knuckles and hours of unadulterated profanities.

Forgot to mention: shifting has improved significantly. It's much, much crisper than it was prior to this repair/upgrade. Not entirely sure which portion of the repair/upgrade would attribute to this. I'm guessing the old, shot control arms may have had an effect on shifting?

[alfalfa164]

Gotcha, I'm in SF or a bit north. Don't make it down there too much but hopefully we won't have to wait for AZ11 for a chance to meet up.

For sure. I'm in SF every now and then to visit friends. If you ever need help with your B6, let me know; I'm always down to meet new people and wrench away on a car.

PA Represent!

Go tall sticks (or whatever the hell PA translates into)! What color is your Avant? I drive a crystal blue B6 (I think there's one other in town).

[a4darkness]

Appreciate it man, will do.

[seattlematt]

Sorry to bring back on old thread...does anyone know if you can simply tighten all the bolts with the wheels on and the car on jackstands? Seems like the easiest way to load the bushings, but not sure if I can reach those UCA bolts.