Ride Height Help...

Jase · Post by **Jase** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:08 pm

NUG637 wrote:its like having sex for the first time, once you've done it you feel more of a man....

I'l let you know when it happens

AzzA · Post by **AzzA** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:11 pm

Ok, had an attempt today. Positive and negative outcomes.

What I learnt:
The whole thing isn't rocket science, pretty self explanatory, especially with my early model which doesnt have CV's.
Lowering is piss easy.
Raising the car however gave me a real readache. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the plate back on properly when raising the car after going down a spline. I had a couple of jacks working to try and help me with things, but no matter what I did I just couldnt get it back in properly where the splines are. I definitely felt it click into another spline, but I couldn't bolt it back up, even checked the rubber things near the plate on the torsion bar to make sure they were going in where they should.
I'm going to try and give it another go, but might use a friends driveway next time instead. I was trying to do everything on a slightly sloped gravel driveway which made things more painful that it needed to be. Also didn't help with concentration.

Anyway, it wasn't a total waste of time, because I think I could almost lower a car blindfolded now. Plus I'll never need to get someone to change shocks etc for me in the future, it all goes together super easy.

To make myself feel better I changed the spark plugs and leads afterwards

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I also found this link which helped me a little also - http://www.vwtype3and4club.org.uk/forum ... f=26&t=767
Cheers

Jase · Post by **Jase** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:14 pm

They're always pricks of things to line up

My some longer bolts and use them to align it once pulled in enough use the stock bolts

Think they're M10s

AzzA · Post by **AzzA** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:25 pm

Jase wrote:They're always pricks of things to line up

My some longer bolts and use them to align it once pulled in enough use the stock bolts

Think they're M10s

Cheers, yeah was thinking of getting a couple longer ones to help. So by bolting the cover back on, it should seat the spling plate correctly onto the torsion bar yeah?
The "shelf" thing underneath was causing me issues

I had to full the plate out ot clear it, then had trouble getting it back in enough.
Hopefully those longer bolts help.

Jase · Post by **Jase** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:40 pm

No you need to get the spring plate seated on its perch first

Jack up the the spring plate till its above the perch and then tap it in, where the torsion bar connects to the spring plate

AzzA · Post by **AzzA** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:53 pm

Jase wrote:No you need to get the spring plate seated on its perch first

Jack up the the spring plate till its above the perch and then tap it in, where the torsion bar connects to the spring plate

Yeah that's what I meant though. I used a jack to get it above the perch/shelf, but getting the plate engaged on the splines enough so it'd be able to just sit on the perch was what was giving me all the problem. No matter what I did I couldn't get it pushed over. Maybe the jack was holding it out to far or I needed a bigger hammer. Tried different jacks, possibly the sloped ground was pushing the plate outdated just that bit too far.
Thanks though for the help. Cheers

Post by **jnr356** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 10:50 pm

grease the threads on the bolts,get them all started(ie. get them all started don't get one or two started and do them up tight)some vas' on the rubber may help too

dragsters for life · Post by **dragsters for life** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:21 pm

well done on giving it a go mate

i made sure i was on flat concrete just incase when i did my car

give it another crack when your up for it, we know you got it in ya mate

Fonz · Post by **Fonz** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:44 pm

AzzA wrote:What I learnt:

Lowering is piss easy.
Raising the car however gave me a real readache.

The car's trying to tell you something.

AzzA · Post by **AzzA** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:24 pm

Forgot to update the thread as per hertz request.

Mission accomplished
It's kind of bitter sweet but the car has been raised now. I had to use a friends carport as my gravel driveway wasn't helping. The car was also too low to get a proper jack under so we had to use a scissor jack to get things started then move onto the bigger jack. Next time I'd probably just back the car onto some planks of wood to get it off the ground a bit further but I didn't have any handy.
Everything came off easily enough, getting the swing arm section back enough to pull the spring plate away from it was bit of a pain in the ass. With the help of the spare scissor jack and some gentle persuasion I got things done.
I ended up raising the car one outer spline on one side and one inner on the other as it wasn't that even initially. I leveled things a bit, but will need to fine tune in the future to get it all perfect.
When manipulating one side of the swing arm I noticed some oil dripping down which was worrying. But it ended up just being the swing arm rubber boot that had loosened up a bit from the twisting etc. I just tightened it up and all was well again. The oil was actually really clean which was positive I guess also.
Getting the spline cover plate(?) on was a real pain. Luckily we found 4 longer bolts in an old tool box that were exactly the same thread (they were from an old Torana by chance). They were bit of a life saver, without them we wouldn't of got the plates on, nothing else we did with clamps etc lined everything up properly.
Anyway, all done now. Wasn't rocket science but wasn't the simplest thing in the world.

What I learnt from the point of view of someone lowering/raising suspension for the a first time :
- Don't be afraid to hammer and lever things into place a bit.
- Have spare jacks and if possible a spare pair of hands to help shift things around.
- Get longer bolts for the spline cover plate.
- Take your time.

Post by **Phat Bug** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:31 am

Thats awesome

Good to see you got in and got it done

DubbinDan · Post by **DubbinDan** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:34 am

Nice work mate. Yeah longer bolts for the cover plate. I wasted hours trying to get that thing on before giving up and then being let in on the secret

Hope to see you and your ride about soon.

humphrey · Post by **humphrey** » Mon May 09, 2011 8:17 pm

well done,
now get ready to slam it back down just so it drags on everything when you bring it to the Nats ...
....my kids are so used to the razor scraping on stuff that they actually just call out to people that "its ok, it happens all the time "
i'm sure that the noise scares the crap out of most of the mums when it drags across the speed bump outside the school.... i love it,
Nath

AzzA · Post by **AzzA** » Mon May 09, 2011 8:28 pm

Cheers guys

I think to lower it in the future I might just put some bags of cement in the back, it'll be a lot quicker and painless haha