hello, here's my suspension set-up for my 89 small bumper valver: koni adjustable damping shocks eibach 16v lowering springs (30mm / 35mm ish drop) G60 top mounts at the front orig mounts at the back here's my puzzle: i measured the drop on my car as the supposed ride height from center of wheel to inner wheel arch should be 330mm as standard, mine however sits as follows (with no fat boys in and about 2/3 full tank of petrol: front - driver side: 330mm, front passenger side - 315mm, rear driver side - 290mm, rear passenger side - 300mm what the b'jesus is going on there? i felt like a bit of a tweaker staning out there in the road with a measuring tape!!! any thoughts or ideas (like "your car is bent, mate!!!") are welcome, thanks!!!
Dont worry this problem appears to affect many Golfs equipped with lowered and uprated kits. My 16 valve with Spax kit is the same about 10mm highe on the passenger side, I also thought it was perhaps due to a bent chassis or incorrect fitting after much investigating, refitting and great expense I found that it is quite common I think it has something to do with the engine being mounted toward the drivers side, unfortunately the only real cure I believe is to fit coilovers. Hope this helps and puts your mind at rest. Pete
cheers peter, yor answer makes sense, one thing thats xtra strange about mi ride height is that i think it got abit higher once the G60 top mounts and koni shox went on, b4 that the eibachs were on original dampers... i can't afford a set of coilovers though i would like some one day... southy-gti, i don't think so...!!! good answer though!!!
Have a look at the tyre tread depthe each side. Also were are you measuring from to the center of the wheel? Some pattern bodyparts and just some repairs sometimes make the wings/arches a poor reference for measuring ride height.
cheers golden, yep, i was measuring from the center of the wheel, i'm with you on the body parts being not too good a reference point to measure from, but the gap between the top of the wheel (15" BBS 195/50/r15 tyres) is bigger at the front than it is at the back, the car looks like its sitting lower at the back end. well, i suppose if i want it to sit lower and look even i'll maybe have to save for coilovers.... ta!
You could try lowering caps (Bonrath or Jom) which will drop the front around 10 15mm further however in my experience the drop is still insufficient to create a good stance. They are only around twenty pounds for the pair so you could try them. When I first fitted my suspension kit experienced the nose in the air problem I tried lowering caps but eventually had to purchase a complete set of four springs just so I could use the two front ones which were shorter. I currently run 30mm springs at the rear and a 40mm plus 10mm lowering caps up front although it sounds like a big difference it isnt massively different however in my opinion it gives a nice squat look to the car. To be honest I would say that coilovers are the only way you can create the desired height and evenness in suspension. Pete Edited by: Peter
cheers pete and keith, it's reassuring to hear other people have had similar 'issues', i don't know anyone with a valver anymore... maybe i'll try the lowering caps as a short term thing and start saving.
