A2 1.4 tdi 75 front suspension knocking

Robin_Cox said:
On my non-OSS, 1.4tdi 75 4 seater, non-sport model I have now got a front suspension (and big brake) setup as follows :

Of brakes and men.

Last MOT it was noted that one of my Bilstein B4 front shocks was showing some minor seepage (it's done 20-odd thousand miles in a couple of years and there are some ropey roads around here so I'm not entirely surprised). They also commented that the front pads (Pagid) fitted at the same time...
a2oc.net a2oc.net

If you've got the narrower sport spring seats cited above that should resolve the slightly higher ride height I noted when I first fitted these (bearing in mind that they were replacing originals that may have been running slightly low at the time being ~130,000 miles old originals).

I have Monroe SP3248 front springs fitted on both of my Tdis - one with OSS and the other without, one with B6 Bilstein shocks (front, B4 rear) and the other Bilstein B4 all round. In both cases the ride is firm (but not harsh), but still with decent ride height for our ropey roads. One of the most important contributions to good quality ride and lack of knocking was assiduously going round and replacing all of the knackered rubber bushes (ARB, drop links), spring seats, bump stops, and top mounts at the front as all 3 of our cars needed the entire lot doing. I have used a lot of Febi Bilstein bits for this (conveniently there are a few sets which comprise things like ARB bushes, drop links, bolts etc., all in one part number easily available from places like AVS on Ebay as cited above by @herx - also sometimes featuring in discount deals if you get the right month in Ebay.

If you need more part numbers I can hunt them out - otherwise have a look at the following link to identify kit part numbers, then hunt for the part number on Amazon / Ebay to get the best price (is my usual approach).

bilstein group partsfinder | Official Catalogue for febi, SWAG & Blue Print Spare Parts

1.4 TDI - 55 kW / 75 hp | Audi - Searching becomes finding! With partsfinder the bilstein group combines the full ranges of the febi, SWAG and Blue Print brands into one unique, highly contemporary system.
partsfinder.bilsteingroup.com partsfinder.bilsteingroup.com

narrow the parts categories down to the "Axle / Wheel suspension" ; "Suspension" ; or "NVH" categories as various bushes and parts come up in all of these and it is worth going through all of them.
Click to expand...
May I ask out of curiosity
Is their a difference in front ride height with your open sky and non open sky with both having been fitted with the same springs?
 
What is the difference between sports and standard ride height rear suspension, in particular the rear springs and the underlay?

Someone once said (perhaps two or three years ago) that the non-B version of the below underlays was about 6mm thinner than the B version. From what he was saying, it sounded like he had both versions in front of him and had taken physical measurements.

The B version is very common as it's also used on the Polo MK4.

The non-B version seems to be quite rare, as no aftermarket ones are shown on autodoc.

However, if the 6mm difference is true, and from the photos 6mm does seem a reasonable estimate, that small difference wouldn't be enough to convert standard ride height rear suspension into sports suspension, all other things being equal.

Another important point is that both 1GL and G08 relate to sports suspension, but 1GL uses the thicker underlay whereas G08 uses the thinner underlay.

Therefore, it appears that rear sports suspension gets its lowered ride height (if sports suspension does actually have lowered ride height) from different rear springs, ie. sports springs, rather than a different underlay.

Both versions of underlays (ie. thick and thin versions) (fits at top of rear spring)
61J0512149Bthicker underlayupper2PR-0YD,0YE,
0YF,0YG,0YH,
0YJ+1GA,1GL,
G03,G22
61J0512149thinner underlayupper2PR-0YK,G0L,
1GA,G07,G08,
G22
Thicker underlay 1J0512149B
1690129087936.png

Thinner underlay 1J0512149 (available from Audi Tradition, and maybe VAG parts departments, but not available aftermarket)
1690128487425.png

1690128930155.png

suspension; shock absorbers Audi A2 (A2) 2003 year Audi EUROPA 511010

suspension<br/>shock absorbers Audi A2 (A2) 2003 year Audi EUROPA 511010 spare parts
audi.7zap.com audi.7zap.com
 
Last edited:
coola2 said:
Hi

Have a knocking noise from the front end and need to gather some parts.

Local garage has suggested that a spring is supposedly broken, and shocks are leaking, so I guess it makes sense to do a front end overhaul. Car is something like 170-180k (can’t remember :))

Where is the best place to grab everything? Is there a shop on ebay that does the whole lot as a package? (shocks, springs, bearings, mounts etc etc)

The car is a 1.4 tdi 75, 4 seat (now only 2!) factory sport model. Usually carries just me, occasionally the odd spare parts for other cars in the back!

I’ll add anymore details when I can think of them.
Click to expand...

As you have a sports model, is the ride height actually lower than standard ride height cars? ie. the gap between the top of the tyres and the bottom of the wheelarches.

If not, then maybe the difference between sports models and standard ride height models, isn't so much ride height but simply that the sports models use "sports" shock absorbers?

The 6Q0411105AD front "sports" springs that you have are actually about 5% softer (11.25mm wire diameter versus 11.50mm wire diameter) than standard ride height 8Z0411105AL front springs on the 1.4 diesel models.

So maybe its the different front "sports" shock absorbers that cause the front end to be lowered...if it is lower than standard ride height.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies everyone

My car is super low, very likely because the suspension is busted in every way possible (likely leakages and a very cracked spring from the sounds of the knocking! Not to mention something like 180?k miles)

I don’t know why it seems so difficult to just get some shocks and springs, fit them, and carry on with life :)

Either I’m being very awkward or the parts catalog from all of these motor parts suppliers is stupid and hard to understand. It’s never been this difficult for any other car I’ve owned!

The car is high mileage and it’s not some incredible example so I don’t care too much to buy the best and spend the most etc! I just don’t want to have knocking and a cracked spring.

I did notice that before the knocking, the suspension always seemed very low and crashy. So low that the underside would catch on regular speed bumps which I don’t remember it doing many months beforehand (since I got it, it was good at the beginning!)
 
coola2 said:
Thanks for the replies everyone

My car is super low, very likely because the suspension is busted in every way possible (likely leakages and a very cracked spring from the sounds of the knocking! Not to mention something like 180?k miles)

I don’t know why it seems so difficult to just get some shocks and springs, fit them, and carry on with life :)

Either I’m being very awkward or the parts catalog from all of these motor parts suppliers is stupid and hard to understand. It’s never been this difficult for any other car I’ve owned!

The car is high mileage and it’s not some incredible example so I don’t care too much to buy the best and spend the most etc! I just don’t want to have knocking and a cracked spring.

I did notice that before the knocking, the suspension always seemed very low and crashy. So low that the underside would catch on regular speed bumps which I don’t remember it doing many months beforehand (since I got it, it was good at the beginning!)
Click to expand...
My black one used to scrape on speed bumps so I fitted standard kyb ones to the front(non open sky, amf TDI75)
Then it looked a bit high at the front and low at the rear so then I fitted standard kyb rear springs and new lower cups to the rear and it still looked a little high at the front.
I then replaced the rear shocks with ones from a 2019 1.2 petrol polo with a newer style bump stop, had to drill the eyelets to 12mm and use the original top mounts and then cable fix in a fashion the bump stop covers but for some reason this increased my rear height by 20mm making the car look pretty good, still 10mm higher at the front than Mr Silver (not sure what he's got fitted but looks relatively newish) but I find Mr Black to be far less crashy yet handle just as well. It's the springs that are supposed to set the ride height and the rear shocks looked the same length as the originals so I am at a complete loss as to why they made the difference but very happy that they did!!
 
Everything sounds so awkward with this cars suspension setup!
I don’t know why I am so bothered about getting it right. Really I just want to be able to use it again and I don’t think I’m going to be sad if there’s a small ride height difference from the front to back or other way round! :)
 
Howey said:
May I ask out of curiosity
Is their a difference in front ride height with your open sky and non open sky with both having been fitted with the same springs?
Click to expand...
It is a little difficult to tell as I have 195/55/16 on the non-OSS car and 205/40/17 on the other. I will try to take a photo depicting what's what once my other half's car is off the drive - there is a bit of an optical illusion with the way the sunlight is falling as the 16" wheels have a larger shoulder to the tyre that is accentuated by the 17" wheels sitting slightly further out (offset).

Here we go - is this any help? Neither car looks like it is up on stilts or scraping the floor either ; the dolphin grey has larger actual wheels in overall diameter but the bigger alloys and offset fill the arches better on the silver. The overall suspension heights (arch gaps) at front / rear are near identical (but this took renovating all the rubber bits at the rear ; when the front suspension only had been done the dolphin grey car was about 15mm lower at the rear than it is now)

1690177427977.png
 
Last edited:
Robin_Cox said:
It is a little difficult to tell as I have 195/55/16 on the non-OSS car and 205/40/17 on the other. I will try to take a photo depicting what's what once my other half's car is off the drive - there is a bit of an optical illusion with the way the sunlight is falling as the 16" wheels have a larger shoulder to the tyre that is accentuated by the 17" wheels sitting slightly further out (offset).

Here we go - is this any help? Neither car looks like it is up on stilts or scraping the floor either ; the dolphin grey has larger actual wheels in overall diameter but the bigger alloys and offset fill the arches better on the silver. The overall suspension heights (arch gaps) at front / rear are near identical (but this took renovating all the rubber bits at the rear ; when the front suspension only had been done the dolphin grey car was about 15mm lower at the rear than it is now)

View attachment 110946
Click to expand...
Sweet! yeah they look pretty similar suppose a tape measure would prove if they were any difference caused by the additional weight of the OSS. I measure from the floor to the center of the wheel arch lip.
 
coola2 said:
I don’t know why it seems so difficult to just get some shocks and springs, fit them, and carry on with life
Click to expand...

Here's a simple suggestion, and that's to use standard ride height parts.

The 6Q0411105AD front sports springs that you mentioned, wouldn't actually lower the front ride height at all. That's because they are actually slightly longer than standard ride height 8Z0411105AL front springs.

autodoc is a good website for finding aftermarket parts, but you may prefer to purchase elsewhere especially considering it can take 3 weeks for the parts to arrive and autodoc often send the wrong parts, so sending the goods back to Germany (at your own expense unless you've paid extra for their insurance), and then autodoc resending the correct parts...can take a couple of months before you get the right parts. So if time is important, you might want to look elsewhere.

Monday is usually the biggest discount day on autodoc, where the discount can be up to 36% off.

Audi Parts Catalogue shown below to help you look up OEM part numbers for complementary parts.

Audi parts catalogue (front suspension)

Audi parts catalogue (rear suspension)

Springs and Shock Absorbers shown below for Audi A2 1.4TDI without OSS.

Bilstein B4 22-105813 front shock absorbers (sold to replace 8Z0413031AB and 8Z0413031AD) £44.99 each

Bilstein B4 19-106120 rear shock absorbers (sold to replace 8Z0513025E and 8Z0513025J) £48.44 each

Sachs 997 854 front springs (matches 8Z0411105AL) £29.05 each
www.autodoc.co.uk

Coil Spring SACHS 997 854 — Buy now!

Buy SACHS 997854 Coil Spring Length: 338mm, Ø: 137mm, Ø: 11,5mm at low cost ❗ RRP: £ 46,55 — Our price: £ 39,57 — you save 26% ❗ Buy now ❗
www.autodoc.co.uk www.autodoc.co.uk

Sachs 996 648 rear springs (matches 8Z0511115AS) £23.53 each
www.autodoc.co.uk

Coil Spring SACHS 996 648 — Buy now!

Buy SACHS 996648 Coil Spring Length: 338mm, Ø: 107mm, Ø: 9,75mm at low cost ❗ RRP: £ 37,54 — Our price: £ 31,91 — you save 26% ❗ Buy now ❗
www.autodoc.co.uk www.autodoc.co.uk

Complementary parts for front shock absorbers.

8Z0412331 top mount for front shock absorbers with 6N0412249C bearing £19.05 each
6N0412303A buffer for front shock absorber (this is a Polo MK4 OEM part number, because the Audi A2 OEM part number 8Z0412301 isn't available aftermarket) £3.03 each
6N0413175A bellows for front shock absorber £3.88 each

Complementary parts for rear shock absorbers.

6Q0512131B buffer for rear shock absorber £6.41 each
1J0513425A dust cover for rear shock absorber £2.83 each
1J0512149B upper underlay for rear spring £3.70 each
8Z0511149A lower underlay for rear spring £5.45 each

Total price for complete set of springs, shock absorbers, and complementary parts is £380.72+shipping.
 
Last edited:
I have purchased the following at the moment:

front top mounts, febi bilstein.
£28.42 the pair, delivered
Including 20% off on the link

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314612789875

front Kilen springs, pair, £40.75 delivered

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354118659835

Got my eye on a pair of new decent shocks, I will update the thread when I buy them!

feeling cheap so trying to pick up what I can without breaking the bank (and my car is 180?k miles anyway!) no big deal.
 
carlston said:
Febi 15870 top mounts don't include the bearings as you can see in this link

Febi 15870 top mount (without bearing)

It's usually cheaper to buy the top mounts with the bearings.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that
I see my oversight and mistake there!
Appreciate you pointing it out

I’ll see if I can cancel the order before it gets posted, not holding my breath…! If not, the seller will prob also sell the bearing.

Are they easy to fit, if bought separately ?
 
Seller has already posted the others without the bearing, so gotta wait till they arrive and then return them. I’ll read better next time!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top