Tdi75 rear springs and shocks - HELP!

No the lower top hat sits in the bottom of the spring and acts as an insulator. KYB springs work fine. Remember the bump stops locate the upper dust cover for the shock so again I would change them also.
Number 3 in this diagram ( looks nothing like this in reality )


View attachment 69590
Many thanks, sorry was having a blonde moment!, i replaced these with the springs as mine had all but worn away!!
 
Thats OK. I have seen cars with nothing there at all. Not even a trace of one.
Really that is their job as the spring tries to screw its way out the "underlay" acts as a sacrificial part to save the metal base from galling.
 
I replaced those when I put in the new springs. As you say there was nothing in the spring seat at all. They were pretty cheap.

My shocks actually look okay. They work when I’m bouncing the car. The bumper stops are wrecked but I’ve got replacements and new covers.

I’ll check them properly when I’m in there but wanted to get the ride height sorted out first.

Have I made a silly faux pas with the Monroe springs I bought?

Alex.


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No Monroe will be OK. A lot of suspension parts come down to personal preference or necessity. What brands suit you others may give you tale of woe. Personally I do not like Bilsteins and I wont explain why. Other thing is you have already bought and paid for the Monroes so silly not to use them.
I also changed all my suspension from sport back to SE out of necessity. Roads here are more like rutted fields to drive on plus the constant cone parking on the "good" roads force drivers onto the back roads.
 
The Monroes pictured above are the ones that are scrubbing out!

I checked and they are almost the longest ones available. And the thickest metal coils!

Why is the rear so low!?!


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They could be sport spec, which are shorter than standard SE ones.
This is my car back on standard SE suspension.
silver wheels2.jpg


and before on sport

1599591952218.jpeg


same size wheels and tyres in both pictures.
 
Is it me or does the A2 sit higher at front, just like mine? I feel around 15mm higher at the rear would give a more level look or am i totally talking cack....
 
No my standard suspension one does sit noticeably higher on the front. The sills look parallel so may be more the design of the front wheel arches compared to the rear ones. My front spoiler now no longer grinds over them and my mudflaps aren't getting shorter!. Comparing the 2 both sit higher on the front or appear to.
 
Thanks fellas.

I’ll try to remember and take a picture tomorrow to show the difference.

It’s about 4fingers at the front and 2 at the back.

There was nothing in the description about sport spec for the springs. I chose the long ones because I was grounding out on bumps. I chose 330mm but 305mm was an option!


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Also note that there are 2 different lengths of bump stop the shorter one for sport and the longer one for standard suspension.
May have the wrong bump stops fitted or just sagged. Cheap to fix.

6Q0 512 131 Bstop bufferH=123MM2PR-1GA,1GF,
1GL,G07,G03,
G08

(4)8Z0 512 131 Cstop bufferH=140MM2PR-G22
 
My bump stops are definitely toast. I’ve got replacements already waiting. Long ones.

I only haven’t swapped them because the ride height seems so wrong and I didn’t want to do the job twice.

Also, the bolts on these shocks - do they need replaced? I’m such a poor mechanic...


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Yes rule of thumb replace with new when removed.
 
The sport ones (identified as sport from the PR- option code) seem to line up as 25mm or thereabouts shorter than the non-sports for otherwise similar cars.

I found your quote that you posted last year about rear springs - would this help at all in the current situation (even on a temporary basis)?

"If you are towing with a heavy rear weight you can get spring assists which are rubber shapes which fit between an unladen spring’s coils and then resist compression when re-loaded. It can give a few extra cm of height and reduces bottoming. It probably hardens the ride somewhat as well."
 
Good evening.

Sorry I disappeared. My phone self-immolated and it required three full factory restores before I could even get it to stay on for more than a minute. My cloud backup is apparently also damaged so it took a while to get a working phone again.

0fd263f503ebffddbbd2a8b0a9fa1590.jpg



Hers is a picture of the car. I should have added something to highlight the gaps from tyres to arch - it’s not very clear.

@robincox thanks for the suggestion but I ordered those coil spacers and the company sent me the wrong size both times so I gave up. I can’t imagine they’d be comfy anyway...

I’m going to try replacing the shocks and see if the gas pressure in a new pair lifts the back at all.

I’ll report back when I’m done but I’m not the quickest at completing tasks...


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Shocks will not and can not lift the body, you will effectively be saying that your hoping to make shocks springs and springs shocks, its the springs that support the body!
You could try unbolting the shocks from the axle but have no idea if that will prove anything
 
I've been resisting commenting because I'm not sure what difference your wheels and tyres will make. Assuming they don't make a difference why not take the car back to standard? Or make both front and rear the same spec?
AutoDoc will identify standard for you if you start an online chat and give them your VIN number. Otherwise they list items that fit A2 but that are not necessarily correct for your A2. Ask them for front and rear specs then compare to what is on the car; or even better ask Audi to do it (there are 21 options).
New dampers are unlikely to make a noticeable difference to ride height unless your gas dampers are shot or you are replacing oil with gas. Could be worth checking what you have got and their condition.
Springs don't sag in my experience, bits do break off though and can be difficult to spot. Worth checking both rear springs.
Spring seats disintegrate giving a lower ride height (well covered).
I'm assuming the problem is at the rear because of the scrubbing but you need to know what you have on the front. SE front ??? rear? Choose the rear to match the front?
Finally you don't have a towbar do you? That really messes up rear spring selection, Audi only dependable source.

I would, determine the correct spec for your car and establish as far as possible what I have on the car. I would check for broken springs, soggy dampers, worn spring seats. I would then order rear springs to match the front (hopefully correct spec) and any worn out rear components.
Edit: also check that the front struts are fully seated in the bearing housing. If not the front ride height can be a little high.
 
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Thanks @philward! A lot of great advice there. I didn’t even think to speak to Autodoc - I’m too used to coming here for help... or guessing.

Ill check the fronts to see if I can work out what is on there. Maybe the garage would have kept a note when they fitted them... I’ll ask.

No tow bar or anything. I was trying to keep the car OEM spec (apart from slightly wider tyres) so haven’t been aiming for lowering or anything. Almost the opposite really!

I can live with the couple of cm difference in ride height but the scrubbing tyres and low rider rear look when moderately loaded (2 adults 2 kids - isn’t THAT heavy) is my real concern.

I’ll check all this out when I get a chance...

Alex.

Ps. Why resist commenting? I ASKED for comments!


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Ps. Why resist commenting? I ASKED for comments!

I only do factory standard, I glaze over when somebody mentions anything that is modified. I did fit some brass rollers to my door check straps; that is about my limit. If I don't think I understand I don't comment.
 
Got you!

I like the standard suspension set up - plenty good enough for the way I drive. I only changed the alloys and tyres but I’d have happily kept all else in the wheel arches OEM spec if I could.

A wrecked ball joint led to two new wishbones and a snapped front spring and weeping shock led to the garage replacing most of the gubbins. I did question the height difference front to back but they said it’d settle down.

When I replaced the rear springs (with what I thought were OEM spec Monroe springs) and new rubbers I thought it was all sorted because there was no more scrubbing on the motorway or local roads but a family trip to the highlands for the weekend showed that there was still an issue.

Hopefully all the advice I’ve had will lead to me finding a solution.


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