Questions: Where can i get the little ruber bushings for the sway bar links? I've already replaced my front strut mounts/bushings, would it be a good idea to replace the rears as well?

Also I might have a friend of mine who works at a machine shop help me make and weld in some "spacers" to sit between the spring the and spring perch to give me another inch or so. However the 90 springs may lift it enough for my likings. I don't want any radical angles on my cv joints and i'm not sure how much of a lift my boge turbo gas struts will allow...

Anyway I'll post pics and keep yall updated... That is if anyone cares. I realize that this project is probably only exciting to me. lol

I've been searching all over the internet and it's looking like it's gunna get spendy. So far ebays my best bet for everything. However I was hoping to be able to buy everything from one place so I could save a little on shipping...

We can not change the way the wind blows, however we can adjust our sails.

The strut bump stops:

Do I need these dust covers?

And about these guys? Need um?

They are made by KYB and seem pretty well made - and include a bump stop so you only have one item instead of two... Plus I would think they keep the gunk out better than just a dust cap, which would be beneficial to you as you are going for a more off-road setup...

-edit inserted image...

Modified by Audi_VW_Porsche at 3:02 PM 8-17-2005

Diamond in the back, sunroof tooped,
digging the 726, with a gangsta lean <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/biggrin.gif" BORDER="0">

-edit:

Ok, well I ended up boring the hole out a little larger with a 13/16 (20mm) wood bore drill bit... It is still smaller than the shaft of the strut so there are no worries there, so it still required some finesse to get on but finally both are on tight...

Modified by Audi_VW_Porsche at 7:48 PM 8-17-2005

I used lots of liquid silicone lubricant, a large rubber hammer and plenty of foul language

Diamond in the back, sunroof tooped,
digging the 726, with a gangsta lean <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/biggrin.gif" BORDER="0">

How much lift are you planning on?

I'm starting the tear down today and we'll see how everything goes. I'll take a before and after picture too. I'm also going gungho on some of the motor too. Gunna take the intake off and paint it, take the exhaust off and paint it, replace two broken exhaust studs and cleanup all my intake hoses etc. Trying to get that idle nice and smooth.

Modified by nickross at 3:24 PM 8-27-2005

Quick question. I sat my stock 4000 q springs next to my newly aquired Audi 90 20v springs and they were exactly the same size... did I get hornswaggled by the guy selling them to me or are they just stiffer or what?....

Quick Question #2: I bought new control arm bushings and now have the fun task of getting the old ones out.... any tip or tricks? Beating them senseless with a hammer hasn't worked so far.

Modified by nickross at 1:43 PM 8-31-2005

Diamond in the back, sunroof tooped,
digging the 726, with a gangsta lean <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/biggrin.gif" BORDER="0">

This is the slotted nut I'm talking about.

I'll be posting some pictures of my painfully slow progress on the suspension lift. My only worry is that the lift won't be high enough. But if it isn't I can always get some spacers machined to fit between the spring and the perch... if the struts will allow for any higher of a lift...

Update: I just figured out a way to get my old control arm bushings out, however it's really slow and really frustrating. So far I've drilled a whole mess of holes through the rubber, then took a jig saw and cut out the middle part. Then took a hack saw and sawed a groove in the outer metal casing and then folded it in on itself. Keep in mind that I'm an 18 year old college student and I don't own many tools or have any funds . Paying $70 to my local suspension garages to press them out wasn't in the cards for me.

Here is the link to the page http://amkg.homeip.net/astory/old1/etreshunter.htm

Modified by Sallad at 3:00 PM 9/7/2005

Quote, originally posted by nickross »

Update: I just figured out a way to get my old control arm bushings out, however it's really slow and really frustrating. So far I've drilled a whole mess of holes through the rubber, then took a jig saw and cut out the middle part. Then took a hack saw and sawed a groove in the outer metal casing and then folded it in on itself. Keep in mind that I'm an 18 year old college student and I don't own many tools or have any funds . Paying $70 to my local suspension garages to press them out wasn't in the cards for me.

If you can get ahold of a bhutane torch, you can do this a lot easier by toasting the old bushings really good. Burn them so hard the rubber melts and the control arm and outer shell of the bushing is glowing red, then you can easily tap out the outer shell with a hammer. Less work and works faster.

Diamond in the back, sunroof tooped,
digging the 726, with a gangsta lean <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/biggrin.gif" BORDER="0">

UPDATE: I have the front completely done. New Boge turbo struts and springs are gunna do wonders! . New control arm bushings, new front tie rod ends, everythings painted and all cleaned up. It's looking great. I just got the right rear dismantled after A LONG frustrating procedure. I couldn't get the driveshaft to come through. I suppose years and years of torque the splines just won't let go. So far all three struts were in conditions ranging from sad to just plain pathetic. The right rear was leaking fluid but still had a little bit of dampening. The front left was pretty much useless the fluid was all leaked out and down in the insert shaft (not sure what to call it) and as for the front left.... There was no fluid and the strut was doing ABSOLUTELY NO dampening. I could push it in out with my pinky. There was absolutely no resistance whats so ever.

So to wrap it up... the fronts all done and looks great. The 90 20valve springs give it a nice lift. I suppose I kinda wanted it to be higher... but its much more practical at the height its at now. I'm almost down painting the right rear and have yet to dismantle the left rear. And to my surprise/frustration the nut on the end of the right rear drive shaft is larger than the other three... and of course I don't have that size socket.... so off the to parts store to buy more stuff!

And in case you're wondering.... Yes I have been working on this project for FAR too long but hey I'm a college student who has a job and likes his video games. lol. So I haven't been putting in too many hours a day on this project but it's slowly coming together. I'll post pictures when it's all done.

OH and one last question to wrap up this ridiculously long and relatively useless post... lol. About how much does it cost to get a car aligned? I haven't the slightest clue.

We can not change the way the wind blows, however we can adjust our sails.

AND ANOTHER DUMB QUESTION lol: I was wondering how to tell if strut mounts are bad? I bought new front struts mounts a while ago because I thought they were bad due to some strange noises but they weren't the culprits. However I haven't replaced the rear ones. I looked at them today and they're in decent condition. All the blue is chipping off but I'm not sure how to tell if they've gone bad... are they a very important part of the suspension? Meaning if they are even coming close to being bad do they need to be replaced asap?

Modified by nickross at 3:26 PM 9-15-2005

The Bentley manual actually says that you are supposed to use locking compound on the splines when assembling, that is probably why the drive shaft was so hard to remove. I didnt use any loctite on my rear axles though, and I havent experienced any problems from not doing so, so I dont know the reason for this.

Diamond in the back, sunroof tooped,
digging the 726, with a gangsta lean <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/biggrin.gif" BORDER="0">