coilovers - a little confused

[Ben J]

Ok, so after raising my car 10mm at the front on the weekend to make the parents shut up, i put it back down 10mm on both the right and left sides at the front. Today i noticed the two sides were not even though, with the left side still sitting about ~10mm higher then the right.

so today i tried putting the left down another 10mm, and the car is still sitting the same height... Wound the thing down pretty much to the bottom and yep, still sitting higher then the right which has about 35mm of thread left.

Reached in there with the phone and it looks as though the springs are compressing so im a little confused.

The coilovers are hottuning if that makes a difference.

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks

[Water Boy]

Did u replace your strut tops?

[Ben J]

Nope, im still using the original strut tops and mounts

[dylan8]

when you say they are compressed are you talking about the helper springs or both?
i found my car use to sit different heights left to right even though the coils were at the same height.
How long have you had them in?

[schoona]

I woulda said strut tops like James. Look in my build thread and compare my photos with your car. Sounds like the same problem.
Tim at dubaddiction should have them, Camden GTI does (I think), ECS, GAP.

[Ben J]

i mean the helper yea, not too sure about the big one. Coilovers have only been in for a week and a half.

Just seems strange that when i put it down almost 3cm it doesnt affect the height. I dont really know a whole lot about how the whole suspension/steering/all that set up works, so dont know if it could be another component or something

[schoona]

May as well take a few photos, inside the wheel arch and an underbonnet pic then

[dylan8]

helpers should be fully compressed as far as im aware so your ok there.
are you jacking the car up and then winding it down? they do take some time to settle.
have you taken it for much of a drive since changing the heights?

[Ben J]

Cheers for the quick replys guys,

Pics of the strut tops:
Side with problem:


other side:


both look pretty much the same too me. If they are shagged then i guess ill have to replace them pretty quickly. Getting wheel alignment on tuesday.

I don't fully understand why having a broken mount would stop it adjusting height though?

[stotto]

That is the exact same thing that happend to my VR, I had hottunning aswell.

Took it down to Matts and was told it was shagged.

[Golf Loon]

Your Strut Tops are rooted young man. THey are old and weak and are now destroyed by hard suspension.

You should always put new ones as part of the install.I think if you get em locally from Slammed Distribution, you can get em as part of the package!

We stock them as do lots of places. Common Part to fail.

When you take the coilovers out, lube em up and check their movement when they are out of the car. I`m sure you will find the strut tops the problem.

The rubber mounts have a rubber sheath with a metal insert to hold the bearing in place. Yours have forced the bearing through and jammed itself. This can impair movement of the strut.

Also worth noting that the measurement of the strut is not always accurate, cars sit unevenly for lots of reasons.

Change em and let us know how you get on.

Also I wouldnt get a wheel alignment like that, it wont work.

[Ben J]

Thanks matt. I have to admit i dogged slammed distribution and got them from belgium directly for like $200 less :S But yes that didnt include the mounts. The old ones looked fine when i tooked them out but it makes sence that the coilovers brought them too there end.

Looks like dubaddicition is out of the front mounts :/ I think read somewhere else the ones from you are more like $100?

[Jarred]

strut tops aren't cheap, but a nessecary item to replace, especially as our cars get on a bit.

Matt is 100% right, uprated suspension has caused what little life they had left to disappear!

also when checking heights, there are lots of factors. Are the tyre pressures the same? Were you on level ground? etc. they might seem like simple things, but it all comes into effect!

[Ben J]

Yea tyres are same and was on level ground, the camber had become quite negative on that wheel again, mustnt have tightened it up. The spring was touching the tyre, so anyway fixed that up and its still sitting the same height.

Anyway, it gave me a good excuse to buy a few things from gap. Have a set of new mounts on there way, along with a few other little things now

[rayray086]

Damn was too slow. I was looking to offload a set of heavy duty front strut mounts...