Any DIY's for GL to VR6 running gear?

[Flat-Mango]

At the moment I'm using this as it's specific to mk3 diesels.
4 lug to 5 lug hub conversion on VW
My brother and I can write one up if I go through with this, just wanting to see how others have done it before me.
Just confirming too whether the VR6's wheelbase is wider than the GL models.

[Jarred]

Yes. The VR is widetrack, and the GL/CL's are narrow or standard track.

That link you posted seemed to be a bit overkill on the parts list.

At the rear, just swap to VR discs (use same calipers)
At the front there are two options:
a) Buy a 5 lug hub from ECS, and swap it for the 4lug hub, retain 256mm disc, pad etc & standard width suspension (also need to multidrill the disc for 5 hole)
b) Convert to widetrack. Driveshafts, tierods, hubs, calipers/discs (280/288 ) ball joints and control arms are what you'll need.

I personally, don't see the benefit of the 'widetrack' suspension, especially when we (generally) lower the cars & alter wheel widths and offsets, which will affect all the suspension geometry anyway. I don't think I've ever pushed a GL and VR hard enough or with enough focus to try and determine a difference between standard and widetrack.

For reference, I have a 97 TDI GL (Aus delivered) which is now running 5x100, thanks to new 5-lug hubs, from ECS.

Just have to wonder what the goal/benefit of doing this swap is, is it to have 5x100, or the widetrack?

[Ben J]

I haven't seen a DIY, its not to complicated though. Just basically take everything in the front suspension from a vr6 and swap it into the 4 cylinder (or diesel, pretty sure they all run the same suspension). The backs even easier if you already have disc brakes, where if thats the case all you need to do is swap on vr6 discs (the calipers and everything are identical). If you have drums on the back like the CL's had then its a bit more of an involved swap, and you may aswell swap in a full vr6 rear beam in that case. The vr6 rear beam is a little wider than the non vr6 ones so if you want it to be exactly like a vr6 you need to to swap that beam as well, but I just put the vr6 brakes on the 4 cylinder beams, which will give me a little more room to go wider when I finally get my wheels done

I swapped my entire front stuff starting at about 8 at night, and drove the car to work the next morning (albeit with only a couple hours of sleep) but would recommend setting aside a bit mroe time than that.

[Flat-Mango]

Thanks guys, I think my main aim is the brakes, my '95 model had drums on the rear, so a VR rear beam may be the way to go as Ben suggested.
But also i wouldn't mind a wider track, though from googling, theres only centimetres in it as well as what you stated Jarred.
5x100 is just a bonus. There's plenty of 15s and 16s 5x100 that float around et35 so i'll be right

I swapped my entire front stuff starting at about 8 at night, and drove the car to work the next morning (albeit with only a couple hours of sleep) but would recommend setting aside a bit mroe time than that.

Fair effort! The woes of driving your love daily

[Water Boy]

The VR6 rear beam is only a bee's boner wider than the 4 cyclinder beam.

The front those is wider. (VR6 wheels is et53 and 4 cyclinder is 45) Have the different offsets keeps them very similar though.

[Ben J]

Thanks guys, I think my main aim is the brakes, my '95 model had drums on the rear, so a VR rear beam may be the way to go as Ben suggested.
But also i wouldn't mind a wider track, though from googling, theres only centimetres in it as well as what you stated Jarred.
5x100 is just a bonus. There's plenty of 15s and 16s 5x100 that float around et35 so i'll be right


Fair effort! The woes of driving your love daily

You can swap the rear brakes onto the rear beam you already have like I did, but you'll need everything else attached to the vr6 rear beam including the hard and soft brake lines, hand brake cables, and should probably get the hard brake line clips and such too, so is probably more effort to swap it all over than it would be to just swap in the entire beam. I only didnt becuase the vr6 I pulled it off had been in a rear aend crash and didn't want to risk putting it in if it was bent or something, and I wanted the extra room to go wider. It is only a few mm different anyway.

But yeah, didn't want to do it all in the one night but my parts didnt arive until that day, and I had a wheel alignment booked the next day and was moving to a different city the day after, so had to get it done! haha. By the end of it I was so wrecked though I made a retardedly stupid mistake and put a brake pad in backwards and screwed up a new rotor and brake pad