Weitec front suspension in - uneven sides

[Dyldo]

OK, as some of you might have been following (laughing?) I have finally finished the install of the Weitec suspension (https://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/wei...99-p-1532.html) at the front as well as the full stage 2 bushing refresh. The car is lowered to the ground on the wheels slowly, and no bang or crash so things look ok.
Until i stand up.... and see that the pass side is riding like a 4wd tractor and the driver side appears pretty good.
Is there a driver side-specific strut i should have paid more attention to?
Now that the car is down and on its own weight, the strut tops aren't even sitting up, they appear instantly collapsed.
Or is the difference in what i did with the spring caps when i was putting them on? As in, as i was compressing the springs to reveal the strut's thread for the strut top mount rubbers, bearings, cap, etc did i compress one too far to put the cap on?
Put it this way, taking the plastic cap hat off in the engine bay, the amount of thread visible is the same on both side.
The difference in height would be approx 1.5" best guess.
Someone, please help

Pass side:-


Driver side:-

[mikinoz]

Is the spring seated correctly in the bottom/top?

[dainese]

shock is mounted all the way down in the hub?

i can't imagine or am aware of any specific sides to shocks

[Dyldo]

Is the spring seated correctly in the bottom/top?

See, top is the one I am worried about. Bear in mind I haven't driven her yet so they're not all settled in, but surely the inch and half won't settle.
I'm on fairly level ground too, so thats not the issue.

I might not have tightened this puppy down (taken from a 2.0L shot but similar idea with the nut and the cap.


What bothers me is that there is no gap at the top of the strut tower in the cabin, and so i don't have a gap at all....

shock is mounted all the way down in the hub?

Definite on the driver's side (the side which looks ok). can't be 100% sure on the driver's side. I guess its only a few bolts to check, though spreading the spindle (even with the tool) is a tough job.

Am really toying with dropping a few hundred bucks and getting the wheel alignment shop to fit the rears (didn't get time) and check the fronts plus do the F&R alignment. I just wanted to do all the work myself but i think i am out of patience...

[Jmac]

Mate before trying to diagnose anything , the whole thing will be upset, take it round the block a couple of times and then have a look.
If the same amount of thread is there then the top mount must be seated ok. There is really no room for error at the hub housing really. did you check the 2 struts were the same??? sorry but not a silly questions these days
Cheers
Jmac

[Dyldo]

If I haven't screwed the spring cap right down to the base of the thread of the strut, will it be off and/or dangerous?

And I would have thought that regardless of the shock seating or the spring position that the new (therefore non-collapsed) strut top mount bushings would therefore produce a gap between the tower and the top hat?

[h100vw]

Bob had all that gear fitted at a shop and it was all good. I am pretty sure you will have something out of place or not quite right.

They aren't handed.

In that 2.0 picture there's a triangle at 11 o'clock. I wonder if that's an alignment mark, that should point forwards.

Those topmounts should sit right up into the chassis are they? Take the top nuts out to check?

Are the spring seated correctly and set to the same height. An inch and a half is quite a lot so the difference should be easy to find.

Gavin

[Jmac]

inch and a half is a lot so should be obvious i agree
jmac

[Dyldo]

yup, as Gavin has said the struts and springs were on a car for ~1,000 kms and were fine.

I will verify the thread length at the top but memory has them the same. I'd say I have either mis-seated the springs (though I was sure to rotate them into their little stopper on the shock housing) or I really haven't tightened the spring cap down enough (but that would alter the amount of thread viewable at the top hat, right?)

The driver's side is high, and its that side i can't be 100% sure the strut is seated in the spindle cup enough so I'd best try that tomorrow.

[Dyldo]

inch and a half is a lot so should be obvious i agree
jmac

but can the strut be an inch and a half out of the spindle cup?

[dainese]

yeah the top nut should be lower than what is shown on the photo. but i still find it complexing that there is such a difference.

maybe take wheels off and take some photos for all of us.

are you saying that your strut caps are now flush with the towers in body?

[Jmac]

but can the strut be an inch and a half out of the spindle cup?

Spring off its seat will make it sit high mate, might have turned when you were tightening stuff up but would be obvious though
cheers
Jmac

[dainese]

How'd you go Dylan?

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Dyldo]

going out now to "right the wrong" - first call will be to remove the top hat nut, raise the car to drop the spindle and strut down, and try and seat the strut. here's hoping it works.

When i do the rears i will chuck in the Blue controller too. Anyone know a good DIY for the rear struts? Have googled some and there is a lot of conflicting info.

[dainese]

if you can do the fronts, you can manage the rears!

the rear shocks are dead easy. 16mm top and 21 mm bottom. the compression of the springs is tricky cause of the **** MkIV design, i have to drop control arms and driveshaft cap, to get the arm lowered enough (maybe not the best way...)

this one is good but:

Noah's MkIV VW H&R Coilover Installation HOWTO