[Burned]

So far here is the list of suspension mods i have done.

Raceland Ultimo Coilovers
New Subframe
New control arm bushings
New Balljoints
New axles
New tierods
EIP Dogbone

First of all, the inside of my tires are getting eaten alive. Almost showing wire on the inside, while the outside is at about 6/32 tread left. I have a lifetime alignment through firestone, but it isnt helping much. From ground to top of fender im sitting at about 2ft, so I am pretty low, but i would assume with a proper alignment i wouldnt be eating tires that bad.

Second, when i swerve right, it feels unresponsive and squishy, swerving left feels somewhat better. I'm also busting cv boots on the drivers side like crazy.

Any insight?

 

[_FUBAR_]

You coilovers could be blown. I have seen them blow in 2 weeks. I never had an issue with alignment. I did my own in my driveway using jackstands and string. The cv boots ripping is common. The axles are now at an extreme angle and it wears on them badly.

 

[Pssst...passed you]

What LCA bushings did you use? OEM/RR-TT/or poly? the later two setups are more firm, the OEM base model setups are soft and have gaps that make them feel soft.

 

[Burned]

1J0498010 - Suspension Refresh Kit - Stage 2 - ES#248440 Thats what i used for most of my suspension.

More symptoms.. So i got it put back together today (installed another axle and pulled and cleaned the coilover) and now I'm getting crazy vibrations from that side. I can feel the vibration through the shifter and the wheel feels like it is hopping. Even had the traction control come on.. First thought is I reinstalled the coilover wrong.

I'm not ruling out human error since I'm still relatively new to working on vehicles.

video of how loose it is now.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=664214926971662&set=vb.100001494829077&type=2&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=664215766971578&set=vb.100001494829077&type=2&theater

 

[vwGLI]

that vibrating could be wheel bearings.

idk if that has to do with the wobbling though

 

[_FUBAR_]

Remove the black spring hat. That's not needed. You just use the gold Raceland hat. Should go in order
Strut nut
Strut tower cap
Bearing nut
Oem bushing
Bearing
Gold spring hat

 

[Burned]

Well the hex bolt stripped to take the coilover off, so waiting on an impact now. Pretty sure I reinstalled the coilover wrong. Any other ideas on what could make me eat through tires and have unresponsive steering? Ive went through probably 4 sets of tires in 1.5 years.

 

[Shameless]

tie rods, but they are new.

Pretty much the only other things you have to refresh are your wheel bearings. But you can see if those are bad by jacking up the car one side at a time or both which ever you feel like doing and lightly shaking the tire from top to bottom. if there is a little play in there and the wheels are bolted up snug, it's either your wheel bearing or ball joint, but the ball joint is new. Also you can kind of tell cause a ball joint or a strut bushing you'll feel it when the tire is lifted and dropped more than tilted in and outward (like camber)
If it is too hard to tell, have a buddy watch the ball joint while you do it. If the sucker is letting the knuckle pull upward then its ball joint. If not and the spindle is staying tight while the wheel tilts, bearing.

 

[Burned]

Alright, so got an impact and got the coilover out..Nothing looks installed wrong.

The problem seems to be when it is installed, there is some play in the top even when i have it tightened down to the max. So my wheel is actually hopping off the ground because i have about an 1/2 - 1 inch of vertical give. Last thing i know to do is try to hit it with the impact to suck any slack out, but I have a feeling I'm still going to have the same problem.

Good news is I learned how to use an extractor, tap and die, and soon a heli coil since my sway bar to control arm bolt wont tighten down still.

 

[Burned]

(Video)Here is what it is doing. top seems to be very lose but i can't seem to get the slack out.

Took the hat off.

I got the nut so tight the bolt started digging into it.

 

[Shameless]

LMFAO Sorry but there is supposed to be a "strut tower bushing" right there, oh lord.
Also you're missing the rubber rings on the caps.

How those didn't explode while you were going down the highway and lead to a serious accident is beyond me, lucky for you it didn't happen. I would get that stuff fixed before you drive another inch, that shit is holding up your car from the ground you know.

 

[Burned]

the rubber ring was taken off so i didn't damage it while working.. it is still there. I also have the strut tower bushing, just wanted to show a pic without it on.

 

[Shameless]

Oh jeeze. You scared me there man.
If there is a gap you either need half caps or new bushings. It's a pretty common thing with coil over swaps to have this problem.
You didn't get new bushings for the swap I imagine. If not now is the time to get them along with the bearings. you can get it all in a kit for pretty cheap like 30-40 bucks.

 

[Burned]

Haha, sorry. Wish it was that easy though.

I installed the coilovers about a year ago and i did get new strut bushings when I did it. I just took them off last week to clean them while i was installing a new axle. Now I'm just trying to get the damn thing back together.

 

[Shameless]

when the car is on the ground do the caps push out into the engine bay instead of resting tightly on the strut towers?

 

[Burned]

yeah, there is probably about a 1/4 to 1/2 gap.

 

[Shameless]

Mk4 "Half Caps" - Euro Image Tuning

 

[Burned]

That looks promising, but it still concerns me that it wasnt loose like it is now before I installed the new axle. That's why i think there is some sort of human error that I'm not thinking of.

 

[Shameless]

Unlikely.

Even if the new bushing is a year old or so it could have been distorted enough by now.
I'm sure psst and fubar have some imput on poly strut bushings that would keep this from happening anytime soon as they are much stronger. But I think most if not all of them require the half caps anyway because most are shorter, a shorter bushing = more low.

 

[_FUBAR_]

Those bushings are blown. Buy new ones and you won't have the gap. You don't need half caps with Oem bushings. Just polo 6n bushings or poly bushings require half caps.
New bushings = no gap.

New up top.