Seat Leon FR MK2 Lowering Issues - Tips/Advice?

[barryl85]

Ok so my buddy has a 59 plate Seat Leon FR Mk2, he buys some lowering springs and as always brings it to me for modification.

Here is the issues I have encountered so far:

Drop links, wow are they made of lead? I had to cut them off with an angle grinder as the allen key hole was so malleable, I see no way of removing these without destroying them as they just turn so easy.

The access for the strut top bolts is rather restricted without removing the wipers and cowling.

Here is the real issue that stopped me in my tracks:

The strut top bolts - why on earth would these not have captive nuts??? WTF was VW thinking of - threads on the bolts are rusted to hell and there's no space for tools underneath - I was going to drop the suspension leaving the strut tops in place but instead i'm going to have to come up with a new plan so these can be easily removed in the future.

IMO what an engineering disaster.



Does anyone have any tips/advice on this?

 

[barryl85]

No one?

 

[shnazzle]

Don't think many of us bother to do it ourselves
So these probs are not ours. But I've certainly never heard of people having to replace drop links when lowering

 

[jreedy]

On my astra gsi that I had when I fitted some coil over's, I also fitted some shorter drop links.

You can buy adjustable drop links if you wanted to..... My mk2 FR's lowered on Eibach sport lines and I just run OEM Drop links.

On my old civic type r when I put a rear JDM anti roll bar on, I had to cut the drop links off and obviously buy new ones to go in place..... Sometimes they can be a pain to remove

Nothing a grinder can't sort out as well as some elbow grease mate

As for the strut tops I agree with you...... Having to remove the scuttle panel and wiper arms to get at them is a stupid idea.

 

[Marshall]

Lowered over a dozen Leon and golf's with the same setup and think bits very easy and a clever setup.
An air gun is a massive help but wouldn't of thought a 59 plate car would be a problem.

 

[Jarre]

Don't think many of us bother to do it ourselves
So these probs are not ours. But I've certainly never heard of people having to replace drop links when lowering

My 1.2tsi had a new drop link when lowering.

My FR had both front drop links changed when lowering

 

[Roganjosh]

coming from having a toolbox kitted out for jap cars when i went to work on the leon i didnt know where to start, looked at the rear shocks and noticed the springs sit seperate, the topmounts are inside the arch rather than the boot and i tried extentions and all sorts to get access to them but nothing with enough leverage in that small space so before i smashed my car to pieces with a ratchet i took it to a garage who used an airgun
enjoy working on cars but this car will be one for the mechanics from the issues iv had so far lol

 

[Marshall]

Just had another read of your first post.
The drop links are terrible to remove without an air gun, best grip the rear of them with a pair of vice grips than try and hold them with the Allen key at the front.
The top strut bolts are manageable just by removing the front seal and lifting up the trim.
The strut bolts should have captive nuts as access to them underneath isn't great.
Is the car that rusty that the captives have broke away? If so that's extremely unlucky or has the car been tinkered with before.
Either way it sounds like a nightmare.

 

[shnazzle]

My 1.2tsi had a new drop link when lowering.

My FR had both front drop links changed when lowering

You had coilies put on the FR though

 

[Jarre]

You had coilies put on the FR though

Aye, but they were changed because they were seized onto the shocks. Still got them actually!

 

[barryl85]

Follow up to my adventures with the car....

It turned out that the only captive nut that had broke free was the first one I had tried to remove and with it being late at night I didn't even try to remove the rest as not only did it break free there was no room left to tighten up. I honestly thought the rest would have been the same - it also seemed like one of the only bolts with rusty threads. So I cut off that bolt and replaced it.

Still the captive nuts are only pressed in and not welded which isn't great especially when dealing with the above situation as they will be easy to break free.

Both droplinks had to be cut off in the end but they are replaced with fresh new ones and have greased the allen key socket and threads so as not to degrade.

The shocks were pretty stuck inside the hub but with some persuasion they came out eventually.

The rear took about 10-15mins per side, just removed the bottom bolt on the shock absorber and persuaded them in and out.




Thanks for all the replies and advice guys! Glad it's sorted as it's looking lovely.

 

[conor13524]

Hi I am looking to lower my 57 plate Leon fr and cant decide between

Apex 130-3210, 35mm all round
Pi springs, 30mm all round
Eibach pro kit, 30mm all round

I have looked at the Eibach sportline but I think the 45-50mm on the front maybe too low, as my town is full of speed humps. If anybody with the sportlines has come up against the dreaded giant speed humps please let me know how it went.

Also would like to know if anybody has put together a DIY manual to fitting them I have heard some horror stories but also heard about it being very easy and somebody doing them with out spring clamps.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Many thanks Conor

 

[Jarre]

Eibach sportlines will be fine with speed bumps, you won't have any issues.

 

[Rob_Talisman]

Fitted my Eibach Sportlines last weekend. I followed this guide. Really useful

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3043148

I was wary of the amount of speed bumps near me too, have aload up my road and though i was going to have to take alternative route to work lol. but after doing it they are not an issue at all, and ive the triple r splitter on the front too.

 

[conor13524]

Thanks for that the exact thing I was looking for and tempted with the sportlines now

And was it all pretty much the same as the golf then?

 

[Rob_Talisman]

same car basically mate yeah.

the top 4 bolts under the trim wear a pain in the arse as i didnt remove the trim i lifted it and used a small socket under neath.

also if you do this and go for sportlines when you put the wheel back on stick a brick under the tyre when your lowering it back down. you will get your jack out easy then.

 

[conor13524]

I'm getting sportlines fitted on Saturday did anybody else need tracking done afterwards as I have have mixed results searching online?

 

[Clazzer]

I was going to get mine done after fitting my Sportlines as I also swapped tyres around at the same time. I gave the tyres a couple of weeks to bed in to their new locations on the car but everything seemed to be fine and even now 3 months on and I check them weekly when I clean the car. See how you go after fitting mate and if the car drives straight and there's no sign of excessive wear or hot spots after journeys then save your brass....for something else instead.

 

[olitaylor07]

I would always get the alignment done after new springs. Mine (mk2 FR) and crafoo's (mk2 Cupra R) both where miles out on the front camber.

I would rather spend £50 on alignment and know it was running straight than wait until it starts to knacker the tyre's and have to get some new tyres and get the alignment done aswell.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nails]

i would leave the car to settle for a few thousand miles before doing alignment