Suspension woes - advice needed please!

SilverFiRe

Active Member
Jul 5, 2011
65
0
East Midlands
Hey all,

I've had VMaxx coilovers on my 1M Leon FR now since January and although I love the look since the kit has been on I'm regretting having it fitted now. Its a little noisy/clunky under load whilst riding bumps in the road and its just impractical. The quality of the roads is so poor and there's speed bumps everywhere, i spend half my time concentrating on avoiding potholes, etc which is taking the fun out of driving.

"Raise it!" I hear you say; well I've tried but being new to the whole coilover thing I didn't grease the threads from the get-go and the adjusters have now seized on the threads. I've tried everything to get them moving (including Plusgas) but they won't budge. Instead the offside adjustment ring is all chewed up from where I've tried to budge it :cry:

Its all contributed to me becoming fed up with it now and I want to get back to a hassle free standard setup. It means forking out more money to undo what I've done but I feel like its a small price to pay.

I'm looking for advice on the cheapest options out there. eurocarparts look fairly cheap for a Sachs setup but does anyone know any even better options out there? I've always known where to look for aftermarket parts, but not so much standard parts!

Thanks in advance for any responses!
 
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Mr OCD

Active Member
May 1, 2008
1,974
4
Manchester, UK
Why not just install a vogtland sports suspension kit?

Small drop, progressive springs for comfort and mildly uprated damping... Cheaper than stock stuff too. That's the route I've taken after much research.
 

SilverFiRe

Active Member
Jul 5, 2011
65
0
East Midlands
I'm not really too fussed about maintaining the lower look, I just want the practicality back and a bit more comfort, with no clunkyness.

I'd read some good reviews on the quality of the vmaxx for the price but I've not been that impressed with it to be honest. Does anyone else have experience of the Vogtland kit? I don't want to spend less than a standard setup if its just going to disappoint (no offense Mr OCD).

Damian, what would you suggest as an improvement over standard without comprimising quality/ground clearance?

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SilverFiRe

Active Member
Jul 5, 2011
65
0
East Midlands
Well a standard setup would cost me around £450 so nothing more than that really.

I need to keep costs to a minimum as I'm buying a house at the moment and obviously I've already spent on the current setup!

My girlfriend is going to be sharing use of my car now so it has to be something that she'd be happy driving with too. She hates the fact we can't go certain places because they're inaccessible with my car lol.

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Mr OCD

Active Member
May 1, 2008
1,974
4
Manchester, UK
I'm not really too fussed about maintaining the lower look, I just want the practicality back and a bit more comfort, with no clunkyness.

I'd read some good reviews on the quality of the vmaxx for the price but I've not been that impressed with it to be honest. Does anyone else have experience of the Vogtland kit? I don't want to spend less than a standard setup if its just going to disappoint (no offense Mr OCD).

Damian, what would you suggest as an improvement over standard without comprimising quality/ground clearance?

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Mate I'm OCD for a reason... I did a HUGE amount of research on this as I didnt want the issues you describe. The Vogtland kit is german TUV approved and VERY highly rated in the states. Just not very well known over here.

If you give me a couple of days I can take some pictures and tell you how it rides compared to the stock suspension. Should be fully fitted this eve / tomorrow.
 

SilverFiRe

Active Member
Jul 5, 2011
65
0
East Midlands
That'd be good thanks dude. Sorry but I'm becoming overly OCD with making sure I get it right this time, can't afford to replace it again after this!

Good luck with the fitting, I'll keep an eye out for your pics once fitted :)

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ozzymyster

Active Member
Jun 27, 2010
234
0
I'll keep an eye on this thread...got find mr OCD


Bought cheap coilovers before for golf Gti...looked brill but even motorway driving was too bouncy...they also make s@it of every mount and bushing in the car...

Lesson learnt buying poor quality suspension there...these sound promising though
 

Dan1720v

Active Member
Feb 28, 2010
1,928
2
Street, Somerset
How have you tried freeing it off?

This worked most recently on my ex's very siezed Bilsteins

wire brush heavily around the adjuster
Leave whole threaded unit submerged in a parts cleaner all night (or, leave soaking in diesel/degreaser mix)
clamp unit in a vice
Set of stilsons with a scaffold tube and twist.

I've used this method 4/5 times now and havent failed yet.
 

SilverFiRe

Active Member
Jul 5, 2011
65
0
East Midlands
I haven't tried freeing it off the car but I can't afford to have my car in bits as its the only transport my girlfriend and I have.

Plus the fact I'm not particularly happy with the performance of the unit after just under 6 months so it needs to be changed, or else its going to drive me crazy!

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Coilovers are supposed to be firm that's the whole point, a sport kit like a KW or Weitec 50/40 kit would be an ideal solution for you, the best solution to get the threads moving would be to get the units out and stand them in some diesel over night covering the threads but this won't help if the threads are severely corroded.

I make these to stop this exact problem.

b0e15d96.jpg
 

SilverFiRe

Active Member
Jul 5, 2011
65
0
East Midlands
Well I've seen your pics Mr OCD and it looks sweet but its still too low for me I think. I've been looking on the dpm website and I think its either got to be the Bilstein B4 or B6 setup, although I think I'll need springs separately.

Thanks all for your advice.

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Mr OCD

Active Member
May 1, 2008
1,974
4
Manchester, UK
Well I've seen your pics Mr OCD and it looks sweet but its still too low for me I think. I've been looking on the dpm website and I think its either got to be the Bilstein B4 or B6 setup, although I think I'll need springs separately.

Thanks all for your advice.

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk 2

It looks low I agree but I've been over bad speed bumps / pot holes / bad roads in the last day and the car had no issues at all ... its about 10mm lower than a Cupra R. So not a huge amount in it ...

:)
 
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