I've had a search but failed to find anything, although I'm sure this must have been asked before. At the weekend, I had a go fitting a Koni adjustable suspension kit. The rear shocks and springs went on just fine once i had worked out how to adjust the stiffness of the damper.

Then it came to the fronts. Wheel off, bottom of the shock unclamped etc etc, kept pulling the hub downward so the bottom of the shock would slide out of the clamp so it could be unbolted from the top and removed. Turns out, the driveshaft won't allow the hub to come down sufficently to remove the shock tower.

Is there an easier way to do this? Am I missing something obvious?

I'm hoping you don't have to take the whole hub off so as to free it from the driveshaft just to change the front suspension. For starters, I don't have a socket big enough for the hub nut. It must be like 32mm! If so, do you have to leave the brakes on and have someone holding them down to stop the hub turning with the nut? Or can you access the nut through the center of the wheel with it on the floor?

So as it stands, the rear is lowered by what looks like alot, and the front is left pointing skyward. I'm refraining from driving at night even though I have xenons.

Yes I know it's filthy too! But it should look ok once the fronts are done too. Opinions?

I must admit it was lower than I'd anticipated. Can anyone see any potential problems with clearance? I might wind the fronts up a bit if they sit as low as the back ones do!

Here's a few pics of the kit I got. It's been sat in a garage for a year or so hence the light oxidization, it's been cleaned up before it went on.

Anyone know what set this is? I was given it for free from my father which he in turn bought off of a dealer car, which was a 1.8 SLX hatch. Luckily they have seen very few miles as the car spent most of the time sat in the showroom and then in the yard.

Thanks

Try unbolting the subframe but try not to take the bolts all the way out, should give you another inch or so...

Phil

Have you unbolted the drop link bars that are attached from the anti roll bar to the wishbones. If you have not then you would not get clearance to lever the wishone/Hub asm down to remove the strut. Also you may still find you need coil spring compressors to wind in the springs enough to allow removal of the struts. Also you will need to lever apart the hub where the bolt goes through the strut to allow the hub to slide off. It is on very tight, a large screwdriver or special tool you get from VW does this. Without doing this the hub will still pinch the strut and pull the strut down with it .

Might try dropping the subframe. Not sure unbolting the drop link would help as the driveshaft would still bottom out wouldn't it? Apparently the offside one (the one I attempted first) is harder to do as the driveshaft is shorter and doesn't allow the hub to drop to the extent of the nearside hub when the shocks are detatched. Spreading the clamp wasn't too difficult with the aid of well placed crowbar and a gentle wiggling action coupled with copious amounts of spray grease. As I say, it dropped a bit, but got to a point where I couldn't get it come out any further, cue driveshaft bottoming out.

The only other solution in my mind was to compress the springs on the car to draw the shock out of the hub. But with no spring compressors to hand and they day drawing to an end, that idea was of no use!

Edit: I see it as good luck that I tried the offside one first. Imagine if I had done the nearside one only! It'd have been all over the place! :eek:

The nearside strut should just pop out easily. The offside strut needs to be compressed to get it out, as there's less room for driveshaft articulation.

Get yourself the hub spreader tool and some spring compressors. Like Bowders said, make sure you've released the drop links from the wishbones also.

Don't worry, you don't need to remove the hub or anything else major. Since you have an L&K, with a higher standard ride height to the RS, you might need to compress the springs a bit more than others have had to, as the struts will be taller.

Might try dropping the subframe. Not sure unbolting the drop link would help as the driveshaft would still bottom out wouldn't it? Apparently the offside one (the one I attempted first) is harder to do as the driveshaft is shorter and doesn't allow the hub to drop to the extent of the nearside hub when the shocks are detatched. Spreading the clamp wasn't too difficult with the aid of well placed crowbar and a gentle wiggling action coupled with copious amounts of spray grease. As I say, it dropped a bit, but got to a point where I couldn't get it come out any further, cue driveshaft bottoming out.

The only other solution in my mind was to compress the springs on the car to draw the shock out of the hub. But with no spring compressors to hand and they day drawing to an end, that idea was of no use!

Edit: I see it as good luck that I tried the offside one first. Imagine if I had done the nearside one only! It'd have been all over the place! :eek:

I wouldn't touch the subframe if I were you, you're just giving yourself more work. Get something like this: Sealey Online (MAP UK) - [AK3841] Sealey Coil Spring Compressor 2pc - Sealey Tools UK|Compressors|Mig Welder|Equipment|Parts|Automotive|hydraulic|ratchet|jacks|sealeyonline.co.uk

Takes 2mins to compress the springs. You'll need them anyway to strip down the old struts.

I wouldn't touch the subframe if I were you, you're just giving yourself more work. Get something like this: Sealey Online (MAP UK) - [AK3841] Sealey Coil Spring Compressor 2pc - Sealey Tools UK|Compressors|Mig Welder|Equipment|Parts|Automotive|hydraulic|ratchet|jacks|sealeyonline.co.uk

Takes 2mins to compress the springs. You'll need them anyway to strip down the old struts.

Agree here. Touching the subframe you will need to replace the bolts as I believe they are stretch bolts.

You have tried the hardest side first, so get that done the other side is a doddle. You do need to compress the spring as it is the best option. Those are the spring compressors I have.

I'll try some spring compressors then, shouldn't take a minute with a windy gun!

Can anyone confirm the model of suspension I have?

mine where a right **** also, just took a little more time, wedged a screwdriver into the bit where it joins at the bottow to open it up, easier with another pair of hands