Clarification of 'Chassis No' for Parts
 

Probably a daft question, but just need confirmation before I spend some money.

Was looking at some suspension parts and it says on them 'Chassis no to 4D-X-005 500'. There are also similar ones that say 'Chassis no from 4D-X-005 500'.

Does this come from the VIN number of the car, with it being the relevant last six digits, or what? My VIN is WAUZZZ4D92N002072.

I've had similar issues when ordering bits for the rebuild.
Always just worked on the last 4 digits - never had a problem

My understanding is that X is important as well as it is model year where X stand for 1999.

For example my VIN is WAUZZZ 4D Z W N 002603 with relevant bits in bold. So I am looking at W first, as it is before X in alphabet I know it falls in up to X-005550 category, if I had Y, 1 or 2 I would know it falls in after category, I would only look at numbers if it had X as the letter. You can ignore the N in the middle as it is the factory where it was made, N is for Neckarsulm, Germany. The W in mine shows that it is 1998 model although it was actually manufactured late in 1997.

Cheers fellas.

It appears mine then fails in both scenarios :-(

I'm quite surprised by how much the front suspension changed. The kit I need is apparently this one and the one I was eying up is this one

I was thinking that if I changed the whole lot it would be okay, but from the pictures alone, there are significant changes to the design. Maybe I should take a wheel off and see exactly what type I've got, just to be sure, to be sure.

Yours is the 'Chassis no from 4D-X-005 500' set because your is model year 2: WAUZZZ4D92N002072. The actual number becomes irrelevant at that point.

The only difference between those two kits is the size of the tapered pin on the lower front arm (check the 'Details' tab). They have photographed some of the arms as a mirror image in the two different kits which makes them look different when they aren't.

The steel uprights (PF, and FL with 20s) have the large pin (Meyle kit 116 050 0030/HD with lower arm 116 050 8228/HD) and the alloy uprights (FL) have the small pin (Meyle kit 116 050 0041/HD with lower arm 116 050 0031/HD). A 2001 will have alloy uprights so you need the latter +++

Cheers MJ.

That's cleared that confusion up for me. :Confused:

Now I must go and lie down as my bank account has just suffered an abnormal liberation of funds. :eek:

But just be aware that my 2002 car (currently fitted with 18" wheels) was actually specced for 20" at the factory and hence had steel uprights requiring the bigger tapered fitting. I ended up ordering the wrong ones to start with....... See the thread here: (page 4 is the key section). +++

Cheers David. I remember reading that thread. Was out earlier checking mine against the photos and still couldn't be 100% certain, but mine was a poverty spec car (bar the heated screen) and definitely has the aluminium uprights.

Think I've just been lucky and the right parts have turned up!

Now that I have my shiny new suspension kit, I've just printed off the instructions on Audipages on the procedure for changing them, and it raises another question.

Whilst I'm getting this done, should I also replace the front shock absorbers and springs at the same time? I replaced the front brake pads yesterday and had a good nosey at the suspension bushes, and am amazed by how quickly they deteriorated from the last MOT, as every single one of them on both sides are knackered. I've had a look at the shocks and there is no sign of weepage, but how can you check these to see if they're past it?

I suppose if I replace the front shocks and springs, then would it also be advisable to replace the rear ones as well?

How is the ride? I'd change dampers on feel rather than mileage or age. If the ride and body control are still good and it doesn't feel bouncy or unsettled over rough stuff and there are no visible leaks then leave them alone. The fronts from mine were still in very good condition at 110K when I replaced them with Bilsteins.

I'd only change springs if they're broken, and then do axle pairs as necessary unless lowering something on purpose.

The ride to me feels fine, but then I'm not throwing it round corners all the time or pushing it. It was just with having to replace the rest of the front suspension, I was wondering if the sensible thing would be to replace the shocks and springs while I'm at it.

I live down quite a long lane which is riddled with potholes, so it's a bit of a slalom course, and the car takes it in its stride, even on bits I do 30mph on. The car has roughly 88,500 miles on it.

I'd leave them alone then. They're easy to change independently of the suspension arms if you do need to do it in the future.

Cheers MJ. +++

Will get the car up to a proper mechanic (not me and my bricklayer brother) to do the suspension kit, and I'll still have a month before the MOT to see how it feels and drives... and for the piggy bank time to recover :D

Just following up on this thread. I did post in another thread (Front arms saga) on 11th April, so have reproduced it below:

Turns out fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed weren't enough. Despite A8parts shipping the part first thing on the 12th, it never reached Coventry on time to be shipped across. ParcelForce then didn't do any deliveries from Thursday to Monday, so mechanic never got hub assembly until Tuesday morning, somewhat late for the MOT (the previous Thursday). By the time I found out about these delays, I couldn't change the MOT date, so lost the £30.50 :(

Anyway, he finally got the work done and I got the car back last night, and had it up for its MOT this afternoon, which it passed with flying colours. Not even any advisories. +++

So, all in, it cost me £150 for the full Meyle kit, £130 for the hub assembly, £61 in MOT charges and £120 in labour. Can't really complain at that, as the Meyle kit costs around the £450 mark.

And to finish on a high note, a big thumbs up for LPG conversions. When he did the emissions test, it recorded 0.000% Vol for CO (has to be 3.5% or less) and 18ppm for HC (has to be 1200ppm or less) :cool: Driving a V8 and saving the environment at the same time.

. . . And yet still the UK government gives no benefit for the congestion charge in London any more for LPG fuelled cars despite the super low emissions - boo hiss :(

Are the rules different there? It's 0.2% CO and 200ppm HC fast idle and 0.3% CO natural idle here in mainland.

When I first bought mine 9 years ago it had 0.01% CO and 30ppm HC, but using Shell VPower and good maintanence has dropped it to 0.00%CO and 8ppm HC last couple of MOT's and that's without LPG.

Knowing this part of the 'United Kingdom', it's bound to be different! The MOTs are done by a government agency, the DVTA. There are only 17 locations in all of Northern Ireland.

As to what they test for, the figures I quoted where what was printed on the MOT sheet. I've just had a look at their website, and strangely enough, it does mention 'guidance figures' of 200ppm at 0.3% fast idle and 0.5% at idle.