Another Rear subframe refurb...

[scottmgibb]

Thanks Ronin, I have the camber bolts already on order (I saw your old post about them) – as you say, they are not very expensive.

And thanks MikkiJayne; with regard to the subframe, are you saying you would probably just keep the bushes as they are and save on the £200 odd for the poly bushes and hassle of removing them? That sounds like a good option to me if so! The existing bushes do not seem particularly bad. For reference, the car has 123K on it…

You note the Bilsteins ride okay on 20s – would they likely be okay on 18s too? I have a set of both, but haven’t really used the 20s yet (they have terrible tyres on them, and I have not got round to replacing them yet; I put good tyres on the 18s after getting them refurbed, and they also feel a bit safer with the potholed roads up here!).

That would just leaves the diff bushes. It looks like I have three options:

1. Get you to do the rear bushes and just keep the existing front bush (do they tend to go?; it has a fair bit of movement when you leaver it with a big screwdriver – I could post a video?)
2. Get you to do the rear bushes and get a poly bush for the front.
3. Get the poly bushes for the front and rear.

What would you be likely to do (not worrying about any cost differences)…?!

It looks like fitting the bushes will be a bit of an experiment then. I have done plenty of that before, so will report back!

Scott

[MikkiJayne]

I've been leaving the upper arm bushes alone. I dislike poly in suspension arms as it sucks at both ride comfort and longevity -I'd rather have used OE in this application than poly, until we can find an alternative source.

My experience of Bilsteins with 18s is that they are are very bouncy - think of an F1 car where the tyre does 90% of the suspension travel. This is, I'm sure, partially down to my Goodyear tyres which have very soft sidewalls, and so 20s make the suspension work better than 18s, but I've had B12 kits on a couple of other cars and they are always very firm. If you're running on 18s tbh I'd stick with the stock suspension. Big Red has 150k on stock suspension and rides and handles great.

Diff bushes you could do with poly as the joints aren't static, rather than rotating. It'll transmit more vibration and noise in to the subframe, which with stock subframe bushes will probably be unnoticeable. With poly subframe bushes though it may increase nvh in the cabin. I'd be inclined to only do one set. Personally I would do the D3 bushes on the diff and poly on the subframe, given the limited available options. The D3 front diff bush should still be available from TPS - I don't think it is expensive. I can check today.

WD40 is the secret sauce for getting all these bushes to go in by the way. It stops them galling up on the aluminium castings.

[Ronin]

With the subframe out it's also a good idea to do the fuel tank straps

[scottmgibb]

Mikki - That is very helpful information about the Bilsteins / 18s; that could have been an expensive mistake! I am happy to keep the existing shocks (especially as I am not really looking to stiffen up the car or anything), but was just a little concerned that they were a bit worn (what did you think of the video clip?). To be fair though, other than the terrible creaking from the rear, the car felt absolutely fine handling wise. Hopefully I can just give them a paint and be done!

I called my local TPS today for the first time and it turns out they sell to the public, so that is handy, however they don’t think they will be able to get the diff bush. I also spoke with the local Audi dealer, and they say they can get it from Germany, and will be about £30ish.

If you can get it from TPS though I could just send you both the housing and you could fit all three?

Ronin – I was looking a those, and the hose clamps to… they all look very crusty. Working on old cars is always like opening a can of worms… It would be mad not to do them at this point though. I have not looked at what the process for this will be yet – is it a tricky job…?

[steamship]

Originally Posted by scottmgibb

Ronin – I was looking a those, and the hose clamps to… they all look very crusty. Working on old cars is always like opening a can of worms… It would be mad not to do them at this point though. I have not looked at what the process for this will be yet – is it a tricky job…?

The following PDF gives details on the removal of the fuel tank. Not sure if it's possible to just replace the straps one by one with everything still in situ:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...8&d=1420350463

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by steamship

it's possible to just replace the straps one by one with everything still in situ:

I'm doing it right now Tips coming later

[scottmgibb]

I look forward to seeing how you got on!