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VW Strut mount options?

19K views 42 replies 18 participants last post by  WAM 
#1 ·
It looks like i will be updating my front shocks to some coilovers and was wondering what the vw guys were using. So far i have not had issues but would like to upgrade. I know the vr6 ones are supposed to be an upgrade but are they strong enough? Should i look into Subarat ones which JVL suggest to everyone?
Any other options?
I prefer not to cut the top of the towers if possible.

BTW the car is an MK2 GTI
 
#37 ·
#39 ·
No, sorry. Just some documentation photos of the baseline suspension I kept to remember how everything went together. But you really couldn't reproduce my system due to all the custom pieces. My buddy is a top-notch machinist and we built everything from scratch. You can PM me if you want more detail, but don't waste your time unless you have machine shop support. Bilstein sells the coilover conversion kits, but they didn't fit either shock without extensive modification. And we had to fab perches, adapters, bushings etc.
 
#41 ·
Okay, I bought a set of Mk-1 Bilstein rally shocks and four Bilstein coilover conversion kits. Added grooves to the rear shock bodies to properly position the coilover sleeves. Built spacer rings to slide over the front tubes to position those coilover sleeves which had to be bored for the larger shock body. I used the lower perches that came with the kit, but built upper perches from scratch. On the front I made bushing/spacers to adapt and locate Uniballs. And built tophats out of 1/4" plate with the Uniball cups welded in place (no adjustments). I mounted the tophats ABOVE the shock tower as high as the hood would allow and welded new tower steel to extend the tower up to the tophats. Raising the front attachpoints centered the shock travel. The fronts got simple Eibach main coilover springs. On the rear I made adapters to mate the shock to the original urethane mount bushings. But the new rear travel was huge and to use it I had to run main springs, tender springs and helper springs. I have a design sketched up for Uniball rear mounts if they should become necessary. If anything, I now have too much travel for rough field rallycross, and may add limit straps to make the car slide before it rolls.
 
#43 · (Edited)
Ride height is about 1" over stock. I bought complete inverted-style struts, not inserts. They were intended for the Mk-1, but I thought they were too long, so modified the chassis to "center" the shock at my desired ride height.

Oh, and I forgot to mention on my write-up, obviously I had to cut away the fixed lower perch on the struts. And it had to be done carefully on a lathe to get a smooth body, since the coilover kit was minimal clearance.

BTW, turns out I do have a pic of the Bilsteins out of the box before machining. But my photohost is full so if needed, pm me an email addy and I'll send it.
 
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