Lowering Kit

[Mirez]

If anyone's interested in gently lowering their gal, the original "sport" suspention kit from ford is on accessoryplus.co.uk at the moment with a 15% special offer - its only a 30mm drop but made by Eibach and is also the kit fitted to the sharan sport and the sporty alhambra (the name escapes me)

 

Just ordered mine @

[v6mikey]

And the 6 cylinder spring set is only £147.70 for some reason. :)

 

Very tempted. :)

Edited September 3, 2010 by v6mikey

[v6mikey]

Will this defo fit the sharan?

 

 

 

 

 

Oh well, just ordered anyway, It should fit.

 

Absolute bargain. :)

 

Cant wait, I have been putting WD40 on the top nuts for a few weeks now.

Edited September 3, 2010 by v6mikey

[v6mikey]

Oh well, the 6 cylinder kit is not in the UK at the moment. They have ordered a kit from Germany for me. :)

 

 

I will just have to wait a bit longer. Booo

[Mirez]

and mine - bugger!

[v6mikey]

Just had an email stating that my order has been despatched. :46:

[v6mikey]

Just noticed that they have bumped the prices up for these lowering kits. :46:

[Mirez]

Oh yeah, good job you got in quick :( Its still cheaper then everyone else I could find though!

 

Mines also been despatched :46:

[v6mikey]

Mine have just arrived. :46:

[Mirez]

Mine have just arrived. :46:

 

 

Fantastic, do they look good?

 

Which courier did they come with and was it signed for? I couldn't work from home today and I've got a nasty feeling they'll be taken to a depot that won't open tomorrow so I'll have to delay install until next weekend now - pah!

[v6mikey]

Mine have just arrived. :46:

 

 

Fantastic, do they look good?

 

Which courier did they come with and was it signed for? I couldn't work from home today and I've got a nasty feeling they'll be taken to a depot that won't open tomorrow so I'll have to delay install until next weekend now - pah!

 

They do look the part, just black with eibach written on them, which is more oem. All instructions in the box are in german.

 

Not sure which courier as we have several deliveries during the day at work and it was signed for.

 

I wont be installing till I have some top mounts and a good forcast with no rain!

[Mirez]

Few, my neighbour had them... Yeah they look very OEM and nice, I liked the ford FINIS numbers stamped all over them - when I rang the insurance company they said as its an OEM kit I don't even need to notify them - bonus.

 

I've already been collecting :D Got top mounts and bearings, front shocks, track-rod ends and lower ball joints... couple that wih a double garage, 24 cans of carlsberg and a reservation at the local indian - they are deffo going on this weekend! :46:

[v6mikey]

You're gonna have to do a before and after pics.

 

I need to see them. I prob won't be fitting them for a week or two.

 

Why do you need track rod ends and lower ball joints?

Edited September 10, 2010 by v6mikey

[Mirez]

I will do :D

 

You don't need them but you have to seperate both to change the strut - coupled with the fact it has to be tracked up after being lowered then it made sence to me to spend the extra now and replace items that will wear anyway. She's just about to tick over to 70K miles so they'll be on the way (especially with wiltshires shitty roads) and I'll then have all new items on the front and hopefully have a trouble free front end for a good few years. I also look at it that all the components are going to be sat in a different position once the springs are in, I don't know what kind of vibration or other weird things are going to happen as they pass through that point in normal driving - probably nothing but again, for peace of mind - thats why I've done it :46:

Edited September 10, 2010 by Mirez

[v6mikey]

Well, not sure if I should do the same now, the sharan has just clocked 80k. I only bought it as a stop gap, but the wife and I really like the car. With 1 child, a baby due in about 2 weeks and a dog, it was a necessary purchase.

 

Never thought that I would like a bloody people carrier, hence why I am lowering it in the first place. I wouldn't bother if I didn't like the car.

 

 

 

Did you buy original equipment strut tops, or cheap ones from ebay?

Edited September 10, 2010 by v6mikey

[Mirez]

Lol, know the feeling - from a string of mondeos and bmw's its a bit of a difference but with the way the UK roads and laws are now, personally, I think the age of fast cars is over. Of course it might be me getting older, :D but I'd much rather have the comfort and space over everything else. I'm probably one of the few members on here who don't have kids, but the size and versitility just make it such an ideal vehicle we struggle to think of anything to replace it with if we had too (maybe a Kuga when they come down a bit more in price) but for now I''m enjoying the gal quite a lot :46:

 

I bought an OEM mount and strut year before last for our previous gal which didn't need to be fitted in the end and I've bought a cheepo one from ebay to complete the set. There is no difference between them, both made in Germany and both stamped up the same just the ebay one is missing the VAG part number...

 

170455151282 is the item number for the mount and bearing

and

380266045630 is the ball joints.

 

I used a motor factors when I did the last one and it started squeeking within the week - the ones above arn't the cheapest on ebay but they are a known brand (Delphi) and seem to be extreamly good quality.

Edited September 10, 2010 by Mirez

[v6mikey]

Ordered my strut top bushes and bearings on Saturday. :46:

 

 

How did you get on?

[Mirez]

3.99 out of 4 :D

 

Rears are quite easy but I would order yourself the rubber seats the springs sit on, mine were badly perished - I managed to get them on ok but I now need to redo the whole back end again as they are noise insulators :46:

 

1072429 is the ford part x2, described as "Rear spring seat cap"

 

Fronts would have been fine, however when knocking out the driveshaft on the driversside I damaged the hub bolt so I'm waiting on stock now so I replace it and drive her. I would suggest you get everything I listed above. The tops of the struts got mullered removing the old nut as it was so badly corroded and there is no way they would have gone back on, the lower balljoints also got damaged during removal so I would have been struggling if I'd not had the parts to hand - you also need a mate about as removing the hub, disc, strut and spring is a heavy old lump!

[v6mikey]

3.99 out of 4 :D

 

Rears are quite easy but I would order yourself the rubber seats the springs sit on, mine were badly perished - I managed to get them on ok but I now need to redo the whole back end again as they are noise insulators :)

 

1072429 is the ford part x2, described as "Rear spring seat cap"

 

Fronts would have been fine, however when knocking out the driveshaft on the driversside I damaged the hub bolt so I'm waiting on stock now so I replace it and drive her. I would suggest you get everything I listed above. The tops of the struts got mullered removing the old nut as it was so badly corroded and there is no way they would have gone back on, the lower balljoints also got damaged during removal so I would have been struggling if I'd not had the parts to hand - you also need a mate about as removing the hub, disc, strut and spring is a heavy old lump!

 

 

In my box of springs there are 2 rear spring seats or at least I think that's what they are. I hope the rears are still straight forward for the 4motion!

 

Drove the Sharan quite hard over some large speed bumps on Sunday to try to assess the dampers. They are good to go, if I can get the top nuts off.

[Mirez]

The ones in the box are the top ones, they are quite a bit bigger the the originals on mine put fit perfectly however its the bottoms that seem to have worn out. Good luck with the dampers, neither of mine were salvageable - the first because the allen end rounded out and the second because I ended up needed to saw through the strut to remove it!

 

There are also two hidden nuts that sit below the cap with the rusted ones in - I would get them as well as one was so solid on mine I just couldn't undo it - sheared the allen key off in the end on the first go and rounded the strut out on the second... hence the saw!

[v6mikey]

Nightmare, might have to re think my plans. I didn't really want to spend any more money!

 

Might just get the allen key and spanner on them just to see if they shift at all before I go all out to change them.

[v6mikey]

Can you not just undo bolt number 12 and remove shock this way instead of changing the lower joint and track rod ends?

Edited September 14, 2010 by v6mikey

[Mirez]

Can you not just undo bolt number 12 and remove shock this way instead of changing the lower joint and track rod ends?

 

I need to learn to type :)

 

Possibly, if the springs compressed enough then you should be able to move the arm down far enough to allow for removal. I had originally planned to do it that way but went with the official way in the end as I wanted to overhaul the front end and dissasembly was easier this way.

 

She's back together now :D Number 6 was seized solid on mine, I actually sheared an allen key off trying to undo the bugger before having to saw it apart - still those are only 96p so its not that bad! I can understand not wanting to spend more money then required, I probably could have salvaged the passenger side had I been more delicate with removal but the drivers side no chance - so long as you can live without the car for a day or so then I wouldn't worry, although my local factors has stock of the struts so even if you do run into problems you could probably source them quicker then that.

 

I started with the rears which, in hindsight, was a mistake as they were a doddle to do - the problem with that is that it left me the fronts to do on Sunday when nothings open!

 

Anyway, as said its all back together now - feeling super tight and the body roll has gone so I'm extreamly happy. Asthetically as well it looks so much better without the cavern between the arch and tyre - I'll do some photos when I get time.

[v6mikey]

The ones in the box are the top ones, they are quite a bit bigger the the originals on mine put fit perfectly however its the bottoms that seem to have worn out. Good luck with the dampers, neither of mine were salvageable - the first because the allen end rounded out and the second because I ended up needed to saw through the strut to remove it!

 

There are also two hidden nuts that sit below the cap with the rusted ones in - I would get them as well as one was so solid on mine I just couldn't undo it - sheared the allen key off in the end on the first go and rounded the strut out on the second... hence the saw!

 

 

Is it part number 3 you need to order to re do the rear springs?

[Mirez]

Yup, both sides were perished on mine.