KW Lowering springs

[gt2]

The mechanic has the pics of them fitted. I'm waiting for them to be sent over. Rotate the wheels?? I know the rears looked fine and the front was sky high. Drc pressure shouldn't affect ride height, just the damping rate(as far as I'm aware). The drc lines have not been disconnected either.

[rwilsonrs4]

yip something deffo not right there , the little assister springs are fully compressed with the suspension relaxed . in the pics of bens car they are the way they should be on yours you have no spring seat height adjuster , they are there to remove any slack when the suspension is fully extended to keep the main spring correctly located , yours are squashed completely with the suspension fully extended, my mates M3 had the same issue with a kit fitted , turned out something hadnt been removed and the new seat sat on top raising the ride height , not saying thats the case here but those little springs should not be compressed until the car is sitting on its wheels , you should definately have a large threaded tube which locates over the old shocker which allows ride height to be set ,so its either not been fitted or wasnt in the kit , looks like the new parts have been sat on top of the original spring seat , which if i recall can and has to be removed for the KW kit to be fitted

[gt2]

Anyone that was interested in this I finally got round to stripping the car down again myself today. I tried to fit the kit myself and had the same problem as the mechanic so Im confident that his work was sound. I then measure the shaft and its 43.6mm. The two bushes were also 43.6 and 43.7mm which is close but this seems to be where my problem is. The manufactured part is supposed to be 44m. My supplier is getting in touch with KW so Im just waiting to hear back from them.

[marc1]

Fingers crossed gt2, keep us posted mate.

[Rick_RS4]

looks like the kw spring perch is sitting too high and is not fully down over the shock

[MartayMcFly]

I'm not sure the same applies to RS4s, but on A3s there's 2 different shock diameters (50 and 55mm) so sometimes people get the narrow springs stuck on wide shocks. Could be something similar happening here, maybe A4 springs rather than RS4?

[gt2]

looks like the kw spring perch is sitting too high and is not fully down over the shock

Thats exactly it mate. The smallest opening (top) will not pass over the shock at all. I turned it upside down to check, its definitely that part thats to small. Im hoping to get new parts sent out. Failing that its going in a lathe to have a mil removed.

[gt2]

I'm not sure the same applies to RS4s, but on A3s there's 2 different shock diameters (50 and 55mm) so sometimes people get the narrow springs stuck on wide shocks. Could be something similar happening here, maybe A4 springs rather than RS4?

Maybe? Ive passed on the shock measurements to the supplier so we'll see what KW say.

[Rick_RS4]

how much smaller is the adjuster to the shock, i think i had one side that was stiff to get on , i cleaned it up with some emery cloth and a tap with a wooden mallet sorted it

[gt2]

how much smaller is the adjuster to the shock, i think i had one side that was stiff to get on , i cleaned it up with some emery cloth and a tap with a wooden mallet sorted it

Answered in post 18. There identical. Did a few measurements and there's 0.2 mm difference at the most. The openings are both slightly too small. Should be 44mm

[gt2]

They've also been fully fitted. I'd have thought if they were going to fit the weight of the car would have been enough

[Rick_RS4]

They've also been fully fitted. I'd have thought if they were going to fit the weight of the car would have been enough

if theres only 0.2mm then unless they are dead square going down over the shock it wont go on, the car wont push straight down like a press.

they are meant to be tight to stop them slapping about when driving,

break out the emery paper and smooth the shocks off and im certain they will go on

[gt2]

We'll see. I could really do with the car this weekend so the original might need to go back on again as I would have time to get them both on even if I could make them fit

[gt2]

Bugger!!! Worst thing is that was taking it off so it was already snapped whilst I've been driving it

[Surrey Sam]

Ouch...new upright is going to be around £500 if I remember correctly.

This lowering malarkey is getting expensive and something doesn't add up in this debacle you've had. I'd be pissed off.