Ok, Bilstein Sports Installed... BUT MASSIVE PROBLEM... PLEASE HELP!!!

[Ryan Hoitink]

EXACTLY..... The hole in the body has nothing to do with the shocks at all.
I recently put a set on my '92 100cs.  I cut a piece of steel pipe with the
correct ID to the right size and used it as a spacer... it works like a
charm, I think it's about 1.5" long.  I don't understand why this was
necessary, because I thought that Bilstein had a little bit better
reputation.  Anyway, that's the fix.  I know what you guys mea... it sounded
like complete crap after I installed the first time... and it took me a long
time to figure out what the problem was.  What a hassle.

-Ryan

-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-admin at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-admin at audifans.com]On
Behalf Of Eyvind Spangen
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2001 3:33 AM
To: Levent Cur
Cc: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: Ok, Bilstein Sports Installed... BUT MASSIVE PROBLEM...
PLEASE HELP!!!


On Sat, 12 May 2001 03:36:35 -0400, you wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>    OK I got the bilstein sports installed on my 93 100CSQ. Nad they are
>in just fine, kinda. the front are fine but the rear had a problem with
>the shaft being to wide for the hole in the body where I guess the top
>of the shaft fits into.. is the hole in the body of the car supposed to
>bea perfect fit so there is no play or does that matter? Cause it drives
>just fine just when I hit a bump in the rear I hear a clunking noise?
>Any clues as to what that could be?? But my main question is, the hole
>in the body, right in the crevas up top where the rear shock/strut
>mounts, does the hole have to be exactly the same size as the shaft to
>keep the strut from moving side to side. I was told that the strut moves
>from left to right and up and down up in that area, causing the car to
>make that clunking noise? Cause the mechanic modified the hole and made
>it wider for the new strut shaft to fit through. And now I'm supposedly
>screwed cause the hole is too big and no strut will ever work properly
>again! I'm so lost I need a lot of help on this one!

Exactly what happened to me yesterday when fitting my Bilsteins on my
200q.

The hole in the body is AFAIK not supposed to do anything at all, but
with the Bilsteins being wider and longer, they'll interfere with the
body up there. I ended up making a rubber pad (about 10 mm thick) that
slid over the top of the shock, to make a tighter fit and to avoid the
clunking noise.. Works like a charm here..

BTW: When replacing the RR shock, I found the bushing where the camber
adjustment rod connects to the wheel bearing housing to have about 12
mm (!!!) play.. No wonder the car felt strange.. The dealer wants $200
for the thing.. :-(

--
Regards,
ES