4kq needs new suspension; spring q

Fri Oct 3 11:24:18 EDT 2003

Especialy with high ride height, body roll is pretty bad on the 4000q for
street perfromance, there may be off-road (ralley) applications where
omiting the sway bars is desireable.  I think you would need some really
stiff springs all around to keep the body roll tolerable without sway bar.
For street performance handeling, I think that Luke and I might actually
both agree that installing another front bar onto the rear end is the best
solution for minizing body roll and reducing the inherent understeer. In his
case, the added rear bar likely helps compensates for the additional
understeer introduced by the double tuning whammy of softer rear & stiffer
front springs. In my case, added rear sway bar likely helps compensate for
increased understeer due to the stiffer springs I installed on the front.
 FWIW- I followed Lukes method for rear swa bar installation, pretty easy
with very minimal fabriation.

-Jason Gray
Anchorage AK,

----- Original Message -----
From: "R Mangas" <porter_dog at hotmail.com>
To: <jason510 at att.net>; <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: 4kq needs new suspension; spring q

>
>   Crafty solution!   I'm trying to find out more about the 90q springs Huw
> thinks will fit- supposedly they're uprated all the way around from the
4kq
> units.  More understeer is the last thing I need; I was actually thinking
> that if I got the right springs I could delete the front bar and run with
no
> sways at all...
>
> Muffler clamp adjustable perches.  Kudos!
>
> >From: "Jason Gray" <jason510 at att.net>
> >To: <quattro at audifans.com>
> >Subject: 4kq needs new suspension; spring q Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003
09:09:08
> >-0800
> >
> >This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
> >--
> >[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> >Rob- My solution to exactly this same delima is at;
> >
> >http://www.audifans.com/pipermail/quattro/20020927/062581.html
> >
> >One note, if you try to use front 4K springs on the rear as Luke suggest;
> >first measure the spring rates of the stock 4Kq F& R springs and you will
> >find that the front springs (while having longer free length) also have a
> >lower (softer) spring rate than the rear springs. If you lack the
know-how
> >for measuring the rates, at least measure the wire coil diameter and you
> >will see that the rear springs are made from thicker wire (making them
> >significantly stiffer).  I took the spring rate measurements myself, but
in
> >our last list debate, others verified that the rear 4Kq springs are in
fact
> >stiffer than the front. While the rear suspension will ride higher and
> >"function" with front quattro springs in the rear,  the softer spring in
> >the rear location with no other modifications will "tune" the suspension
> >for increased body roll and increased understeer handeling of the car.
Just
> >because others have done this doesnt necessarily mean it is a well
thought
> >out solution for better performance handeling. Consult a handeling
> >adjustment chart such as at;
> >http://www.zcsd.org/tech-articles/tune-your-suspension.html  for general
> >spring tuning guidelines.
> >
> >-Jason Gray
> >Anchorage AK
> >4kq needs new suspension; spring q
> >R Mangas porter_dog at hotmail.com
> >Thu, 02 Oct 2003 14:41:41 -0400
> >
> >   a.. Previous message: can someone please decode these DTC's for me?
> >   b.. Next message: 4kq needs new suspension; spring q
> >   c.. Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
> >
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
> >
> >    Greetings.  Been away for a while, new house, two cars, dogs
> >Greetings.  Been away for a while, new house, two cars, dogs, girl....
> >
> >My '87 4kq is still running on stock bits.  Only 75k, so they're not as
> >shot
> >as one might intially imagine, but shot nonetheless.  My biggest question
> >at
> >this point is the springs.  The rears are really sagged, so I want to
> >replace them but most of the aftermarket units drop the car ~1.5".   The
> >4kq
> >is my winter car, so that's not very appealing.  I have the ground
control
> >coilovers on my Miata, and like them just fine but I'd rather not spend 4
> >bills on springs.
> >
> >    Are there crafty options that will allow me to uprate the springs
some
> >and retain stock travel and ground clearance?  I could certainly buy the
> >aftermarket units and install spacers (kludge!), but I'm hoping someone
> >will
> >tell me that "The 5000 turbo diesel wagon rear springs will fit.  They're
> >1.87x stock and add another half inch of ride height." or something
> >similar...
> >
> >I can dream, can't I? :)
> >
> >TIA,
> >Robert
> >Detroit (Rock City!)
> >
> >From: <lrickert at covad.net>
> > >To: <porter_dog at hotmail.com>
> > >Subject: Re: 4kq needs new suspension; spring q
> > >Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 15:02:36 -0700 (PDT)
> > >
> > >this has lead to some contentions debate in the not so distant past
(one
> > >person with the idea that they don't work right and many of us having
> > >actually done it knowing that it does in fact work.) put 80q fronts in
> >the
> > >front and move the stock 4kq front springs to the rear. (this is what I
> > >have on my car) It raises the car a bit and works well although I might
> >do
> > >it the other way (80q fronts in the back leaving the stock fronts
alone)
> > >to keep the back up bit higher.  I suppose you could also just swap
both
> > >front and rear 80q springs in, I am not exactly sure how this would sit
> > >but I imagine it would work fine and probably ride a little better.
> >While
> > >you are there adapt an extra front sway-bar to the rear suspension
(easy
> > >$10 one hour project) http://home.covad.net/~rickert/Audi.html for
> > >pictures of what I did.
> > >
> > >Good luck
> > >
> > >Luke
> >
> >
> >--
> >
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get MSN 8 Dial-up Internet Service FREE for one month.  Limited time
offer--
> sign up now!   http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup
>