[s-cars] Bad Tire Wear...Blown Strut?

[Ingo Rautenberg]

Calvin,

Be very careful when changing out that bad boy.  Are they OEM or Bilstein
(the ones you have presently)?  I had a similar thing happen with my
200q20v, but it was obvious something was wrong, because the left front
(problem) of the car sat high and the right rear sat low.  The previous
owner had installed Sachs springs with Bilstein Sports.I liked the setup, so
I ended up buying a whole new set of four inserts and shocks, whereas I
really only needed to exchange the fronts (damn potholes).  I suggest to
have the car jacked near that lift-off point of the tire when you remove the
insert, or you may find it to launch at the underside of your hood like a
rocket.

As to brand preference, I have come to the conclusion that Bilsteins tend to
be better when coupled with aftermarket springs rather than the stock ones
(but that's my experience).  A good alternative if you're keeping the stock
setup might be Boge turbo-gas.  I have no experience with Konis.

-Ingo
'91 200q20v...Slightly modified
'83 Urquattro
('90 v8q RIP)
http://hometown.aol.com/quattringo/index.html