[s-cars] Re: Eibach Springs & Bilstein Sport Shocks

[Bob Rossato]

Mark,

Make sure the rear spring perch is not on upside down.  The perch is stepped
and in the proper orientation the surface the spring rests on will end up
being below the c-clip on the shock body.  I have no experience with the
1527/1517 versions of the 1529.140 kit, but the reason you didn't get any
drop in suspension height may be that you have the perch upside down.  As I
recall, you also stated in your previous message that you only had done one
side so far.  Finish up both sides and then see what it's like.

As for the fronts.  While the 1527.001 springs may be longer than the
1529.001 of the original Eibach kit in an unloaded condition, I have no idea
if it will ultimately rest higher or lower than the 1529.001 when loaded.
Again, no experience with it.  It depends on the comparative spring rates.
So, whether you need to do the Frankenmount or not depends on the final drop
and how much negative camber you want to end up with.  When I installed my
Eibachs (with the 1529.001 & .002 springs) I ended up just extending the
slots of the factory camber plate.  Just get a rat tail file, clamp the
mount in a vise and go to town.  I extended the center slot to within
~0.250" from the center of the mount, and the two outer slots to within
~0.125" from the edge of the plate.  You could go all the way until you
break through the edge as well and until you hit the center of the mount.
It doesn't really matter as you will eventually be limited by the bodywork
and the washer on the center slot contacting the center of the mount.
You'll have to look at the mount to understand what I'm trying to explain
here.

In any case, with the extended slots I was able to get to -1.0 degrees of
camber on both sides.  If I extended mine a bit more I might be able to
squeak out another 0.1degrees, but I doubt it as I'm pretty close to the
edge of the strut tower on the fender side.  With -1.0 degrees I have had
absolutely flat even tire wear.  Couldn't ask for better.  This is with
235/45-17s on 8" wide rims.  If you want to get less negative camber then
you would need to do something like Igor's Frankenmount, or the ECS or 2B
camber plates.  However, my suggestion would be to try slotting your
existing camber plates first and see what you can get.  Depending on how
much your final drop is you may be able to get even less than -1.0 degrees
with just the slotting (I suppose technically that should be more than since
we're dealing with negatives ;-).

Good luck.

Bob

> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Mark Pollan
> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 6:05 PM
> To: S-Cars (E-mail)
> Subject: RE: [s-cars] Re: Eibach Springs & Bilstein Sport Shocks
>
>
> May have answered my plea by checking the archives.  I have what
> appears to
> be the German Eibach rear spring (1517002) which is longer than
> us version.
> I should not be using the spacer ring apparently and that is that.  If I
> wanted to lower I would either need the US version of the spring
> or machine
> some grooves in the shock body BELOW the existing ring.
>
> So NOW I'm wondering since I have the longer German springs for the front
> too (1527001), do I need to mess with the strut plate (Igor's
> frankenmount)
> at all.
>
> Damn this was a frustrating afternoon.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mark Pollan