success - the valver is fit again!
Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:07 pm
The valver came to spend a couple of weekends with me recently while my Dad was helping me replace our soffits/fascias/gutters
We didn't get around to fitting the Scorpion tailbox I acquired recently, but as we were using the valver to get to various shops for stuff I noticed the tell-tail 'crack' from the rear suspension when you jump in.
My Dad was convinced nothing was wrong (it doesn't do that when I leave it in the garage for a few days) so he drove home with the Scorpion box in the boot to play with.
Couple of weeks later and we're down in the West Country for a flying visit for a family wedding. Dad comments that the steering seemed to be a bit too lively on the drive home from ours.....
He'd got the Scorpion box fitted, although not hanging right, so stuck the suspension on high and proceeded to demonstrate WHY the car feels like the steering isn't working quite as it should! Not helped by having mudflaps on the rear of the car, but there was a distinct angle to both rear wheels - worse on the offside, unusually.
Cutting a long story short, after lots of telephone advice (I did mine on the p2 one side at a time in a tiny single garage!) and links sent of instructions, both rear arms were removed last week. The nearside had bits of metal filings (aka bearings!) dropping out from both sides, with rusty bits and crud. The offside had the inner bearing still more or less OK but the outer bearing was mullered - hence why the wheel angle looked worse on that side!
Dad managed fine on his own getting the arms out, but couldn't shift the bearings to fit the new kits he'd ordered from GSF. Took it down to his local friendly garage who service his A4 and they managed to figure out a way to smack the old bearing shells out and seat the new ones. He's now painted both sides in black bitumastic paint to keep them looking nice and got the car back on its wheels today
Happy days!!
Still not sure how to correct the alignment on the Scorpion tailbox - the rear mounting seems to be too far towards the front of the car, so the rubber is being pulled quite a bit forward from the hanger on the car. But if anything you want to pull it even further forward to get the tailpipe sitting in the centre of the cutout rather than towards the centreline....will probably require some application of heat!
Adrian
We didn't get around to fitting the Scorpion tailbox I acquired recently, but as we were using the valver to get to various shops for stuff I noticed the tell-tail 'crack' from the rear suspension when you jump in.
My Dad was convinced nothing was wrong (it doesn't do that when I leave it in the garage for a few days) so he drove home with the Scorpion box in the boot to play with.
Couple of weeks later and we're down in the West Country for a flying visit for a family wedding. Dad comments that the steering seemed to be a bit too lively on the drive home from ours.....
He'd got the Scorpion box fitted, although not hanging right, so stuck the suspension on high and proceeded to demonstrate WHY the car feels like the steering isn't working quite as it should! Not helped by having mudflaps on the rear of the car, but there was a distinct angle to both rear wheels - worse on the offside, unusually.
Cutting a long story short, after lots of telephone advice (I did mine on the p2 one side at a time in a tiny single garage!) and links sent of instructions, both rear arms were removed last week. The nearside had bits of metal filings (aka bearings!) dropping out from both sides, with rusty bits and crud. The offside had the inner bearing still more or less OK but the outer bearing was mullered - hence why the wheel angle looked worse on that side!
Dad managed fine on his own getting the arms out, but couldn't shift the bearings to fit the new kits he'd ordered from GSF. Took it down to his local friendly garage who service his A4 and they managed to figure out a way to smack the old bearing shells out and seat the new ones. He's now painted both sides in black bitumastic paint to keep them looking nice and got the car back on its wheels today
Happy days!!
Still not sure how to correct the alignment on the Scorpion tailbox - the rear mounting seems to be too far towards the front of the car, so the rubber is being pulled quite a bit forward from the hanger on the car. But if anything you want to pull it even further forward to get the tailpipe sitting in the centre of the cutout rather than towards the centreline....will probably require some application of heat!
Adrian