VAP

for the upper 1" of threaded sleeve?

Reason I ask is because in running a spring spread sheet for 6", 7", 8", 9" and 10" coilover spring sets in various rates for front or rear of UrQ, CQ, B3 and B4 (front only) chassis cars I cannot find even one combination of sleeve/spring sets that could use or even benefit from having that upper 1" of threaded sleeve in the 4kQ rear kit provided by GC. And it seems many, if not most of us end up cutting some of the sleeve off to install in our cars to ward off interference with the strut cap.

Further, why is a 4" (length of 4kQ threaded sleeve) adjustment even necessary? In my own spring testing I've never used even the top half of my threaded sleeves for attaining ride height even when running as short as 6" height coilover springs or as long as 12" height.

So can someone tell me "why" in their personal experience they have needed 4" ride-height adjustment, even if only once?

I can find no need on my spread sheet for a 4" threaded sleeve on any chassis, running any spring rate or height on any small chassied Audi even with with larger/heavier engine conversions. 3" height adustment is a H-U-G-E spread and 4"... well 4" is just friggin absurd! I mean how many here go road racing one week and ralleying/hill climbing the next week with same springs/struts just by jacking the car 1/3 foot up in the air!?! Pure nonsense!

And I've personally never used even 3" of the 4" adjustment available on my threaded sleeves, always opting to go with a more appropriate length/rate spring than jacking the perches up near their tops. In fact I seldom use more than 1" adjustment on my 4" length threaded sleeves. I understand the dynamic at play here and I know the number I use is restrictive. But simply put, why do the threaded sleeves need to be 4" long. Or more succinctly why would a 3" length sleeve be any less useful or more restrictive? Of all the coilover kits GC makes the 4kQ is the "only" one I can find that offers more than 3" of total height adjustment.

Why not 3" threaded sleeves and call it a day!?!

Crm

I have never used the top 1" on any of my 3 cars with GC coilover setups (4kq for rallycross, 4ktq for track, CQ daily driver)

One thing that bugs me is on a lowered setup like I have on my track car is the upper spring perch is getting all chewed up from the spring re-seating after that wheel droops out far enough far the spring to lose contact with the perch. I have such short spriings to get the desired ride height that when the suspension is all the way drooped the spring is a long way from contacting the upper perch. Is there some kind of a "makeup" spacer or soft spring that can take up this extra space?

dtompsett

Once you get the right length, going dead center gives you +/- 1.5" of height. Need more than that, go to a different spring length!

VAP

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/711/helperspgs.jpg"></center><p>
to retain the spring in the upper perch during rebound and urethane insulators on the upper/lower perches between spring tops &amp; bases and it's upper/lower perches. Then there's home-made stainless stranded steel cable travel limiters that prevent the strut travel from exceeding the spring travel. Then there's helper spring kits (see pic) that keep tension on the primary spring during rebound but go completely flat when weight is on the car then they essentially become a spacer until the car goes into extreme rebound again. Great on a track car but NOISY on a street car. There's also longer springs with calculated/pre-determined lower rates that get back up to higher rates once car's weight is on them due to race/coilover springs being progressive rather than linear.

VAP

I think 3" is plenty... for me probably 2" too much. But for the masses more than enough. But 4" just seems wholly ridiculous. Truth be known I think the GC kits could be cut in half and used as "twofers", ie; buy one pair, cut in half and buy 2 additional upper/lower perches and springs.

dtompsett

and I'm as confused as you are as to why they'd do this. Increases manufacturing costs, etc. Without sitting here and running the numbers I would assume it is a stronger design... but only to a point.

Also... got one side of your blue-printed oem mounts and mountsavers sitting on the floor till I get new struts ordered... pulling the passenger side in a few minutes. Drivers side strut died and the tierod end was going bad... mount looks good, OE bearing has some play in it.

You interested in pics of the mount/mountsaver after a summer/fall/winter of canadian driving?

Zzak

and a leg for some reason. (at least with my limited knowledge of suppliers)

VAP

or any of the other options mentioned in that post. GC upper perches have holes in them specifically put there to have zip-ties looped thru them and around top coil of spring to retain coil in upper perch on suspension rebound.

I don't remember costs per pair for helper springs but I believe at or under the cost of a single coil spring for helper springs w/adapters... maybe $50-$60 per pair complete. Available from Ground Control and a gazillion other places.

You'll HATE em on the street. Sounds like a Box-O-Rocks any time you drive into or over anything deeper or thicker than a credit card, ie; ALL the time!