DIY Lowering (306)

Stinky · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:07

has anyone tried lowering there own car?? i am thinking about doing mine myself.

i have a guide and the springs dont look to hard to change, the torson bar doesnt look to difficult either, although i here they seize up a lot

just wondering if anyone else has lowered a torson bar and how hard is it?

agw_01 · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:13

I lowered mine (well, I say I did, I got a few mates to do it for me

).

Have a look for my recent thread on here, titled "Had a busy weekend" or something like that.

The fronts were an absolute doddle to do. Drop the lower arm off the strut by removing a few bolts, unscrew the top strut bolts and take the strut out. It's a total reverse to put the new strut back in place.

Rears are similar... unbolt the strut from the lower arm (just one bolt) and remove the top bolts. We did run into problems with mine though... both lower arm bolts decided to seize and shear off... cue lots of swearing and drilling to get the bolts out.

The fronts were done in an hour, the rears took 10 :eek:

Vanilla · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:18

I heard the rears can be quite tasking......

Foghorn Leghorn · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:48

Stinky said:
has anyone tried lowering there own car?? i am thinking about doing mine myself.

i have a guide and the springs dont look to hard to change, the torson bar doesnt look to difficult either, although i here they seize up a lot

just wondering if anyone else has lowered a torson bar and how hard is it?

Dont do the springs unless you have a proper set of spring clamps, if you do then they are a doddle.
Torsion bars can be a nightmare, usually very siezed and covered in years of crud. Be prepared to use lots of WD, big hammers and HUGE amounts of swearing

Fog

digitalwolf · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:49

Is this the red 306, which has just had new GTI alloys?

How many mm you thinking of dropping it by?

Jonny69 · 10 Apr 2006 at 21:02

Cut the springs, you know you wanna. Or strap em up with some big sonofabitch cable ties or jubilee clips

Bodge For The Win :cool:

burns · 10 Apr 2006 at 21:12

Jonny69 said:
Cut the springs, you know you wanna. Or strap em up with some big sonofabitch cable ties or jubilee clips

Bodge For The Win

I personaly want to see someone freeze them in a large block of ice and then leave to thaw once the strut top is off. Could be funny to see the ice suddenly explode and send a spring rocketing across the room

.

Puppetmaster · 10 Apr 2006 at 21:15

yeh torsion bars are a pain, havnt tried but know, id realy look at getting them done somewhere tbh saves you the big hassle

im lucky enough to get my 106 lowered, front, rear and front springs included for £200 which is pretty good

lordrobs · 10 Apr 2006 at 21:18

With regard to the rear suspension. I know of people who have swapped out their standard torsion bars and fitted in ones that were already lowered as its much less hassle than trying to lower the one you've got.

If you've fitted the 15" XSi/GTi-6 wheels it should be riding at a pretty good height anyway?

Stinky · 13 Apr 2006 at 12:26

digitalwolf said:
Is this the red 306, which has just had new GTI alloys?

How many mm you thinking of dropping it by?

yea it is that one.

was thinking 30mm

Gaijin · 13 Apr 2006 at 14:39

I too have heard nightmares about lowering the rear. Not so much about it seizing but getting the Torsion bar splines to perfectly align on each size so that the lowering height is equal on both sides.

Good luck!!!

Malachy · 13 Apr 2006 at 14:54

reasonably easy job. hardest part is getting torsion bar out
here is a good guide
http://www.nigelwilkins.co.uk/Technical/GTi-6/lowering.htm
now is anyone good at wiring

having great fun wiring up this new turbo engine :/

Forbidden · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:22

Im thinking about lowering my car too

Will that guide be bassically the same for a 106? So is there another guide ?

Lopéz · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:35

2 warnings with regards to the rear beam

1) You may get the shafts out to find they are pitted and damaged - if this is the case, you're beam is not far off scrap, and putting it all back together on a lower setting will only accelerate the process

2) You may dismantle it to find all the bearings falling to pieces which means unless you can get the bits of the old ones out and fit new ones, it won't go back together. Renew ALL seals/caps etc with brand new dealer stuff as any water ingress here will murder your beam within a few months.

-Mike- · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:00

Sorry for the slight hijack but with regards to the rear of the 306, whats a knocking coming from it indicate? When I go over really bumpy surfaces or say drop off a kerb its quite a metallic bang?

/Hijack over and much apologies

Sirrel Squirrel · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:05

I lowered my escort myself although borrowed my mates garage to do it though, so I had the car on ramp with the wheels hanging over the side, so it was an absolute doddal to lower mine, got the lowering springs off ebay. Just remember to clamp down the spring before unbolting them otherwise someone will probably lose their head lol

Foghorn Leghorn · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:11

-Mike- said:
Sorry for the slight hijack but with regards to the rear of the 306, whats a knocking coming from it indicate? When I go over really bumpy surfaces or say drop off a kerb its quite a metallic bang?

/Hijack over and much apologies

Anti rollbar links?

Fog

Malachy · 13 Apr 2006 at 19:52

-Mike- said:
Sorry for the slight hijack but with regards to the rear of the 306, whats a knocking coming from it indicate? When I go over really bumpy surfaces or say drop off a kerb its quite a metallic bang?

/Hijack over and much apologies

text book rear beam mounts

only about £15 each but a bit of apain to fit

-Mike- · 14 Apr 2006 at 01:31

Malachy said:
text book rear beam mounts only about £15 each but a bit of apain to fit

Thanks very much for the reply mate, going to decide this month whether to keep her or get rid of her so I'll see what this next repair is going to cost me

Edit : Why do we all have -xxx posts?

DIY Lowering (306)

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