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Man this job is grinding down my love for the car lol
need an e18 female torx now to remove the calliper and swing up so I can access the 12mm hex and get the impact on it. Not budging otherwise
then get the inner most rear lca bolt out 12mm 12 pt and I can’t get bolt out because of exhaust. So gotta drop that now too.
I couldn't get an impact on a single one of those damn nuts because they are so close to the caliper and I didn;t take it off. I used wrenches, using the standard double wrench cheater trick to break them all loose... and also some mallet to wrench action. It was a PITA haha. Good luck though.
What a Pita caliper bolts required my air gun at full psi couldn’t even budge with hands. Same with LCA bolts at the spindle by hand... no chance
so I got the drivers rear lca bolts out but can’t get arm out. It’s moving all over the place but won’t release. Almost looks like there is a thin metal sleeve in spindle. Anybody know?
Got that arm out with a fair amount of prying, big bar needed & it finally gave up
Got a few parts but not all parts, rear top shims backordered & had to come from Germany. I waited 2-3 wks & got both rear shims except one was missing all the washers ;(
I figure the best approach is to install LCA to spindle, insert spring & jack up LCA to install subframe bolt
Now, need to decide on where to set the rears before install
Based on what I have read, use the OEM rear mount, top washer only (rubber one) to prevent squeaks. Assuming I use the BC Racing provided lower as pictured?
1. make sure spindle area accepting the rear lower LCA is clean
2. I cleaned up the long bolt & nut to install rear lower LCA
3. I greased the LCA bushing on the outsides to help slip it into the spindle
4. Using a 2lb sledge I tapped the end of the LCA until the metal sleeves lined up about 95%
5. Pushed bolt through & tapped lightly to make the remaining 5% line up
6. I light greased outside of bushings on the side of the LCA that connects to the subframe,
7. Jack up control arm until it lines up with mount & push bolt through, some turning may be required. I also found the control arm could get a bit off axis & the front part of bolt may get through but not the rear. YTou may need to fiddle around with jack positioning to get it straight through
8. I snugged both bolts/nuts very lightly, jacked up control arm 2 inches, then tighened the bolts completely
9. Rotor back on (put little screw back)
10
small BFH
bolt slid in with a little tapping
LCA hanging
I think I leave the plsatic mount in?
Last edited by Hotsauce55; May 12, 2018 at 12:09 PM.
in terms of tightening up all this stuff, do I tighten every bolt just beyond finger tight then drop car (once all installed) & fight may way through tightening them all completely?
EDIT - I put in both bolts & did them up barely snug, jacked up control arm 2 inches & tighened them down, hope that is correct
Last edited by Hotsauce55; May 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM.
Measurement, I am going for a little lower than stock but not much - based on others, I have set the rears to exactly 1 inch
Tape measure looks a little bit off center but its bang on 1 inch
Note that was, for me, exactly 10 turns of the perch from the bottom
Back on the job, parts finally arrived after a 6 week wait. I guess the bracket holding the parking brake lines does not get used after conversion? Bolted to old LCAs
Lowered the rear down without shocks in looks like 26.5 inches ground to fender, I’m anticipating a .25 inch settling which I think leaves me at 0.25 higher than stock being 26 inch
thinking I should drop ride height a little more in rear?
Well got her finished, driving a few miles made a difference in height. Need an alignment now
will get some pics and measurements shortly
gotta say this is a long job really, be prepared if DIY
- jack stands and proper adaptors for the lift points or wood ones like I made
- Rolling jack
- All the weird little sockets and sizes
possibly air compressor, I had one luckily as I could NOT budge the rear lower LCA to spindle bolt
- fronts are a cake walk really, I pulled out all the air lines and compressor too
- rear a whole other experience, honestly more than a day unless your nuts and bolts are coming off super easy. Remember sbc disconnect and you’ll need to drop exhaust ie. remove mufflers from rear hanger and undue 4 mounting bolts just ahead of differential. I also used the top rubber mounting washer from the oem shims to prevent squeaks.
- also recommend pre measuring coilovers and checking ride height before shock preload and install
My very brief test ride suggested a much flatter feeling and massively improved turn in. I had the entire combo set to 14 clicks for starters
well worth the piece of mind and improved feel
have a good think about DIY though, it really isn’t a 5 hour complete removal and install more like double if your being careful
Thanks for documenting your progress. It will be invaluable to people in the future. I think we have all tackled nice easy straightforward jobs that take 8x as long and cost twice as much as originally thought. You obviously have a second car!
Not bad. Your numbers put you inside the boundaries of the factory specs so your control arm and axle angles are good. Front -1.4 +/- 0.3 degrees. Rear -1.7 +/- 0.5 degrees.
FWIW, I have my car at 26 1/4" height front, 26 3/4" rear.
Can’t win with this car, the rear suspension is making a this sound now after alignment. It’s a thud sound in the rear and seems to be getting a bit worse over last two hours of driving
i quickly checked everything underneath and wheel lugs for being loose and nothing. Collars are tight too and so are shock tower mounts. When I bounce rear suspension I can hear a faint squeak and a thudding sound. Going to take back to alignment shop but wtf is with this car
2005 CL55 (sold) C63 Coupe 2012 p31(sold) Audi 330awhp E55 511WHP(sold)Z06C6 550whp C63 LTH
Originally Posted by Hotsauce55
Can’t win with this car, the rear suspension is making a this sound now after alignment. It’s a thud sound in the rear and seems to be getting a bit worse over last two hours of driving
i quickly checked everything underneath and wheel lugs for being loose and nothing. Collars are tight too and so are shock tower mounts. When I bounce rear suspension I can hear a faint squeak and a thudding sound. Going to take back to alignment shop but wtf is with this car
did u find out what it was, making me nervous to attempt this
Hotsauce check the rear frame bushings and also make sure the bolts to body are not broken.
Jack one side up by the BODY and watch the bushing to see if it moves or seperates from the body.
This will probably be your problem.
Sorry guys one of the shock bolts came loose
i sold the car not long after
I did like the airmatic but coils were superior in terms of piece of mind and handling. Comfort... the airmatic all day
hey bro, were your rear control arms for the springs the same part number. I just got everything in the mail today and I'm looking at them before I install and the rear springs seem to be opposing one another rather than be mirrored if that makes sense. they seem to oppose rather than mirror and face the same direction which I was assuming would be to the right in the photo " front of the car".
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