Sorting out an annoying noisy/juddery ride
Discussion
So when lowering the Audi (a 1996 V6 A4 saloon, front-wheel-drive) I knew I'd have a bit of a price to pay in terms of ride comfort. However, what I'm getting now is on the unacceptable side of ridiculous and while the car handles well on smooth surfaces, it is an absolute b
h over any sort of imperfections in the road. The problem seems to have been getting gradually worse over the year or so since I lowered the car.
There is a lot of banging noise when any sudden suspension movement occurs, and the juddering is severe enough that a quick series of bumps will give me quite a lot of scuttle shake. There's quite a lot of noise generally, and there seems to be very little damping of sudden movements. I should stress that I don't think it's the springs and dampers at fault, since under heavy braking and cornering loads they function very well.
My first and foremost thought is that most of the suspension bushes in this car have probably never been changed, making them 15 years and 120,000 miles old. Not to mention 6k of extra punishment since the 30mm lowering. So I planned on replacing them all, and hoping it wouldn't be too expensive in parts I thought I'd go down the polyurethane route, but some quick research puts that around a whopping £300, so rubber ones only, it seems!
How much of an improvement do you think I will get with this sort of problem, if we assume that most of the current bushes are very badly worn? And is there anywhere else I should be looking for the cause of the problem?
Cheers!
h over any sort of imperfections in the road. The problem seems to have been getting gradually worse over the year or so since I lowered the car.There is a lot of banging noise when any sudden suspension movement occurs, and the juddering is severe enough that a quick series of bumps will give me quite a lot of scuttle shake. There's quite a lot of noise generally, and there seems to be very little damping of sudden movements. I should stress that I don't think it's the springs and dampers at fault, since under heavy braking and cornering loads they function very well.
My first and foremost thought is that most of the suspension bushes in this car have probably never been changed, making them 15 years and 120,000 miles old. Not to mention 6k of extra punishment since the 30mm lowering. So I planned on replacing them all, and hoping it wouldn't be too expensive in parts I thought I'd go down the polyurethane route, but some quick research puts that around a whopping £300, so rubber ones only, it seems!
How much of an improvement do you think I will get with this sort of problem, if we assume that most of the current bushes are very badly worn? And is there anywhere else I should be looking for the cause of the problem?
Cheers!
Edited by McSam on Sunday 17th July 17:56
I'd look at the lowering springs first. 
Seriously though, they put a massive extra stress on the rest of the car. Replacing the bushes with rubber won't help much, they'll wear out pretty fast because they're having to do so much extra work. I'd also imagine the shock absorbers are fairly tired too.
Do the sensible thing, stick the standard springs back on, get the smallest diameter wheels with the highest profile tyres possible, and enjoy the payback in a vastly superior ride and cheaper tyres.
Seriously though, they put a massive extra stress on the rest of the car. Replacing the bushes with rubber won't help much, they'll wear out pretty fast because they're having to do so much extra work. I'd also imagine the shock absorbers are fairly tired too.
Do the sensible thing, stick the standard springs back on, get the smallest diameter wheels with the highest profile tyres possible, and enjoy the payback in a vastly superior ride and cheaper tyres.
Lets think.........
Are the springs decent quality progressive springs? or just bog standard lowering springs?
Progressives give a normal ride until pushed, then they tighten up considerably when pushed hard.
Did you get uprated shocks or just use the old ones? If not they'll be f00ked.....
Did you get the bumpstops cut down when the springs were fitted? If not, then in combination with buggered shocks, your going to bottom out on every bump in the road.
Are the springs decent quality progressive springs? or just bog standard lowering springs?
Progressives give a normal ride until pushed, then they tighten up considerably when pushed hard.
Did you get uprated shocks or just use the old ones? If not they'll be f00ked.....
Did you get the bumpstops cut down when the springs were fitted? If not, then in combination with buggered shocks, your going to bottom out on every bump in the road.
Was it a decent make of lowering kit?
I bought a Corsa as a cheap project a while back. It was lowered on Koni shock and springs. I thought it was too low and far too crashy with stoopid camber on the front.
I bought a complete set of coilovers, that also had camber adjustment and the car was transformed (as much as a Corsa can be!). Set the camber to the factory settings using the spirit level on my phone, had the tracking reset and the camber was spot on.
I bought a Corsa as a cheap project a while back. It was lowered on Koni shock and springs. I thought it was too low and far too crashy with stoopid camber on the front.
I bought a complete set of coilovers, that also had camber adjustment and the car was transformed (as much as a Corsa can be!). Set the camber to the factory settings using the spirit level on my phone, had the tracking reset and the camber was spot on.
thinfourth2 said:
So you have taken a car from a company famous for crap ride quality and decided to make it lower and more stiffly sprung and you are wondering why the ride is a bit juddery.
It rode very nicely, actually, pretty pillowy sitting up high on 195/65/15s! From an era before Audis had to be "sporty".. I should have made it clearer in the first post! I was most definitely not going to leave the standard dampers in place to cope with lowering springs, I got a full kit. The springs are Koni SSKs and are matched to Koni STR.T dampers specifically designed for the car, both fitted brand new and together.
I would love to have gone for high-quality coilovers but the budget didn't really allow and the cost versus the value of the car seemed a little crazy. I paid £335 for the spring and damper set, and a basic wheel alignment has been done since but no more. The bumpstops are as factory too. The ride was noticeably harder with these fitted, but not excessively crashy like it is now. It's this progressive worsening that leads me to believe it's something other than the spring/damper kit.
I only do about 6000 miles a year, and intend to keep the car only for another two years or so, so surely I could expect a new set of bushes to last that sort of time? But how much of an improvement do you think they'd make?
Should I get in to the bumpstops and reduce those down too?
Edited by McSam on Tuesday 19th July 21:04
Hmm, the springs ageing is another thought, and I suppose that would be worsened by all the bushes being shot.
To say sell the lowering kit is a nice idea, but the problem is quite simply that the car looks gorgeous, and any other A4 on the road looks like it's on stilts. I've got it looking pretty perfect to how I wanted, seems a big shame to go backwards on that and I think I might regret it every time I look at the car!
Damn. I sound like one of those slam-it-to-the-floor Dub scene guys now.
To say sell the lowering kit is a nice idea, but the problem is quite simply that the car looks gorgeous, and any other A4 on the road looks like it's on stilts. I've got it looking pretty perfect to how I wanted, seems a big shame to go backwards on that and I think I might regret it every time I look at the car!
Damn. I sound like one of those slam-it-to-the-floor Dub scene guys now.
McSam said:
basic wheel alignment has been done since but no more.
Any change of dampers/springs will need a full Geometry setup , basic alignment wont cut it. Its likely that your alignment is a mile out meaning the suspension wont be doing its job properly giving the kind of problems you describe.You need to find somewhere reputable that has a hunter machine. Should be ~£80 for a full Geo.
I can recommend wheels in motion (WIM) in chesham - a long way from you but they will do a good job and also check out your setup and let you know if anything is broken/worn out/needs adjusting. WIM also have partners around the country who they recommend so worth looking to see if there is one near.
Only once the Geo is setup and everything checked should you consider making changes/replacing parts.
Right, that's interesting, thanks for the information 
I'll look into that. The only thing that concerns me is that there might not be much adjustability in these cars - I know, for example, that the rear toe can't be changed. Is that going to be a problem for geometry setup, or is it possible on all cars?
I'll look into that. The only thing that concerns me is that there might not be much adjustability in these cars - I know, for example, that the rear toe can't be changed. Is that going to be a problem for geometry setup, or is it possible on all cars?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff