How low is your car and have you had any problems with steering arms / master cylinder connecting?

Been looking at my struts and thinking how much of a PITA its going to be to lower the steering arms.

Adam

Shit, wrong area. Sorry! Me being over keen :p

Yes it does happen, from 70-80mm and below

Dougstar21 has modified something so it doesn't happen, can't remember if it's the arms or cylinder though!

Edited 5 January, 200818 yr by tobyk

yeah had to replace the master cylinder on my GT, thought it was down to general age but i will have a look and see if the steering arms are connecting, the things still sat on ramps in the garage lol

with coilover kits the struts have the steering arm mounts cut off and welded lower.

mines down 80mm all round with lowering top caps. no problems at all yet and they've been on the car for about 8 months lolz.

My mk3 'loons on 8omm's with 13" gti alloys, nay problems with owt really

Aside from, speed bumps, high ironwork, gravel, leaves, slight ripple in the road!

*needs to look into getting a BIG steel tray fitted under the front half of the car!

From what i've seen/heard there's been lots of 'it can happen' and not a lot of 'it has happened'.

Has anyone actually had it happen to them?

As I said - dougstar21 had it happen to him, and he had to modify something to stop the problem. This is how low his car is:

As I said - dougstar21 had it happen to him, and he had to modify something to stop the problem. This is how low his car is:

Wow. That must be down 100-110mm or so!

Definately not going that low.

As I said - dougstar21 had it happen to him, and he had to modify something to stop the problem. This is how low his car is:

has he took the springs out lol?????

Apparently it's a 70mm G-max kit?

Thats much lower than my 70mm Jackson kit!

Yep I've always thought it's fairly low for a 70mm kit. I love it! Just seen it's a Venom kit, not G-max.

On white Hocks now

my steering arm hits the servo, how and what do i need to mod???

mines dropped 80m on FK shocks and springs

Adam, although Dougstar's car is low, part of the reason is its fitted with 175/50 tyres. These substantially lower the car on there own because of the small rolling radius.

If you look in that pic, the rear wheel isn't covered by the rear arch at all - in fact its about an inch from the arch. I recently saw a mk2 breadvan on here that had standard 13" steel wheels - approx 2-3" of the top of the wheel were covered by the arch! It must have been virtually sitting on its bumpstops!

Taking this into account, I would suggest that Doug's cars suspension is lowered around 80mm. Obviously the front is equally as low and I remember Doug having issues with the steering arm hitting the servo.

IMO, if you really need to have the car as low as this, then you need to lower the steering arms on the struts to alleviate this problem and also to help correct the steering arm geometry.

Its impossible to say whether you will have this problem or not. Different make suspension kits as we know don't all lower the same amount - regardless of what it says on the box.

I think if you buy most 70mm kits you won't have a problem. Any more and its asking for trouble.

How about PM'ing Phil J?

I'm making coilovers so I can raise and lower it, just want to know whether its worth my while lowering the steering arms on the struts at the same time.

I already have a 70mm kit on there with no problems but I want to go lower.

So the problem is with the steering arm hitting the servo on mk3s? Shouldnt have that problem on a mk2.

My mk2 breadvan is lowered 80mm but how do i no of the steering arm is hitting the servo thanks.

My mk2 breadvan is lowered 80mm but how do i no of the steering arm is hitting the servo thanks.

Same here (Mk3 GT though).

I get a horrible squeak when i turn the wheel left....could this be something to do with it...?

down about 100mm front

Edited 15 January, 200818 yr by currie

My mk2 breadvan is lowered 80mm but how do i no of the steering arm is hitting the servo thanks.

It won't be... you dont have a servo!

My mk2 breadvan is lowered 80mm but how do i no of the steering arm is hitting the servo thanks.

It won't be... you dont have a servo!

thanks mate :-) didnt no that.

Hi folks. Long time since Iv been on here because I sold the polo but I saw this and thought I should help out!

Adam, I modified my servo because the arms actualy cracked it. If you invest in coilovers that wouldn't happen because the arms are lower but I think coilovers are a waste of money on a polo. Decent shocks and springs are enough for a road going polo.

Heres a pic of how I modified the servo:

I used the 2 part metal compound because I didnt want to weld it and risk damaging the diaphram inside.

Wiggy: The squeak you get will be the arm rubbing on the inlet manifold. Sorry but I dont have a fix for that one!

nice solution doug, the polo I've just bought has lupo suspension with modified wishbones, the polo steering arms have been used and welded further down the strut assembly. The previous owner was comtemplating cutting out the bulkhead and putting a flat plate in and putting a golf mk1 steering rack in.

Car should be here by saturday so I'm going to get some detailed pics of the assembly for people, and some more details from Dave to ascertain exactly what he meant.

I was considering replacing the front suspension setup for mk1 golf coilovers, as the ball joint part of the hub will match up with the wishbones, they will be able to be fitted to the adjustable top mounts and then i could use the golf mk1 steering rack. I'm not sure if the lupo driveshafts will be compatible with the polo or lupo driveshafts, thats another thing I'm going to have to investigate

Mk1 golf struts and hubs would be perfect because you can modify the top bolt hole on the shockie and have adjustable camber! I looked into that myself but the car was a daily driver and I never got the time to do anything like that.

Hope the driveshafts work out! Sounds like a braw day at the scrappies!

Cheers,

Scott