egp320i

just curious but do aftermarket springs like H&R,Vogtland,etc give you a harsher ride or softer? stock springs over time seem to relax and do not give you that cushioned spring back when you hit potholes or poor road surfaces.

MikTip

You wrote:

"over time seem to relax and do not give you that cushioned spring back when you hit potholes or poor road surfaces"

You described worn shocks to a tee!

Install a new set, and you'll feel the differance
a new set of shocks can make. :O)

egp320i

should I do all 4 or just the fronts since they take more abuse?
yes, I had a feeling my shocks are shot, the lf side front has like no spring at all, its damn near dead.
I am not sure what the dealership would charge to do the shocks, i'd rather tackle it myself with the right things (that damn special socket, and a spring compressor)
btw mike, what size is the nut, like 24mm? Its larger then any wrench I have.
still, on the subject would replacing my springs with new struts do anything?
lower springs would give less spring thus a harder, yet stiffer ride?
I want a good handling car but when I hit a pothole and it feels like somebody just punched me in the back.....well, I'd rather not have that.
btw, its 4am est, and your up on audiworld, now thats a diehard!

egp320i

few things i forgot, I can easily get front bilsteins for about 95 bucks each, rears for quattro I have only seen koni's for sale. besides quattrospeed.com (is he good to deal with, feedback?) I have not seen complete sets.
so the question is, do fronts for cheap or do all 4 for alot more?
if finding rear q bilsteins seperate is hard then doing the rears later would not be smart when i could buy a kit and do them all.
decisions.....

offhand do you know of any standard size that might fit the strut nut? I have access to some massive std'd but my metric set does not go that high.
I would assume you HAVE to take the whole assembly out, including taking off the tie end (gently since they are such a $%#%* to replace), correct?
thanks as always

MikTip

I've bought quite a few item from Ben@QS, and he's always come through, without a hitch.

See if your rear shocks are bad? Push down on the rear end, see how it rebounds or bounces?

The Bilstein rears do exist, as others here have found them.

DIY front shocks is not too bad. Having the special tools makes the job go much easier. But it can be done without them. You could attempt to R&R the shocks, with the strut still attached?
The difficulty would be getting the spring compressors on, enough to remove the upper strut bearing. Then removing the nut, which holds the shock insert in the strut?

egp320i

i can push down and they do spring up quickly but they are very hard to push down with hardly any give. I usually go with milage vs usual wear to give myself and idea, so with that and 110k by all means the oe boge's should be well worn.
btw, if boge was the OE supplier for b4's, how difficult would it be to get factory boge quattro rears?
I know boge's do not come with dust boots, and some have mentioned not all bilsteins do either.

lyonelll

nut is 22 mm, O2 sensor socket worked for a lot of us