PaulW

Bought a set of H&R coilovers for my 97 A8, coming in on Thursday, going to try and do the rears on Friday and the fronts on Saturday.

I have a simple spring compressor (two pieces independent of each other) and I hear sometimes it's hard to get the springs compressed. My springs/struts are seperate in the rear, together in the front.

All you have to do is compress the spring enough in the rear to remove it, then take the strut out. Hopefully my compressor will do it.

For the fronts, you drop the whole assembly, compress the spring, take the stuff off the top of the spring and put it on new H&R.

I'm going to do the back first so (not height adjustable) and then to front so I can adjust it to the right height. Does anybody know if the H&R's can be adjusted while on the car (I imagine so) and if so, do you have to compress the spring to do so?

Wish me luck!

pw

ryoung

Paul,

I don't have any experience with H&R's, but with the Penske's on our Formula Continental, adjustments can be made by jacking up the car to take the load off the springs.

A special tool is used to adjust preload on the spring (don't know how H&R does this), but in general you want only hand-tight preload when the wheel is in the air, just enough to keep the spring from flopping around at full droop.

BTW, be careful when using those spring compressors. There's a lot of energy stored in those springs that you don't want to get loose in an uncontrolled manner.

Last but not least, now that you've got a lowered H&R suspension, we definitely need to get on the track together sometime.

PaulW

Thanks, I second the motion of getting together on the track!

ryoung

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It wouldn't be a bad idea to adjust corner weights after you've installed the H&R's. [A local speed/race shop should have the necessary scales.] The concern is that if you have a very light corner, that tire will tend to lock up early under hard braking. The ABS system will be able to manage this safely, but you really don't want ABS activated just because corner weights are off.

Also, lowering the front suspension will increase negative camber a bit in the front (a good thing), but it's probably prudent to recheck alignment after the install.

PaulW

....I see that the alignment tech from Laurel Audi in Westmont is on Audiworld, found him and asked about alignment. He gave me confidence that he knows what he is doing and stated that there are a lot of adjustments on the A8, looked at the Bently and I agree.

I'll be bringing it over there after I get it done, he drives a S4 with mods, so hopefully I'll get the right guy.

Will also be replacing the lower straight control arm when installing the coilovers because the joint is worn. Should drive like a totally different car!

I'll have to find a place that has the scales for corner weights.....I do have to say that you scared me a little when you originally posted that I had no idea what it was. But it appears to be nothing more than just setting your car up for top performance. Thanks for the tip!