Spring snapped!

[AnthonyCP]

Hi all,

The front offside spring on my bro's mk2 Arosa snapped the other day. We went to Seat and they wanted £70 for one spring!
So I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to lower it! I have been looking around at the different brands. Preferably we would have liked AVO springs because they are black and therfore discreet but they are listed as only fitting the mk1 unfortunately.

The runner up atm is Apex. They are the cheapest of the lot and they have a 5 year unlimited mileage warranty which seems pretty fair! Does anyone have Apex springs and can share their thoughts on them?

Cheers,
Anthony.

 

[lunalupi]

I've got a set from Germany so can't comment on the Apex, but I can say that the suspension is all interchangeable between Mk1 and Mk2 Arosas, and Lupos so you don't have to get mk2 specific ones

 

[AnthonyCP]

I've got a set from Germany so can't comment on the Apex, but I can say that the suspension is all interchangeable between Mk1 and Mk2 Arosas, and Lupos so you don't have to get mk2 specific ones

That's great news mate. It will have to be the AVOs then! Will a 40mm drop be ok on the 15" wheels that are on it? The tyres are 195/45/15 which I think from reading is the most common fitting.

Cheers,
Anthony

 

[Boo]

Thats the recommended size for tyres if your going to lower, so go for it !

 

[CatB1]

I've got a set from Germany so can't comment on the Apex, but I can say that the suspension is all interchangeable between Mk1 and Mk2 Arosas, and Lupos so you don't have to get mk2 specific ones

Tried to fit the Lupo Gti front suspension leg onto my Arosa tdi, it would not fit as the two lower holes were in a slightly different position.


Pete

 

[AnthonyCP]

Thats the recommended size for tyres if your going to lower, so go for it !

That's great. Looks like we will be ordering the AVOs then.
When changing the springs is there anything recommended to change at the same time? It is a low mileage car and feels tight as a drum so I can't think of anything really.
Also is there any specific tools I will need (apart from spring compressors) to complete the job?
Anything I should know about before starting the job etc.

Cheers,
Anthony

 

[CatB1]

That's great. Looks like we will be ordering the AVOs then.
When changing the springs is there anything recommended to change at the same time? It is a low mileage car and feels tight as a drum so I can't think of anything really.
Also is there any specific tools I will need (apart from spring compressors) to complete the job?
Anything I should know about before starting the job etc.

Cheers,
Anthony

Might be worth changing the top bearing whilst you are at it, not much from GSF. From what I remember when I did mine I had difficulty undoing the strut nut, not sure whether there is a special tool required. I had to cut two 'windows' in the side of an extension socket to feed the allan key in so the allan key would stop the strut rotating whilst I undid the strut nut. Could'nt use a ring spanner as the 'kick' on the end of the spanner was'nt deep enough to fit inside the strut tower.

Pete

 

[lunalupi]

Yup, there's a really annoying nut holding the front suspension in, attacking it with an nut-removing-airgun-thingummy works well, but if you don't have one you'll need to get creative and invent something like Pete did.

Pete - there must be a slight difference in the Mk2 TDi suspension then, i put GTi suspension on my mk1 with no problems. I shall remember that!

 

[CatB1]

Yup, there's a really annoying nut holding the front suspension in, attacking it with an nut-removing-airgun-thingummy works well, but if you don't have one you'll need to get creative and invent something like Pete did.

Pete - there must be a slight difference in the Mk2 TDi suspension then, i put GTi suspension on my mk1 with no problems. I shall remember that!

Maybe a slight difference, it would have fitted but it would have been running a large amount of camber, I would have had to elongate the hole & the slot for the camber adjustment to make it fit, I just did not have the time to do it.


Pete