New lower control arms install...

[toofastforyou]

"veedubcrazy", by looking at the picture of the lca's you removed from the car, it seems as if someone already did a few modifications to the car because 1˚, these are NOT the original lca's and 2˚, the lowering plates came with these aftermarket bars to relocate the pinion angle. Toss all of that "old school" stuff into the trash can and the H&R bars should bolt back into the factory holes...I went through the exact same thing with my car a few ago...

Claude. :wink:

 

[Alky V6]

Actually, the aftermarket brackets to relocate (lower) the lca rear mounting points are designed to change the instant center location for the OEM 4 link.
Raising the uca rear mounting points is more preferred.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Pretty much all you have to do is pivot the rear upward so the lower brackets move forward. The HR bars are the correct length unless Paul had a really bad day when he made them.:biggrin: :biggrin: You need to find out what you have for upper arms on there too, Suggest you check your pinion angle when all is said and done.

 

[veedubcrazy]

Pretty much all you have to do is pivot the rear upward so the lower brackets move forward. The HR bars are the correct length unless Paul had a really bad day when he made them.:biggrin: :biggrin: You need to find out what you have for upper arms on there too, Suggest you check your pinion angle when all is said and done.

Well, yes, I did discover that putting the floor jack almost under the yoke, but mostly on the front part of the axle rotated the axle to where the 1" gap disappeared. Once the gap was remoed the arms fit right in, albeit very tight. So tight in fact that it broke the small weld where I stitched up a crack on the front arm bracket. No big deal. I can redo that once all is tightened up.

So, the first one is in and I will move to the pass side later. I got a VW show to put on this weekend at the San Jacinto State Park. If your interested, here is the link.

Bay Area VW Club :: View topic - 19th Annual Monumental Bug Bash/Cruise/1776 engine build...

Its my other love....

 

[veedubcrazy]

Here are some pix of the progress...

And some shots of the upper stuff...

 

[BlackMetal]

Glad you got it worked out. I forgot how when I swapped my LCAs I had someone push the rear end back into place.

 

[novaderrik]

you had to fight to get that arm in because the other arm is still in there and everything bound up when you twisted the rear end. that's probably also why the mount on the frame broke, too.
when you go to take the other one out, i'd wager that it is gonna fight you when you try to get the first bolt out.

 

[veedubcrazy]

Here is the pic of the old arm and the new arm... Quite different...

And the makers of the new LCA's...

Damn nice product...I liked the "Made in the U.S.A." sticker that was put on the outside of the box...

 

[jdpolzin]

If i were you, i'd buy HR's frame brace kit for those front arm mounts. Thats a serious stress point right there. If you leave that like it is, you will wreck the car because it's going to break. Not trying to scare you but only trying to save your life. Thats serious damage right there on the most stress part of your frame.

 

[veedubcrazy]

I have the welder already in the garage to take care of the crack. I also have additional plate steel I will weld in to re-inforce the bracket. Believe me, I won't drive it unless I know its ready. Thanx for the words...:smile:

 

[veedubcrazy]

Here is the shot of the crack. Its a hairline crack that the red arrow is pointing to. The area under the black x is not a crack. Just a just rusty and dirty factory weld...

 

[veedubcrazy]

Worked a bit on the pass side LCA over the weekend. Talk about a bear getting out. Them mount bolts were harder to remove than the drivers side. Those SSM bars are crap. But I encountered a new problem. Seems the pass side LCA front pass thru mount bolt was loose and wallered out the holes a bit. Now, when I go to install the HR LCA and cinch up the front, it will still be loose in the mount on account of the enlarged hole. I do think I have a solution though. I will attempt to weld a same size steel washer (thick) to the outside wall of the bracket. This should fix the inside hole. The hole that you have to access thru the frame will be a bit tougher. Anyone ever had this experience before?

I will take pix of this and post soon...

Dave

 

[Ttype6]

I do think I have a solution though. I will attempt to weld a same size steel washer (thick) to the outside wall of the bracket. This should fix the inside hole. The hole that you have to access thru the frame will be a bit tougher. Anyone ever had this experience before?

That won't fix the problem. The holes are messed up because of the old bar's inability to twist when the rear end articulates. Your new bars aren't technically any better at this. The best setup would be a bar with a spherical rod end on the end of the bar that bolts to the frame. Since the rod end is so narrow you would use an aluminum spacer on each side of the rod end and because of their large diameter you would solve your large hole problem. I went to this setup 7 years ago and have never had to tighten the bolts since because there is no twisting stresses on the bars.

new_page

 

[Ttype6]

PM sent.

 

[veedubcrazy]

Thought I would post some final pix of the LCA install ordeal I went thru. It was not easy removing the SSM LCA's as they were rusted/stuck in there bad. Went thru 5 sawzall blades just to get the stubborn bolts/sleeves out...But they are in and they look great. Fitment was not too bad, took some coaxing though. The ride is definitely better as is the handling.

Here they are...

When the sway bar got removed, I went ahead and cleaned it up and just painted it a semi-gloss black. Same for the rear axle cover. The two parts really cleaned up the appearance.

Now, for the next problem...