Success! - ALLTRACK Springs on Mk7 Sportwagen TDI = 2" Lift!

Someone over on the AT facebook group tossed tiquan firestone bags on his alltrack don't have the PN off the top of my head, seemed to work, but can't comment on longevity, which always seems questionable with firestone bags.

Yea the tiguan bags are what I was thinking about

I installed these and I'm getting some fairly strong torque steer to the right. Any ideas?

did you get an alignment?

It tracks perfectly straight coasting and under braking, but pulls stronger and stronger to the right as I increase acceleration. It's really bad when trying to tow something. So I haven't gotten an alignment because (with my limited knowledge) I thought it was something else. I'm gonna take it to a local VW place that does alot of lowering, hopefully they find a fix or if it's just an alignment issue that would be great.

Disassembling the front suspension is going to affect alignment. How the car drives sometimes is not an indicator. After I replaced suspension on my Passat it drove fine but the alignment was so far off the machine couldn't see the mirrors when they put it up for alignment.

I took it to a VW shop last week to look over the front end and get an alignment. A few hundred dollars latter car drives the same. I still have pretty strong torque steer to the right. It's really bad when I try to tow something, I guess the extra throttle needed combined with a lighter front make for a bad combo. I have to re-tap the left axle because of some bad threads where it hold the hub on. The bolt tightens up nicely and seemed to be fine on the re-installation of everything. Any ideas?

hause said:

I took it to a VW shop last week to look over the front end and get an alignment. A few hundred dollars latter car drives the same. I still have pretty strong torque steer to the right. It's really bad when I try to tow something, I guess the extra throttle needed combined with a lighter front make for a bad combo. I have to re-tap the left axle because of some bad threads where it hold the hub on. The bolt tightens up nicely and seemed to be fine on the re-installation of everything. Any ideas?

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Bummer

I may be in the same boat after installing Spaccers on my springs. I know I couldn't live with that torque steer

Maybe the geometry of the axles in the 2wd system cant take the lift, hopefully not

Hope you find a solution, I can't think of anything

Finally, a pic of the GSW, loaded, with rear Alltrack springs only installed.


Owner tells us he has about 250 lbs. of equipment in the cargo area. He also reports the car drives really well with these springs, much better than previously. He'll install the fronts soon.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Finally, a pic of the GSW, loaded, with rear Alltrack springs only installed.

Owner tells us he has about 250 lbs. of equipment in the cargo area. He also reports the car drives really well with these springs, much better than previously. He'll install the fronts soon.

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These springs were tested on the front as well before ya'll stated selling them? From the research I've been doing, lifting the front of a front wheel drive car can definitely cause torque steer.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/torque_steer.htm

Yesterday I installed the Spaccer spring spacers on the driver side of my gsw.
Fortunately I found a way to install them without removing the whole assembly from the car, but it was still a pain in the ass.
Today I will do the passenger side and then I will report on any torque steer, hopefully I will get lucky, otherwise I will remove them.( not looking forward to that !)

Two spacers each side give just under 1" of lift.


What is the measurement from center of front wheel to fender lip on yours right now ?

I like the raked look. wonder how if it would affect handling on a golf S with conti tires?

This car is getting fronts shortly. We don't expect any issues with torque steer. We've lifted hundreds of MKVI Sportwagens with no torque steer reports.

thundershorts said:

I like the raked look. wonder how if it would affect handling on a golf S with conti tires?

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I think these springs on a Golf S would make the rear too tall, unless you carry a lot of weight in it. You could try regular GSW springs.

Installed the other Spaccer spring spacers this morning. Took half the time as yesterday as is typical when doing something for the first time.

Measurements:

center of wheel to fender...16" even ( measures difference of lift only )
ground to fender 28 1/4" ( suspension lift and taller tires )

Went for a test drive...first over several "stop bumps" aka speedbumps...no noises of any kind, not even extension limit, but I also didn't fly over them.

Drove on the freeway, accelerated hard...no torque steer. Took hands off the wheel..nothing

Alignment maybe off ever so slightly but I don't notice it enough to have it re aligned right away

AT the rear I have emanual design spacers with TT pads, car looks level.

So I guess I'm lucky...again I hope Hause can find a solution.

My preference would be longer springs at about the same rate as OEM's rather than spacers, but I will live with this setup

At least the spacers didn't require disassembly of the fronts since they are horseshoe shaped

Pics of before and after with the Spaccer lift?

Anyone know if the front upper strut mount on an mk7 is the same triangle bolt patter as on the mk6?

pretty similar, not sure if exactly the same.

https://store.034motorsport.com/str...n-golf-gti-r-8v-8s-audi-a3-s3-tt-tts-mqb.html

hause said:

What helper air bags will fit these springs? I can't find any that are showing to fit Alltrack springs witch is I'm guessing that's what I need?

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If you go to "Air-Lift" web site, and call them with your measurements, they can tell you which bags to order.

- they need inside diameter of coil spring dimension
- and height dimension inside of the coil spring.

Kirk

hause said:

I installed these and I'm getting some fairly strong torque steer to the right. Any ideas?

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Just a note to ponder:

I have a customer who has a 2003 Jetta wagon that we'd installed a 2" lift in a couple of years ago. While it achieves the goals he set out for, I've noticed that he's going thru rear wheel bearings more prematurely than normal, and he ate up the front control arm (front bushings) quickly resulting in a severe case of torque-steer.

I may add that it might not all be from the lift, as he's running aftermarket 17" rims (unsure of the offset), and 235/55/17 tires, - so pretty large tires as well with a larger overall diameter than stock, by quite a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the taller springs, and am contemplating putting some on the rear of my 15 GSW so when I haul my trailer the rear end of the car doesn't sit so low, but may also look into helper bags as well to complement the situation.

Those are big tires. I'd suspect the tires have more to do with the issues than the lift. And maybe he's giving the car harder use (towing, heavier loads) than most drivers.

My son's Golf has a 2" lift and stock tires and we haven't seen any unusual component wear. He did need wheel bearings last year but the car had 330K on it and we have no idea when (or if) they were last changed.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Those are big tires. I'd suspect the tires have more to do with the issues than the lift. And maybe he's giving the car harder use (towing, heavier loads) than most drivers.

My son's Golf has a 2" lift and stock tires and we haven't seen any unusual component wear. He did need wheel bearings last year but the car had 330K on it and we have no idea when (or if) they were last changed.

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I agree Peter, and like I said I do not know what the offset distance is on those rims, I suspect that is a big factor with those big tires out there on them.

Maybe this VCDS change could help :

Torque Steer Compensation (TSC)
Description: Using the Steering Assist controller (not the brakes), TSC will help prevent torque steer on tuned cars. A TSC of 1 is used by default in higher HP FWD VW models like the VR6 FWD Passat.
Go to Adaptation in the Steering Assist module
Choose "Torque Steer Compensation (TSC)"
Set new value to 1

From this great post :

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=482612

Scott02 said:

Pics of before and after with the Spaccer lift?

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http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=484359&page=2

mxtdiguy said:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=484359&page=2

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Awesome! Thanks!
I didn't see it in either thread... Did you change tire/rim size?

Scott02 said:

Awesome! Thanks!
I didn't see it in either thread... Did you change tire/rim size?

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Yes, rims are 16x7's with 205/60/16 Pirelli P4's now . Slightly taller than stock 205/55/16's.

I also installed spacers. 15 mm front and 25 rears. The wider stance seems to improve handling

I'm running 18mm and 25mm on the alltrack, def way better cross wind handling and much more planted on the highway.

FYI 205-60-16 is stock diameter for the Alltrack, could have stepped it up to 215-65-16 if you really wanted a nice lift.

I wanted more load capacity in the back without the 2" lift on a standard Sportwagen so I ordered Alltrack 54789 sport springs from Urotuning. https://www.urotuning.com/H-R-Sport-Springs-Mk7-Golf-Alltrack-Sportwagen-p/54789.htm Alltrack Sport springs are supposed to lower the Alltrack but Alltrack stock springs are supposed to raise the standard sportwagen so I hoped the net difference would cancel out. The springs fit great and the resulting ride height (floor to top of wheel arch) is 26-3/4" high. No handling problems - drives as good or better than stock. New springs seem to have less sag when loaded with passengers in the back.

You can install these without a spring compressor in the back but I had to remove 3 bolts to get the swing arm low enough to remove:
1) sway bar
2) shock
3) lower arm knuckle
Don't forget to unclip the brakeline clips

clarabess said:

I wanted more load capacity in the back without the 2" lift on a standard Sportwagen so I ordered Alltrack 54789 sport springs from Urotuning. https://www.urotuning.com/H-R-Sport-Springs-Mk7-Golf-Alltrack-Sportwagen-p/54789.htm Alltrack Sport springs are supposed to lower the Alltrack but Alltrack stock springs are supposed to raise the standard sportwagen so I hoped the net difference would cancel out. The springs fit great and the resulting ride height (floor to top of wheel arch) is 26-3/4" high. No handling problems - drives as good or better than stock. New springs seem to have less sag when loaded with passengers in the back.
You can install these without a spring compressor in the back but I had to remove 3 bolts to get the swing arm low enough to remove:
1) sway bar
2) shock
3) lower arm knuckle
Don't forget to unclip the brakeline clips

Click to expand...

Looks like a great solution for a slight gsw lift !

Did you also do fronts, or just rears ? Do they just sell rears ?

What sway bar ? aftermarket ?

Do you have a photo of the springs installed with the car without jacks ? Wondering if the progressive coils are touching....

Also, don't forget the disconnect the headlight adjustment thingy, I did and broke mine.


I recently went ahead and installed Alltrack rear springs, but I also have a 1.125" lift up front.


Its a little tall when unloaded but perfect when loaded especially with bikes hanging on the back hitch.

I'm looking at buying the alltrack springs for my '15 Golf TDI S

I have 112k on mine and wanted to do a suspension refresh. Was thinking about lifting, so figured why not.

Should I go for new oem shocks/struts or aftermarket?
Anything else I should buy that I may need to replace during the install?