Frankenwagon!

https://dieselenvy.com/2017/11/05/frankenwagon/

I think my tire size is 215/55/18, larger than most reasonable ppl will try go.
I'm headed out to work now, I'll post more info regarding towing, compression with weight etc. These are the ID parts lift springs. Hey if you guess at ID Parts wanna send me a free oil change kit for this sweet advertising I'll gladly accept I was up a few late nights battling the fronts.

The fronts are real fun aren't they!?

Looking good!

Thanks for photo link.

Looks fantastic !

I would love to hear about ride quality change with these springs, and how much does the larger diameter tire change drivability ? How about braking loss if any ?

I think with a 6mt, one would have to use a lot more clutch when starting from a dead stop.

Theoretically there should be a penalty for such a large tire, but would like hear about real life experience..

Any alignment issues ?

Thanks for the link

best looking 18" set up i've seen, may times its 235-35-18 rubber bands.

I thought 215-65-16 was the max you can go but you proved us wrong. Your are probably glad you didn't get mud flaps.

No rubbing on the fronts lock to lock?

mxtdiguy said:

Looks fantastic !
I would love to hear about ride quality change with these springs, and how much does the larger diameter tire change drivability ? How about braking loss if any ?
I think with a 6mt, one would have to use a lot more clutch when starting from a dead stop.
Theoretically there should be a penalty for such a large tire, but would like hear about real life experience..
Any alignment issues ?
Thanks for the link

Click to expand...

The springs give a little plusher ride over harsh roads and the larger tires definitely ride over the top of pot holes better instead of falling in them. I'll do some testing and get back to you on braking, I haven't noticed a big difference yet. To me first gear in the manual feels very tall even with stock tires and if it's been a few weeks since I've last driven the car I'll ride the clutch a little the first few times. I would say its not any worse with the larger tires but it was a concern of mine going in. I towed 1500lbs behind it with the larger tires and it wasn't to sketchy, I did have to cautious when starting on an incline.
I have a stage 2 tune and the car feels slower with the bigger tires. I don't think the hwy miles dropped to bad but I'm guessing I'll drop around 8 mpg in the city. Alignment is actually spot on.

740GLE said:

best looking 18" set up i've seen, may times its 235-35-18 rubber bands.

I thought 215-65-16 was the max you can go but you proved us wrong. Your are probably glad you didn't get mud flaps.

No rubbing on the fronts lock to lock?

Click to expand...

Thank you. I actually went with this tire size because I thought it was gonna fit fine stock and give me a slight lift. If I had to do it again I would have went with 45 or 50 sidewall. The 55's didn't fit stock so I had to get taller springs and that's were I'm at now. The aren't rubbing going forward but they do in reverse. The wheel offset is 42 and I have 15mm spacers in rear and 8mm in front. It took trial and error for me to get to those values so I hope that helps someone.

Towing reports:

If you have over 100 lbs of tongue weight and anything in the boot I'd advise helper bags, the rear on these springs are pretty squishy whether you have stock springs or lift springs.
If the cargo in/on your car, plus the weight of your trailer and cargo on trailer equals any where near 1500lbs I'd HIGHLY recommend you add trailer brakes. They are cheap insurance. I think a set is $100
Lastly, these Aluma wood deck trailers for what ever reason aren't selling well and you can find dealers that will sell them for a song. Tip, use the Aluma website to search. Very nice trailers. I went with the 68" width, I'd think hard before going wider, maybe test first if possible.
In a few weeks I'll report back with more findings.

hause said:

The springs give a little plusher ride over harsh roads and the larger tires definitely ride over the top of pot holes better instead of falling in them. I'll do some testing and get back to you on braking, I haven't noticed a big difference yet. To me first gear in the manual feels very tall even with stock tires and if it's been a few weeks since I've last driven the car I'll ride the clutch a little the first few times. I would say its not any worse with the larger tires but it was a concern of mine going in. I towed 1500lbs behind it with the larger tires and it wasn't to sketchy, I did have to cautious when starting on an incline.
I have a stage 2 tune and the car feels slower with the bigger tires. I don't think the hwy miles dropped to bad but I'm guessing I'll drop around 8 mpg in the city. Alignment is actually spot on.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I would love to have the ground clearance you have, but that tire size might be too tall for me. I don't find first gear to be overly tall, but in reverse I always have to use more clutch especially if backing up any incline.

I have a stage one kerma tune and with my slightly taller 205/60/16's I can still release only the clutch slowly to start rolling forward, very handy in stop and go crawl traffic. Not sure if I could do that with a much larger tire.

I don't know if it is the tune, but the motor will bump up to 1k rpm just as the clutch engages, and then there is enough power to fully release the clutch to get rolling

Nice to hear the rear the rear springs are not stiff, I might buy the same set in the future.
Currently I have Emanual design spacers with TT Audi pads in the rear, and the car looks normal to me. Maybe my springs have sagged. On a recent trip to the beach we had the car loaded inside, a loaded roof box and two bikes on the back. There wasn't much travel left.

As far as support bags, I think the springs you have in the back are from a Q5, not an Alltrack based on the part #'s

It's amazing how much a 5% change in tire revolutions per mile actually feels like ( especially at highway speeds ). I've dealt with this on my previous vehicle. ( 1991 VW 4x4 Westfalia ), but these TDI's have a lot higher torque to weight ratio so maybe its not so bad.

When I first bought the car, the ride seemed a little too stiff for my taste and driving conditions, but now with the taller tires and maybe broken in springs, the ride is acceptable, but additional ground clearance would be great.

As much as I love the Xenons, I like the somewhat "retro" look of your headlights with round projectors inside.

Here's a chart to find the right bags for your application. I'll report back with results.
https://www.airliftcompany.com/workshop/air-lift-1000-universal-air-spring-kit/

hause said:

Here's a chart to find the right bags for your application. I'll report back with results.
https://www.airliftcompany.com/workshop/air-lift-1000-universal-air-spring-kit/

Click to expand...

Great link

Is there any info on the spring rate of those rear springs ?

I guess one could load the rear axle with bags of gravel and measure the drop otherwise .

They aren't very stiff. Ride nice though