CTD_Chevrolet
Veteran Member
I'm not trying to show off too much (but a little, it's pretty *****in right? 
), but I didn't find enough solid info when I decided I wanted to lower the car a little, not on cheap coilovers, so I wound up pulling the trigger and just doing it. I thought I'd document it for the next guy searching for it since I'm not active on vortex and the fact that my car came out sitting different than expected might be TDI specific.
Thoughts:
Specs:
2015 Jetta TDI S
H&R Sport Springs
18x8 Sparco Assetto Gara Bronze
225/40 R18 Yokohama Avid Ascend GT
Pics:
So, that's my little build thread for now. Maybe it'll help another gearhead who bought their first brand new car with a warranty and feels like they are driving a rental. I made it to 33k miles.
), but I didn't find enough solid info when I decided I wanted to lower the car a little, not on cheap coilovers, so I wound up pulling the trigger and just doing it. I thought I'd document it for the next guy searching for it since I'm not active on vortex and the fact that my car came out sitting different than expected might be TDI specific.Thoughts:
It came out lower than I thought. When I got it back down on the ground I almost pulled the springs out and put it back to stock because I made myself a bit sick messing with my first new car. Once the new shoes were on and I saw it in the light I like it though.
I followed the ECS Tuning guide here.
- If you have the time and space, I think this (the ECS idea of pulling the knuckles) was the better approach vs trying to swap the springs with the struts in the car or pulling the struts alone. It will need an alignment anyway, and you should be replacing TTY bolts anyway.
- I did buy their set of TTY bolts because I've become accustomed to VW's insane specs on them (more on that later), and in hindsight it was completely worth it.
The tension on the springs isn't scary high, and I was able to start the nuts back on the struts just compressing them with my hands and having a friend get them started. I hadn't done coils on anything but a truck until this job and I was pleasantly surprised on the lack of sketchiness.
The torque spec on the axle bolt is insane. I got the bolt "with smooth contact surface" and it's 147 ft lbs + 180 degrees. I wish my buddy would have gotten a picture of me precariously pulling on the fender standing on a 2' bar with my foot while carefully crossing my legs so it hopefully didn't blow my nuts off if it let go. I'd highly suggest a good impact that has some real torque or a 3/4" or 1" drive breaker bar for that. Its a LOT of torque.
Buy the wrench like this to torque the strut nut. I managed to do it with a wrench and some really creative rigging, but I probably could have cut 1/3 off the time if I had one. Note: The best solution would be to have something like an o2 sensor socket for it. That wrench would have made it easier but is still barely the right tool for the job, and realize that you're running your torque wrench in reverse if you're holding the nut while turning the stem of the strut.
Of course I didn't look at the instructions until I already had the first strut apart that recommends you measure the ride height before you put the springs in. It was supposed to be ~1.3" and it's definitely more than that. I can't tell you how much lower it is, and maybe the TDI is heavier, but it's not "like an inch". It's noticeably lower.
I'm not sure why ECS recommends taking the caliper off the slide pins instead of pulling the caliper mount off the knuckle. I thought I mis-remembered the instructions on the first side when I pulled the slide pins and was like "*** did I just do". I didn't, but on the other side I just pulled the mount. Maybe if you have some really nice fitting allen/torx/triple square bits that's the easier way to do it. For me it definitely wasn't.
It doesn't ride too bad, but you can tell the valving is wrong. When you hit a big bump on really crappy pavement at speed, you can REALLY tell it's wrong. I'm well aware I'm killing the struts but they aren't new enough to save (35k miles) so I might as well get my money's worth before I replace them.
Specs:
2015 Jetta TDI S
H&R Sport Springs
18x8 Sparco Assetto Gara Bronze
225/40 R18 Yokohama Avid Ascend GT
Pics:
So, that's my little build thread for now. Maybe it'll help another gearhead who bought their first brand new car with a warranty and feels like they are driving a rental. I made it to 33k miles.
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