KW Coilovers and Geometry Help

[Lemonski]

Hi All

So last year I bought a 2013 T5.1 BiTdi 4Motion LWB Kombi. It came fitted with an almost new set of KW Coilovers and the previous owner had fitted new top mounts etc and lowered it pretty much as low as they would go. I decided to lift it about 10mm and bought a set of new OE Sportline 18 alloys and fitted brand new Bridgestone All Season tyres.

Now I did not want to wear the tires out, so I then went to a local ( 30 min drive away ) to me garage that had a latest Hunter Geometry rig and I had heard good things about their.
service. When I got it back they said the rear was 80mm below standard ride height and the front 60mm. I did at the time find this hard to belive as the KW has a max lowering of 60mm and I was not at the max. Anyway they said everything was set geomntery wise and off I went thinking great that will stop my tyre wear.

Several months later and I go back to the same garage for my MOT and when I collect it they said, "you should take that back to where you got the geomtery done as it is scrubbing the insides of the front tires down to the legal limit" I SAID YOU DID IT!!!

They then back tracked and said that's coilover's for you and you cannot get things set right blah blah blah

So I guess I am hoping someone can give me some suggestions before I go back and question their work.

They did not tell me at the time that their geometry set up would cause wear, just it was fine. If they had said at the time due to your coilover's and we only set camber etc to OEM then I would have done something about it before it chewed through my tyres.

Do I need to fit something aftermarket to allow me to set the coilovers up correctly? Or should they be able to set it right as is?

Any help or guidance much appreciated.

Lee

ps i live in Braemar Aberdeenshire if anyone knows somewhere up in Scotland that is used to working on VW T5/T6 for this sort of thing please let me know.

 

[Kind of Blue]

As you may know, there are a small number of suspension experts and sales out let for suspension. I believe that one of them at least, covers KW specifically. If you have a look in the relevant sections, members or suspension, they will become more apparent. You could direct your questions more directly to them. I am sure, that any of them could answer your questions and give some advice about yo dilemma. Good luck with solving this.

 

[Noddy996]

@CRS Performance

 

[CRS Performance]

Hi there

Who ever fitted the kit initially didnt do a good job , the KW kits are designed to go to 65 mm front , you have 20 mm difference between front and back which is also a problem, , this is a simple set up issue and Not a product issue ,It also sounds like the alignment company are messing for the sake of messing.

Bognor motors Sell the KW kit and we have our own private label KW kit which is extremely popular and we have fitted plenty with no issues .

This shouldnt be a problem to sort out ,
If the van came with this kit on i assume you dont know who fitted it as 80 mm rear is way too low . Do you have a lot of weight in the rear ?

If you want to find a VW specialist who is prepared to look at we can guide them over the phone to sort it out

Steve

 

[racerke600]

kw goes down about 60mm with the 'helper' springs in the front. don't know how you call them in english, but in belgium they are called 'helper' springs.
You can take these away and go even lower. maybe yours was fitted without these springs?

my cali is on kw , front sitting at it's lowest and just had the rear raised a bit to have it level when it's fully packed.

last week had it aligned, just needed a little adjusting on the front. (toe in)
camber and caster aren't adjustable , but was ok

 

[CRS Performance]

kw goes down about 60mm with the 'helper' springs in the front. don't know how you call them in english, but in belgium they are called 'helper' springs.
You can take these away and go even lower. maybe yours was fitted without these springs?

my cali is on kw , front sitting at it's lowest and just had the rear raised a bit to have it level when it's fully packed.

last week had it aligned, just needed a little adjusting on the front. (toe in)
camber and caster aren't adjustable , but was ok

Obviously it isnt advisable to remove the Helper spring ( we also call it that ) dropped low with out a helper spring the shock will have very little travel and constantly bottom out .. The issue will be the rear as that doesn't go much lower than spec and there isnt any helpers on the rear .
These type of things will immediately forfeit the warranty and KW can tell from the damage if they have not been set as they should .
Excessive lowering will need toe resetting .

 

[Lemonski]

Hi there

Who ever fitted the kit initially didnt do a good job , the KW kits are designed to go to 65 mm front , you have 20 mm difference between front and back which is also a problem, , this is a simple set up issue and Not a product issue ,It also sounds like the alignment company are messing for the sake of messing.

Bognor motors Sell the KW kit and we have our own private label KW kit which is extremely popular and we have fitted plenty with no issues .

This shouldnt be a problem to sort out ,
If the van came with this kit on i assume you dont know who fitted it as 80 mm rear is way too low . Do you have a lot of weight in the rear ?

If you want to find a VW specialist who is prepared to look at we can guide them over the phone to sort it out

Steve

Thank you very much for your reply and help here.

I am sorry I do not know who fitted the kit, but want to make sure I get it sorted and set up correctly. There is no weight in the rear. It is a factory Kombi with a HiLo pop top and has no kitchen in the van, so empty in the back purely for putting mountain bikes etc in.

Unfortunately for me I live in the North of Scotland with very few specialists close by, especially ones that have good knowledge of T5's

If I can find a VW specialist especially one that works on Transporters somewhere within an hour or two of my location Aberdeen/Inverness/Edinburgh that will be a start.

But thank you for the offer of help. If it is worth me ringing you if you did not mind, you might be able to give me some idea of what I need to say to the guys that set my alighnment up.

If I was not 8 hours drive away I would just bring it to you.

Thanks again really helpfull

 

[BognorMotors]

I’ll try and find you a dealer up there within our network of a Revo dealers. You are slightly too far for us to assist ;-).
And get it aligned properly afterwards

 

[Lemonski]

I’ll try and find you a dealer up there within our network of a Revo dealers. You are slightly too far for us to assist ;-).
And get it aligned properly afterwards

That's brilliant thanks for that offer of pointing me in the right direction.

I would have happily brought it in to you guys, but 1,120 mile round trip for me is pushing it a bit ;-)

Really appreciate it.

 

[BognorMotors]

We had someone come from Portugal before

 

[CRS Performance]

Find someone and ill write up a list of things to check that you can give him ,
I can also send some C spanners in case they dont have any .

 

[BognorMotors]

That's brilliant thanks for that offer of pointing me in the right direction.

I would have happily brought it in to you guys, but 1,120 mile round trip for me is pushing it a bit ;-)

Really appreciate it.

I've had very little joy through our network of REVO dealers, they are very thin on the the ground in your area. In fact the only one near to you is WR Tuning, speak to Will, but they dont have 4 wheels alignment gear, and i think with your issues this would be crucial to get it perfect. But maybe worth a chat with him as a starting point, his name is Will. He has recommended MB Motorsport in Ellon, so there is another one to look at.

Sorry I cant be of more help, I hope you get it sorted. Steve has offered the above advise which is great, and I think properly sorted you will have no issues - We have a setting on the Hunter alignment for heavily lowered vehicles.

 

[Lemonski]

Find someone and ill write up a list of things to check that you can give him ,
I can also send some C spanners in case they dont have any .

Hi Steve

Thats very kind of you and I would love you to let me have a list of bits to check.

I do have the C Spanner that came with the KW Kit in my van.

I will drop you an e mail directly with my details.

Thanks again

Lee

I've had very little joy through our network of REVO dealers, they are very thin on the the ground in your area. In fact the only one near to you is WR Tuning, speak to Will, but they dont have 4 wheels alignment gear, and i think with your issues this would be crucial to get it perfect. But maybe worth a chat with him as a starting point, his name is Will. He has recommended MB Motorsport in Ellon, so there is another one to look at.

Sorry I cant be of more help, I hope you get it sorted. Steve has offered the above advise which is great, and I think properly sorted you will have no issues - We have a setting on the Hunter alignment for heavily lowered vehicles.

Thanks for your help here. I have heard good things of MB Motorsport.

To be fair my very local guy is very good, but the folk with the Hunter machine are just not used to setting up lowered vehicles.

If you do not mind I will drop you an e mail directly if you have settings that work.

Cheers

Lee

 

[BognorMotors]

Yes no problem

Use our web contact form

 

[Lemonski]

Thought I would scan my before and after geometry setting the garage set my Van up with. Not sure if this will mean anything to you guys.





Bit missing off the scan on the before should read

Rear 24
Thrust 23

 

[Davidh]

Bit missing off the scan on the before should read

Rear 24
Thrust 23

Is this the old alignment you had done or the the new one done recently using BM settings for lowered vehicles. @BognorMotors out of interest how much lower do you have to be for you to recommend your settings? I only ask as I'm booked in tomorrow to get mine aligned. Im 40 lower in the front and 45 rear and was planning on just using the standard settings

 

[Lemonski]

Is this the old alignment you had done or the the new one done recently using BM settings for lowered vehicles. @BognorMotors out of interest how much lower do you have to be for you to recommend your settings? I only ask as I'm booked in tomorrow to get mine aligned. Im 40 lower in the front and 45 rear and was planning on just using the standard settings

these are the old settings. DO not use these. I have not had the info from BM yet.

i put these on purely for these guys to see.

Yes no problem

Use our web contact form

Mail sent to your contact form.

Thanks for your help so far and loving your Instagram stuff with Revo the last few days.

Find someone and ill write up a list of things to check that you can give him ,
I can also send some C spanners in case they dont have any .

Hi Steve

Sent mail to your contact form with my details.

Also asked for a quote to supply Audi S4 suspension, happy to take your steer here

Thanks again

Lee

 

[BognorMotors]

All received and will reply. Always playing catch up.

Spending a day ragging our 400ps around the countryside got in the way