BUT NOW the car keeps making some sort of "clunk" noise and it's rather loud, whenever I make sharp turns. I can't figure out if this is something to do with the sway bar end links being stretched out to far and they're straining under the weight when turning, or what.

I don't have a lot of technical knowledge in regards to suspensions, but I sure as hell am not taking the car back to the same shop again. It's already been in there 5 times because of some other noises that finally went away. For some reason though, they can't seem to fix this problem, or they're simply ignoring it.
Has anyone else experienced some strange noises after lowering a beetle with coils? The car is dropped about 2" in the front and only 1.5" or so in the back (the noise is only coming from the front, when turning the steering wheel hard left or right)
Arrrgh, this is why I hate doing after market installs sometimes!

Hey! Sounds like some people (insert bold type here) just don't want to go cheap, they would rather have name brand parts that cost twice as much. To each thier own, I would rather have a less expensive, equivalent part when it works right. In your case, that's just not so.
But that doesn't mean you have to toss them out straight away. It could be that the coilovers are fine, and like you said there may be clearnace issues with the swaybar or endlinks that could be modified to fix the clunking issue.
I'm very interested to see how your case works out- I may be interested in those coilovers if a fix can be ironed out, and if they turn out to be fairly good quality and not wear out prematurely.
I'm thinking a shop with an alignment rack may be able to help. You will need some heavy duty tie down straps or a strongman for this. The rack has a large opening under the car so you can adjust and inspect things suspension related. With the straps, you can get hold of the front end, and wrench it down until you see where the rubbing or clunking is coming from. Or someone could stand on the rack and try to bounce the front end to try and make the noise happen for the person underneath to look at. Most suspension shops can help you there, and your installer should be able to iron it out just have them do simple diagnosis like this- they owe it to you, as they have been paid for the job. If it's found that the kit is responsible for the noises, then you will have to pay for the fix. If it's their shoddy work, then hey....

 

My friend has VMaxx coils on his GTI VR6 and he bottoms out and rubs all the time. They go pretty low but you can't daily drive it that way without breaking things because they're so bouncy.

I've read a lot on the vortex lately about people blowing a strut after like 5,000 miles and having to wait for a replacement to come through the 1-year warranty. Any given day there's a few pairs of VMaxx coils on the vortex for sale with low mileage, people getting rid of them to upgrade to something better.

Anyway, you get what you pay for.

 

The first problem I had was the day when I went to pick up the car. The coils were sticking up out of the top of the car (where they screw down and clamp with that little rubber donut hole thing... kinda hard to explain) and so I had went straight back to the shop to have them fix this problem.

I actually had to take the car in a few more times after that because it sounded like the drive shaft was hitting the front sway bar. Sure enough that's what it was. The guy adjusted the sway bar extension links that came with the coilover kit, and now they're stretched out as far as they can go.

BUT NOW the car keeps making some sort of "clunk" noise and it's rather loud, whenever I make sharp turns. I can't figure out if this is something to do with the sway bar end links being stretched out to far and they're straining under the weight when turning, or what.

issue 1: it's normal for there to be a space or gap where the front struts come up through the hole in the body... how much they come through could be debated for days, but it's normal...

issue 2: rubbing on the axle can happen when you lower more than 1.5 inches... some cars do and some cars don't... sounds like they fixed that problem with the end-link extentions

issue 3: "clunk" noise... did you have the shop replace the upper strut mounts and bearings when they did the install..?? if not then that's your noise, provided you didn't have the noise before the install... both should be changed out when installing new struts... if they did then they may have crushed or cracked them when you had them fix the gap at the top of the strut/body...

how to correct..??? go to dealer (or if you have the time order them from ECS Tuning) and buy new upper strut mounts and bearings... go back to the shop and have them replaced... this time when they drive down the top nut on the strut have them do it by hand and not with an air-tool and with the car on the ground... then torque the nut to spec...

good luck

 

I don't know what's the correct english expression )but in german it's "Spur vermessen") - I hope I'm using the correct expression now, please correct me if I'm wrong - but was the track measured after the coilovers have been installed? Or the stuff mounted to the sway bar isn't really good...

 

My friend has VMaxx coils on his GTI VR6 and he bottoms out and rubs all the time. They go pretty low but you can't daily drive it that way without breaking things because they're so bouncy.

I've read a lot on the vortex lately about people blowing a strut after like 5,000 miles and having to wait for a replacement to come through the 1-year warranty. Any given day there's a few pairs of VMaxx coils on the vortex for sale with low mileage, people getting rid of them to upgrade to something better.

Anyway, you get what you pay for.

Sounds like that's not my option. I'd rather apy a few bucks more for regular coils, and decent konis.

 

My friend has VMaxx coils on his GTI VR6 and he bottoms out and rubs all the time. They go pretty low but you can't daily drive it that way without breaking things because they're so bouncy.

I've read a lot on the vortex lately about people blowing a strut after like 5,000 miles and having to wait for a replacement to come through the 1-year warranty. Any given day there's a few pairs of VMaxx coils on the vortex for sale with low mileage, people getting rid of them to upgrade to something better.

Anyway, you get what you pay for.

Meh, I think they're a great deal and they ride really nice.

Oh and I didn't ask for opinions on the coils, I asked for help with a problem during installation.

 

I only gave my experience with them because other members were showing interest in them and I wanted to remind them that in most cases you get what you pay for.

If you're on a budget and it's a decision between a cupkit and VMaxx coils, get the VMaxx setup for sure. But, if spending $400-$500 more on a quality setup with a lifetime warranty isn't a big deal for you, then I really suggest going with a known brand.

Search "vmaxx" on VWVortex.com and read a few threads and form your own opinions before buying, that's all I'm saying.

 

Thanks again, but I'm not shopping. I already bought them and have them installed.

Again, I'm looking for help with an installation problem, not opinions about whether I should have bought them or not.

There are other threads to go voice your opinion about the setup I bought. Please don't post them in here.

Thanks

 

Has anyone else experienced some strange noises after lowering a beetle with coils?

Lower control arm bushings, yours are crushed, get the R32/TT ones, very hard rubber, DO NOT get poly bushings.

Did the shop re-use your OEM upper strut bushings? Idiots if they did.

 

Thanks again, but I'm not shopping. I already bought them and have them installed.

Again, I'm looking for help with an installation problem, not opinions about whether I should have bought them or not.

There are other threads to go voice your opinion about the setup I bought. Please don't post them in here.

Thanks

SMG was talking about bottoming out. My guess is they were adjusted way low, how are yours? You say it's a nice ride. I would like to know the drop you went (1.5??") That's what I will be shooting for, I have no need for a slammed bug (Although they look excellent!)
I'm gonna have to check out the Tex for more info on these things.
What Bill said is great advice, the lower bushings on the control arms and uppers may be bad. Your drop may be too much for the balljoints too, but that's from experience with non-bugs talking! Good luck, bro.

 

I have been doing the automotive thing for a pretty long time and I've mingled with an awful lot of gear heads, tuners, shops, manufacturers and performance magazines over the years but I have never heard of this brand, however, that doesn't mean they are not alright.

First, it sounds like the installation shop that you chose doesn't know what they are doing, there is no way that you should have had to make that many trips back to them to have corrections made, suggestion, find another shop, "Fast"...

I definitely agree that the name on the part is not so important, it is the quality, reliablilty and performance that are of value, the quality of installation is equally as important as the quality of parts used, never cheap out on the quality of either.

Keep in mind, it is not the brand name itself that is important anyway, it is the track record for top quality, reliability and performance that a given name brand might represent that is of importance, this is typically how a name brand becomes, a name brand.

I would suggest that you get the system installed by someone who knows what they are doing before something gets damaged, then you can determine whether or not these coilovers are acceptable to you or not.

This job is not rocket science, it's a very simple installation.

 

Meh, I think they're a great deal and they ride really nice.

Oh and I didn't ask for opinions on the coils, I asked for help with a problem during installation.

Bottom of the line coil overs, Bottom of the line installers, come here for free advice. I'm guessing the Creaking noise your hearing is coming from your wallet. you get what you don't pay for.

 

LOL! Gilligan's getting snappy! I like it.

 

Naughty naughty gilligan, ..... But the quality comments are correct.

 

Bottom of the line coil overs, Bottom of the line installers, come here for free advice. I'm guessing the Creaking noise your hearing is coming from your wallet. you get what you don't pay for.

Well, I have taken the bug to another shop. The noise has nothing to do with the installers or the "bottom of the line" coils I got, which incidentally ride extremely well and don't bottom out like SMGs retarded friend.

It turns out that there is a bearing missing at the top of the strut that is causing the spring to not turn with the rest of the assembly.

So it's getting fixed now. Thanks for your vast knowledge of nothing but BS, and your sarcastic worthless comment.

Man, there sure are a lot of rude people on this forum now. I miss the old org a lot.



Thanks to the other folks who had sincere helpful answers, I really appreciate your advice

 

If there's a bearing missing then it had everything to do with the installers. Bearings don't forget to re-install themselves.

 

The noise has nothing to do with the installers, it turns out that there is a bearing missing at the top of the strut that is causing the spring to not turn with the rest of the assembly.

 

If there's a bearing missing then it had everything to do with the installers. Bearings don't forget to re-install themselves.

Exactly.

I am not trying to be mean with any of my responses5t3v3, but, this really is a recipe for disaster.

 

and don't bottom out like SMGs retarded friend.

So it's getting fixed now. Thanks for your vast knowledge of nothing but BS, and your sarcastic worthless comment.

Man, there sure are a lot of rude people on this forum now. I miss the old org a lot.

Lets see you called our friends retards, Told me I'm full of BS and insinuated that we are sarcastic. And then you call us rude!!!
Well I never!!!

 

Gilligan, Get over yourself.


Anyhow, I took it to another place to have it fixed, since I believe that the car is in no condition to drive safely. The original place installed all the parts that came with the kit, so it's not their fault. However, they don't have the knowledge to fix the problem it's caused, which is why I decided to take it to a place that does this professionally, and can align the car as well afterwards

 

I'm fine, It's getting over you that makes me laugh.

 

Listen, here is how to get beyond this point, unless the original factory strut(s) was already missing the Axial Ball Bearing(s) on the top of the strut(s) (Very unlikely), then it was the shop that installed the coilovers that failed to reinstall the bearing(s) when they did the coilover installation, this would not only make it their fault but it would make them incompetent as well, especially considering how many times you had to return to them with after the fact suspension related car issues.

Every front strut assembly is equipped with some sort of rotational bearing like this, I have done many suspension upgrades on different cars to this point, however, the very first time I did an upgrade on a FWD suspension as somewhat of a novice, still I did not forget to reinstall those bearings or any other part, like I said before, it's not rocket science.

 

this would not only make it their fault but it would make them incompetent as well

Well said.

 

I'll second that motion.
But the bottom line is that the problem was discovered and is being remedied and thats really what matters. :toast: :gotme:

 

Here here!