4/10/24 Track Night @ HHR - Stormy attempts a FWD lap record (how will it end?)

[GoatAutomotive]

Teaser pics! We had a NASTY series of storms hit yesterday. Rain slowed me down, as did an extended job on a customer’s 2023 GLI.

There was cause for concern that today would also be a rain day in my area. Instead… BOOST WEATHER!!!

Praise to the car gods (“the old, and the new”).

Pics below show the rear H&R spaghetti noodles next to the 1975 Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr. Olympia coils.

New TDS rear pads for 310mm PP brakes: 15.62mm thick out of the box.

No shims included, I believe this was intentional, but I haven’t had any downtime to research it.

The included hardware didn’t jive well with the pads. You’d need to file the edges of the backing plate down to get proper fitment.

I cleaned and reused my existing hardware, + enough grease in the critical areas to promote good pad movement.

More updates will follow, along with pics and performance part reviews.

Oh, and yes…I did take before ride height measurements with the H&Rs.

Will grab post height measurements for the 034s. Gotta see if my tried and true auto-math was correct .

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Perfect fitment.

As promised.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Shots of the 034 LCAs. They feel very lightweight and rigid in your hands.


Note the horrific voids in the stock LCA bushings. That design has no place on a GTI, R or GLI…

 

[DerHase]

Shots of the 034 LCAs. They feel very lightweight and rigid in your hands.


Note the horrific voids in the stock LCA bushings. That design has no place on a GTI, R or GLI…

That looks like a VERY questionable amount of thread engagement on those ball joint studs.

 

[1970something]

That looks like a VERY questionable amount of thread engagement on those ball joint studs.

Agreed. The 034 LCAs look way thicker than the stock ones where it bolts to the ball joint. I wonder if the 034 ball joints have longer threads to account for this.

 

[RopeJumper13]

I have these LCA, no issues with stud length on stock ball joints. I assume its just not fully bolted in.

 

[1970something]

Awesome, thanks for the clarification RopeJumper. Just to confirm, those are stock ball joints?

 

[RopeJumper13]

Yup! Stock ball joints in that picture. 034 believes you might run into tie rod issues if you do their LCA and ball joints.

 

[DerHase]

Yup! Stock ball joints in that picture. 034 believes you might run into tie rod issues if you do their LCA and ball joints.

View attachment 303032

FYI Arteon inner tie rods are approx 20-25mm longer than OEM. I have a pair waiting to be used once I space the steering rack upwards to get rid of the bump steer caused by the 034 ball joints.

 

[tigeo]

Whatever my stock BJs were on my Sportwagen we had to get OE GTI units to work with my Superpro LCAs due to bolt length.

Edit. So that means the regular Golf ones are shorter than GTI...not sure why that is.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

That looks like a VERY questionable amount of thread engagement on those ball joint studs.

100% agreed. I contacted 034 after hours to discuss. Definitely not recommended for tracking in this configuration.

I’ll check my email again to see if they’ve responded yet.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

Whatever my stock BJs were on my Sportwagen we had to get OE GTI units to work with my Superpro LCAs due to bolt length.

Edit. So that means the regular Golf ones are shorter than GTI...not sure why that is.

I actually thought about you last night and wanted to reach out to you to discuss how the SiperPros interfaces with your stock BJs.

These are bone stock OEGTI ball joints that came with a car in 2017.

I was deeply disheartened when I saw that there were only about 4 threads coming through the studs…

There’s a lot of information to unpack about the zero 34 parts and everything I went through for track prep. I will update this thread when I get time tonight.

 

[GoatAutomotive]

“Hello Michael,

Thank you for reaching out,
In order for us to get a better understanding, we would like to request some additional details. Could you provide us with your full VIN and your OEM ball joint part number? Please also provide us with your 034 order number/copy of your original order.

For the VW Golf Alltracks built between Oct. 28, 2018 and Oct. 1 2021, the ball joints may have to be switched to the superseded VW parts 3C0 407 365 B and 3C0 407 366 B, or to 034 RCO ball joints, in order to have adequate stud length. It seems like you may also be experiencing the same issue, and we can help verify and confirm part numbers and fitment.

This will help us get the best grasp of the matter at hand and allow us to assist you more effectively. Although this can take time, we appreciate your patience and willingness to work with us.

-- Kenji Nezu”

 

[RopeJumper13]

Very surprised your OEM GTI ball joints are having issues. I guess VW updated them midway in 2017? No issues with a GTI Sport purchased in April 2017.

Updated my LCA/Ball Joint photo above

 

[tigeo]

I am out of town but I will look at those part nos. on my invoice from when they did this, I just remember having to buy ball joints and that they were VW.