Mk7 lowering spring install diy tips, tools, and pics

[imthanick_a]

I found this thread with the picture from the service manual. I'll go out and check at some point today. I have a cheapo endoscope so i should be able to get in there to see. I think youre right though about the offset

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/noise-after-installing-vwr-springs.321749/

 

[burtomr]

ive got another dumb question, and after a small amount of googling didnt deem it a concern. But on my drivers side front strut, the tophat did not sit flat after everything was reassembled. I know theyre not supposed to sit completely flat, but it was way more tilted than it was before I swapped the springs. Google says that its no problem, what do you guys think? I had to push the strut towards the back of the car to get the hub back on the strut but everything sits fine now it seems. Yes, I lined up the springs coil with the indentation on the pads and made sure the springs were seated as properly as possible.

A picture would have been nice... The upper mount to the spring tower is not flat, it's at an angle like 3° or so. If the bearing to the strut mount notch is facing toward the engine you have installed the upper mount correctly.

 

[imthanick_a]

A picture would have been nice... The upper mount to the spring tower is not flat, it's at an angle like 3° or so. If the bearing to the strut mount notch is facing toward the engine you have installed the upper mount correctly.

Im aware a picture would have been nice, I've addressed that. The angle was closer to 10 degrees if i had to guess which is why I'm questioning. The passenger side one looked fine. I knew i should have checked further into it when I noticed the difference


The gap is not large enough to fit the endoscope so i cant see if its lined up right without dropping the strut out from the top. I may jack the car up and try to remove just those three screws to see if i can check the orientation. I'll have to order some more to replace them though. Or I could jack it up and try to see if I can tell from the bottom side of the top hat. if I knew what it was supposed to look like i should be able to tell right away from inside the wheel well

 

[KyACRASH]

MK7 GTI 4 door DSG PP
Any spring setup that is only 1/2” or 12.5mm lower than stock?

OEM “driver gear” springs which are discontinued.

IIRC Eibach and H&R both have mild drop options, but I’d have to look it up

H&R Sport OE. The drop is more than 1/2", but not too much. I have them and think they look great.

 

[KyACRASH]

Im aware a picture would have been nice, I've addressed that. The angle was closer to 10 degrees if i had to guess which is why I'm questioning. The passenger side one looked fine. I knew i should have checked further into it when I noticed the difference


The gap is not large enough to fit the endoscope so i cant see if its lined up right without dropping the strut out from the top. I may jack the car up and try to remove just those three screws to see if i can check the orientation. I'll have to order some more to replace them though. Or I could jack it up and try to see if I can tell from the bottom side of the top hat. if I knew what it was supposed to look like i should be able to tell right away from inside the wheel well

I'm almost positive that the alignment notch is on the same side of the mount that has the arrows. If you take the wheel off you can reach around and feel for the notch and make sure it is facing the engine.

But I also agree with Jake, if you're sure the notches are aligned you should be good to go.

 

[Royalion]

Any pics and measurements?

 

[imthanick_a]

For the third time, no I don't have pics of the tophat haha

I'm almost positive that the alignment notch is on the same side of the mount that has the arrows. If you take the wheel off you can reach around and feel for the notch and make sure it is facing the engine.

But I also agree with Jake, if you're sure the notches are aligned you should be good to go.

If you are correct, then I'm a happy guy. I return bearing pictures from my endoscope. Both top hats are oriented the same direction, with the notch facing the engine of the car. I was able to jack the car up and get my endoscope in there. The photos are from the drivers side and the passenger side is the mirror image. Its hard to tell because cheap chinesium endoscope, but the screw you can see (red circle) is the inner rear of the three, and you can see the alignment tab (blue circle) if you follow the rubber to the bottom right of the photo. I think I'm in good shape, as long as the tab is in fact in the same corner as the arrows.

I am sure the notches are lined up with the slots they mate with, I paid close attention to that as i mounted everything up

 

[imthanick_a]

One final update - sorry for being such a pain in the ass haha - I hope my comments/concerns are useful to someone in the future so I'm documenting my adventure. The sides of the triangle are not equal so you can't put it in the wrong way. Two sides are 4.375" and the other is 4.0"

 

[GTI Jake]

One final update - sorry for being such a pain in the ass haha - I hope my comments/concerns are useful to someone in the future so I'm documenting my adventure. The sides of the triangle are not equal so you can't put it in the wrong way. Two sides are 4.375" and the other is 4.0"

Not a pain at all, this thread is for this exactly so the next guy has more info to reference in one place

 

[imthanick_a]

Not a pain at all, this thread is for this exactly so the next guy has more info to reference in one place

True. I should have just measured from the top to start with before reaching my arm up in there with the scope. Could have saved myself some trouble and a few squirts of Fast Orange haha

 

[Hubs]

I purchased a 2017 GTI S a month ago, and I quickly decided I would like to lower it a bit. After reading this thread and others, I decided to purchase and install a set of VWR Sport Springs. The car has ~41K miles, and while the front upper strut mounts and bearings were probably fine, I decided that while I was doing this I might as well go ahead and replace those. I went with the Heavy Duty Front Upper Strut Mount & Bearing Kit ES#3111704 from ECS Tuning.

For installation I used a combination of the instructions posted here, a video by DAP, and the 2x4 method. Instead of a 2x4 I used the cheater pipe that I sometimes use when I need some serious leverage. Seems it also works to push up a spring when raised with a jack. I used spring compressors when removing the stock springs; I did not use them to install the new springs. I did the driver's side first, and one thing I wish I did differently was to spray some lube on the bottom of the strut before installation. I had a bit of a hard time getting the strut to go into its spot on the wheel carrier. A little Liquid Wrench lube made this a lot easier on the passenger side. My wife has told me enough times to use more lube, that I should know by now! Having a two-post lift makes all this stuff easier. Wish I had an extra set of hands, but I managed by myself without too much trouble.

My before and after measurements show a hair more than 3/4" drop in front:

And I got a little more than an inch in the rear:

The "after" pics were taken after a 20-minute drive, and I am pleased so far. I was pretty happy with the way the car felt before the swap, and it seems about the same now. We'll see if anything changes after a few days. I have an appointment on Friday to set the alignment. I plan to participate in my first autocross in this car on Sunday. I'll have another set of rims with Re-71R's on the car, and I am looking forward to that.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

^^^^^^^ *wrong thread

 

[Hubs]

I'm new here, so please give me some advice. Why is it not appropriate for me to write a post about a DIY installation of lowering springs on my Mk7 GTI, with some pics, in a thread with the title, "Mk7 lowering spring install diy tips, tools, and pics"?

 

[GTI Jake]

I'm new here, so please give me some advice. Why is it not appropriate for me to write a post about a DIY installation of lowering springs on my Mk7 GTI, with some pics, in a thread with the title, "Mk7 lowering spring install diy tips, tools, and pics"?

Not an issue, but it would’ve got more feedback in the What Did You Do to Your Mk7 today thread.

This one is there to help people avoid issues.

Hopefully you didn’t listen to DAP and use an impact on the strut mounts, as that’s known to cause issues and premature failure of mounts and bearings

 

[Hubs]

Hopefully you didn’t listen to DAP and use an impact on the strut mounts, as that’s known to cause issues and premature failure of mounts and bearings

Spark plug socket and Allen key. Brilliant idea! Never would have thought of that if I didn’t see it in this thread.