OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

[Billip]

Hey guys... I'm currently in the planning stages for my next ride and all the mods i'm going to put on it, but it got me to thinking about the life you should expect out of a suspension system (shocks/struts/coils/etc). I have noticed that the suspension in my 20th has degraded quite a bit in terms of ride quality since I purchased it 34k km ago. Its much harsher now than it used to be.

How long should one expect an OEM suspension to last?

Which brings me to my next thought, how about aftermarket? I'm seriously considering KW Variant 3 coils for my next ride (which I'm 95% sure will be a 2-3 year old Audi TT in the fall). Given the fact that they are a cool 2 grand, I'd like to think that they will last longer than a stock suspension (by giving me a quality ride for longer)... but not sure if that's realistic. For you guys that have had aftermarket coils on your car for a while, how is the ride compared to when you first installed them?

[RSS]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

After three weeks no change so far that probably doesnt help you any.

Stasis Coilovers 550F/650R

[Stonewall]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

I too have noticed some more harshness out of my 20th suspension.

[Aleks]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

Mine has just settled more, but ride quality is fine....this is after 2 years, and about 40K

[Billip]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

Mine has just settled more, but ride quality is fine....this is after 2 years, and about 40K

Which suspension did you install Alex?

[bart]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

oh man, strange you bring this up, i desperately need new shocks, mine clunk, are bent (well fk but whatever) and day by day they got really worse. i seriously thought they were going to fall out soon. so i'm going to buy some new ones, but thinking about which ones, i may just get oem euro ones...

just want some comfort back, esp with calgary's shitty roads.

[Khyron]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

I like the ride in my 3+ year old FK Hitech kit just fine - I would expect 100K out of suspension, less if you track it. OEM susp is notorious for crapping the bed after 20K miles.

Khyron

[N'Syncro]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

Previous owner had close to 100 000km on Bilstein Sports in the front and Eibach Prokit. The rear springs were sagging alot, but he also had a 100lbs sub/box in the back, and stock shocks in the back.


I'm now running Bilstein sports and H&R Sports all around for about 30k now with no signs of fatigue, and I auto-x it quite a bit.

[Aleks]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

I have the FK 55 kit....no coils....wish I had though

[Klobi-One-Kinobi]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

Kw v1 coils on my gti for about 3 years, and the ride is still excellent (for coilovers) They had settled a bit the first year or so, not a big deal since they are height adjustable. It would have been a problem if the threads corroded before I adjusted them to compensate for the rears sagging though.

[Billip]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

Kw v1 coils on my gti for about 3 years, and the ride is still excellent (for coilovers) They had settled a bit the first year or so, not a big deal since they are height adjustable. It would have been a problem if the threads corroded before I adjusted them to compensate for the rears sagging though.

How are you finding the corrosion on those KW's? Their "inox-line" stainless steel technology is supposed to prevent corroding better than the competition... how are yours holding up?

[R_Ethug]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

i remember reading on vortex people had the new FK anti rust ones and they still rusted LOL

[Billip]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

i remember reading on vortex people had the new FK anti rust ones and they still rusted LOL

That doesn't surprise me about FK.

This page details KW inox-line stuff... and the tests they ran against the competition. Not sure how "real world" this is, but interesting nonetheless.

http://www.kw-suspension.com/en/20_T..._Procedure.php

[Silverstoned]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

FK 35/40 kit in my GTI, with no real problems so far. Like Alex, it got a little lower over time, but seems to have stopped now. I definitely wouldn't want to go any lower. I don't want to hijack the thread, but does anyone know if different shocks would cause a small lift, or is it completely determined by the springs? I thought I read somewhere that some gas charged shocks will result in slightly higher ride height. Maybe I can add a 1/2" spacer in my front struts somewhere to bring it up a little.

Jeff

[Aleks]

Re: OEM/Aftermarket Suspension System Lifecycle

Shocks shouldn't effect lift whatsoever....you can compress them with your hands when they're out.....stronger charged ones just means that your rebound/damping will be different, they'll behave differently under load....but no change in height