Qa1 Coilover do not fit Stock trailing arms!

[Speed Dreamer]

:confused:I did my research here on the QA1 coilovers. I purchased the 4855B model with 10 inch springs. They don't fit. The will not clear the shock mounting cup on stock irs trailing arms. Pics coming soon. So maybe Im doing something wrong. Does anyone have QA1 coilovers being used with STOCK IRS trailing arms?

[volkdent]

Some would argue that "fit" is just a matter of perseverance! Hope it will work out, look forward to the pics.

Jason

[Speed Dreamer]

Jason you are so right. I did some more research and found that Brent with the wonderful 1303 street legal racer in NZ had to modify his stock irs arms in order to "fit" QA1 coilovers. He also include pics!! :D I like his work, Im going to take some ideas from his build and find a way to mount my coilovers. A coworker of mine suggested that I look up information on some of the offroad jeep sites that he is fond of. He mentioned that offroaders seem to specialize in custom shock mounting locations, ideas and applications. Offroad sites here I come....

Link to Brents thread with Qa1 and Stock Irs arms, pics included
http://germanlook.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6577&highlight=qa1&page=4

[Sandeep]

You just need to drill a lower mounting hole higher in the bottom cup. I will post pics tonight as I am now using the DDR4855P model now.

Sandeep

[evilC]

You just need to drill a lower mounting hole higher in the bottom cup. I will post pics tonight as I am now using the DDR4855P model now.

Sandeep

If you do that I would carefully check the closed height of the damper to make sure that it doesn't bottom out.

Clive

[Speed Dreamer]

OMG! WTF! :eek: Sandeep I ran to garage the when I read what you said. I honestly can not believe I didnt see that! Once again germanlook.net saves the day! Thanks so much Sandeep! I really see how simple that is, but then again please go ahead and post the pics because Im still recovering from one the largest brain farts in history!

EvilC thats a valid point. I will make sure I check that using a spare trailing arm.

Lanner where are you. I need a 5 bar kafer cup kit asap.:thumbup:

[Sandeep]

See here for pics

http://germanlook.net/forums/showthread.php?p=74512#post74512

Sandeep

[Speed Dreamer]

Sandeep enlighted me on how the fit qa1 coilovers. I had to grind just a little clearance ( 5 to 7mm) around the edge the of shock mounting cup, in order to prevent any binding of the spring and spring perch. Check out the pics

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/speeddreamer/63%20RESTO-GERMAN/IRS%20upgrades/DSC00096.jpg~original
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/speeddreamer/63%20RESTO-GERMAN/IRS%20upgrades/DSC00097.jpg~original
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/speeddreamer/63%20RESTO-GERMAN/IRS%20upgrades/DSC00100.jpg~original
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/speeddreamer/63%20RESTO-GERMAN/IRS%20upgrades/DSC00110-1.jpg~original

[bow]

love this setup where can i get some i got on q1a and i cant really figure out what i need

[Speed Dreamer]

Got mines from summitracing.com. They are just south of Atlanta, Ga. Noticed you are in TN not much of a drive or shipping should be reasonable.

[wrenchnride247]

Nice coilover set-up. I can't wait to see this car in person.

Summit is a great place for performance stuff. I ALWAYS stop at the Summit store when I'm heading down for dyno day and Silver Dollar drag's :D

As a matter of fact, I will be there tomorrow nite...

[Bug@5speed(US)]

Speed,

What did you do about the bolt size difference?

Did you open up to 1/2" and use same size bolt..

When I was looking at these, the thing I did not like was the fact that the eyelets were about 1mm to large for the standard bolts..

Thanks
Alex

[bow]

hmmm just right in the back door i see lol i believe i have seen it from the road before while traveling through. really big showroom? anyways thanks fro the info

[NO_H2O]

Good Ol' Summit. I'm in there 3-4 times a month or more. We are lucky to have one right in our town.

[Humble]

I've only been to the shop in Reno NV once and it's the closest summit store. I do make tons of online orders though, and they have always been top notch, even for returns or exchanges.

Alex, the eyelets are 1/2" and the only ways to get around it to sleeve the bore or upgrade to larger bolts. I upgraded to 1/2" hardware on my car and drilled out the upper shock mounts.

[Speed Dreamer]

Alex I also drilled out the upper shock mounts to 1/2" and used new 1/2" bolts top and bottoms.

[Bug@5speed(US)]

Thanks guys... Makes sense and an easy fix..
VR
Alex

[Lazarus]

im going to resurrect this thread, what springs 300# each side?

[owdlvr]

Laz,

Not sure if the QA1s have changed, but the part number has. I bought DS-402, which is supposedly the replacement for the earlier 48* part numbers found on threads here. All QA1's use 2.5" I.D. springs which are going to cause an issue with the lower mounts. Photos on page one in this thread do not show the CV joints/boots installed, and I've recently realized my boots are going to hit the springs. I'm going to have to cut off and make new lower spring perches. I will also buy GKN-MS6J002 high-speed CV boots to give me more clearance. http://www.truechoice.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GKN%20MS6J002.

Fully compressed (need to use imagination to visualize where the spring would be...right through the boot!)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6831066687_2a1cf2055e_z.jpg

About 1/3rd compressed:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6831066907_f0b7f7023a_z.jpg

Having said all that, I've got 300lb springs installed on my shocks right now, I'm definitely concerned about clearance if I need to go to a heavier weight. If you can wait until April, my car _has_ to be on the road and will definitely report back with feedback on the spring rates.

-Dave

[Bug@5speed(US)]

Dave if u were to run no springs do u see any issues? As in running tb's and using shocks for dampening adjustment.
Also do the qa-1 still only come in standard sizes or they finally making metric,
If standard did u just make the top mount bigger to accept the larger bolt or did u use shims to take slop?

[owdlvr]

Alex,

If the QA1's were used as dampers only, there would be no issues with them at all. You could even use the stock lower mounting point (though I would need to check to see how much theoretical travel you'd lose). The stock lower mounting cup interferes with the lower spring perch and spring, lots of cutting is required. Without a spring, and thus the lower perch, you'd be laughing.

The only reason I actually went with the coil-overs vs. using them as a damper only was my need to change height between daily driving/tarmac and gravel/snow events. For the majority of people on this forum, they're going to lower their cars to a set amount...and forget it. A few might use the coil-over feature for adjusting spring rates to various tracks, or corner weight their vehicles, but the majority will ask "what spring rate should I use", set the height and never touch them again. Which, quite frankly, is fine! A set of slightly bigger TB's, and the adjustable dampers are likely perfect.

The QA1's are still imperial, so drilling out the upper shock mounting hole to clear a 1/2" bolt is required. You can see in my photos above that the QA1 must also be spaced away from the upper shock mount, this will be required whether you run springs or not. My spacers (which have replaced the washers above) are 0.5" thick, 1.0" O.D. and presumably 0.5" I.D. (whatever was needed to go over the 1.2" bolt). Without springs you could go with slightly thinner spacers, but I wouldn't have the measurement.

-Dave