Supercharged 2 Posted July 11, 2008 Anyone else had this? Was changing a loads of suspension etc on the TDI today and found both front drop links to be belt (like banana's!), they are the standard ones with standard bushes, original ARB.... just wondered why this had happened? maybe because the car was too low? Anyways, I have changed these for some I had kicking around that are not offset that looked like they would be a better fit - not sure exactly what they are meant to do - just hold the arb up?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boost monkey 0 Posted July 11, 2008 Stevo, if you're asking what drop links do, they link the ARB to the wishbones so that when the suspension compresses, the wishbones are forced back down due to the torsional strength in the ARB. It'd be the same as linking the ARB to the wheel hub, but obviously linking them to the wishbones does the same thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanVW 0 Posted July 11, 2008 The G60 ones are supposed to be offset (but obviously not bent! :D ) I only found out when the garage replaced mine with the straight ones and the bushes kept popping out, apparently the straight ones are for the MK3 Golf :shrug: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Furkz 0 Posted July 11, 2008 Anyone else had this? Was changing a loads of suspension etc on the TDI today and found both front drop links to be belt (like banana's!), they are the standard ones with standard bushes, original ARB.... just wondered why this had happened? maybe because the car was too low? Anyways, I have changed these for some I had kicking around that are not offset that looked like they would be a better fit - not sure exactly what they are meant to do - just hold the arb up?? mine twisted and kept popping the bushes out and you know mine was to low. you can however trim the bushes to seat in the link better and hold the ARB in at a better angle. just need to look where to trim and tuck.... mine was at the rear but mine was sitting at a disgusting angle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted July 11, 2008 how on earth did you manage to bend the drop links? :confused4: they sit in two rubber doughnuts and have a rubber bush where they slot onto the arb, I can't for the life of me see how you could bend the shaft of the link, they're so short, I've seen a few snapped ones where the corrode through in the shaft. When fitting new ones to mine I had more trouble keeping them still to tighten the lock nuts so with all that fexing rubber you'd just never get enough force to bend the metal. I would imagine all the forces in cornering simply pull or compress the link, you just wouldn't get the right forces on them to bend them, unles your wishbones were floating about wildly in the subframe, even then i reckon the droplink bushes would take up all the movement. One thing I have noticed is the original g60/16v ones last years but the pattern ones are pretty flimsy in comparison and look like they'll snap far more easily. BTW, they are there to transfer the force the arb transmits on cornering to the other side of the car/wishbone, they allow clearance of the constantly moving (up/down) wishbone as the arb would foul them if it fitted straight into one side of the wishbone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toad 0 Posted July 12, 2008 I didn't think there would be enough of the drop link stuck out to bend? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boost monkey 0 Posted July 12, 2008 yeah fair point Toad. maybe it was a bad batch... were they new on the car recently? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted July 12, 2008 Cheers guys, no they were the originals I think (may have done 270k miles afaik..) - didn't seem to be done up too tight or anything either as the rubber bits weren't compressed too much... I actually bought brand new ones for the G60 that I would have used but as they cost £88 the pair with all the bits (!!!) I didn't want to just waste them if they were going to bend again so I used some that I got with a ARB kit that were poly'd and just swapped the rubber insert over as the poly one was for a bigger bar... Car seems ok but I will keep an eye on it... Furkz - cheers mate, I think mine was too low and it's at a much better height now but certainly wasn't anywhere near as low as yours! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yandards 0 Posted July 12, 2008 Anyone else had this? Was changing a loads of suspension etc on the TDI today and found both front drop links to be belt (like banana's!), they are the standard ones with standard bushes, original ARB.... just wondered why this had happened? maybe because the car was too low? Anyways, I have changed these for some I had kicking around that are not offset that looked like they would be a better fit - not sure exactly what they are meant to do - just hold the arb up?? That'll be the result of the hump back bridge you flew over.. :nono: :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted July 12, 2008 Haha - Yeah, lol I didn't actually think about that... I'll have to send you a pic of the sump - very lucky indeed!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Furkz 0 Posted July 12, 2008 do you use multistory car parks regularly? mine drop links didnt like that hump bridges would be a good way of bashing them too lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted July 12, 2008 do you use multistory car parks regularly? mine drop links didnt like that Bingo - my last contract was 6 months parking in a multistory with really nasty / harsh bumps - knackered FK suspension didn't help either! I've now gone back to standard VR (Gas) shocks and H&R springs and the ride quality is superb in comparision! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Furkz 0 Posted July 12, 2008 do you use multistory car parks regularly? mine drop links didnt like that Bingo - my last contract was 6 months parking in a multistory with really nasty / harsh bumps - knackered FK suspension didn't help either! I've now gone back to standard VR (Gas) shocks and H&R springs and the ride quality is superb in comparision! low cars tend to have a crap angle when driving up/down with angles and bumps. i should be a doctor lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yandards 0 Posted July 13, 2008 do you use multistory car parks regularly? mine drop links didnt like that Bingo - my last contract was 6 months parking in a multistory with really nasty / harsh bumps - knackered FK suspension didn't help either! I've now gone back to standard VR (Gas) shocks and H&R springs and the ride quality is superb in comparision! low cars tend to have a crap angle when driving up/down with angles and bumps. i should be a doctor lol Good diagnosis Furk, I suspect the anti roll bar and the attaching links were not designed to run with very low suspension and that the ARB causes the links to bend at full travel on lowered set-ups. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
