His and Her's wagon's

[ckuhns]

From last weekend on a shake down drive after getting the Bilstein’s a little more dialed. Raised the front a little bit so it’s now about level with the rear. Fronts are maxed out, can’t make it higher which is a bummer, as I wouldn’t mind being able to raise the car a tiny bit more. Currently I’ve got the fronts set 5 clicks from full soft, and the rear 7 clicks from full soft. So far it’s pretty good, but certainly more tweaking to do, though it’ll have to wait because… currently the car is on jack stands with the front subframe hanging down, working evenings installing a 034 front swaybar to go with the rear, as well as a 034 subframe deadset kit. Showing up Thursday is also a set of Super Pro control arms to add a touch of caster and a little more camber, will get those installed Thursday evening/Friday.

Saturday I’ve got a alignment scheduled at the dealer nearest me (1hr away in Elk Grove, CA), who surprisingly agreed to align it to my specs. In reading what others have done with Golf R’s etc, I’m thinking zero toe front, and a touch of toe in rear. Front camber should be somewhere around 2.5 degrees with the camber arms, lowering and the 034 top mounts, for the rear I’m thinking I’ll have them shoot for 1.7-1.8 degrees. Any input or insight on alignment is appreciated!

 

[ckuhns]

Well my super pro control arms showed up this afternoon, got the drivers side in and went to bolt up the ball joint, and the studs are too short! Kind of annoying… looks like maybe the Alltrack comes with ball joints that have longer studs, and per the VW part lookup they’re compatible, so I suppose I need to get those..

 

[ckuhns]

Well I got the super pro control arms on, ended up installing new ball joints that had longer studs, alignment tomorrow! I think I’m probably somewhere around -2.25–2.5 of camber up front, going for zero toe up front, and a touch of toe in rear, will have rear camber set to -1.7.
As a result of the super pro arms adding faster, it actually make the front end sit a little lower, which I’m not too pumped about.. can’t really adjust the Bilstein’s any higher per their recommended range, so not sure what to do there.

also got the Clubsport shifter installed, it feels great! Being taller than the stock shifter, it’s likely negated the shorter throw of the euro S3 bracket I installed, but it’s fine for now.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

From last weekend on a shake down drive after getting the Bilstein’s a little more dialed. Raised the front a little bit so it’s now about level with the rear. Fronts are maxed out, can’t make it higher which is a bummer, as I wouldn’t mind being able to raise the car a tiny bit more. Currently I’ve got the fronts set 5 clicks from full soft, and the rear 7 clicks from full soft. So far it’s pretty good, but certainly more tweaking to do, though it’ll have to wait because… currently the car is on jack stands with the front subframe hanging down, working evenings installing a 034 front swaybar to go with the rear, as well as a 034 subframe deadset kit. Showing up Thursday is also a set of Super Pro control arms to add a touch of caster and a little more camber, will get those installed Thursday evening/Friday.

Saturday I’ve got a alignment scheduled at the dealer nearest me (1hr away in Elk Grove, CA), who surprisingly agreed to align it to my specs. In reading what others have done with Golf R’s etc, I’m thinking zero toe front, and a touch of toe in rear. Front camber should be somewhere around 2.5 degrees with the camber arms, lowering and the 034 top mounts, for the rear I’m thinking I’ll have them shoot for 1.7-1.8 degrees. Any input or insight on alignment is appreciated!



View attachment 227830

That’s fuckin HOT. I am dripping

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Man I like your style. That TR Wagon with all the GTI bits is a beautiful thing. Love how it’s coming together.

 

[ckuhns]

Man I like your style. That TR Wagon with all the GTI bits is a beautiful thing. Love how it’s coming together.

Thanks man! I'm pretty pumped so far! Past getting the Clubsport steering wheel, next plans are super pro bushings in the rear end to match the control arms, that will likely be next year, and I'll probably have to pay someone to do it unfortunately. I have a 700sq/ft garage at the moment, but we're hoping to move soon to raise our son closer to family, so I'll lose the garage and likely won't have one for awhile.

Long term, kinda depends.. I'd love to start doing a new track days, which will undoubtedly expose issues with the stock oil/coolant system of the 1.8t. Regardless of track days, a I'd like to do a Golf R bumper, and if I do decide to upgrade the whole cooling system, adding the auxiliary coolers from a Golf R to go along with the bumper only makes sense, in an ideal world I'd do it all at the same time to only need to pull the bumper once.. I can see going from the 328mm ST-40 Stoptech kit to a 355mm front kit, and Golf Powerpack rear brakes, then more the 328mm kit to my wife's car, but it really depends!

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Thanks man! I'm pretty pumped so far! Past getting the Clubsport steering wheel, next plans are super pro bushings in the rear end to match the control arms, that will likely be next year, and I'll probably have to pay someone to do it unfortunately. I have a 700sq/ft garage at the moment, but we're hoping to move soon to raise our son closer to family, so I'll lose the garage and likely won't have one for awhile.

Long term, kinda depends.. I'd love to start doing a new track days, which will undoubtedly expose issues with the stock oil/coolant system of the 1.8t. Regardless of track days, a I'd like to do a Golf R bumper, and if I do decide to upgrade the whole cooling system, adding the auxiliary coolers from a Golf R to go along with the bumper only makes sense, in an ideal world I'd do it all at the same time to only need to pull the bumper once.. I can see going from the 328mm ST-40 Stoptech kit to a 355mm front kit, and Golf Powerpack rear brakes, then more the 328mm kit to my wife's car, but it really depends!

my money is on a GTI bumper for the straked LED fogs, but you do you

 

[ckuhns]

my money is on a GTI bumper for the straked LED fogs, but you do you

Yeah, I thought about that, but part of my thinking was that the Golf R would be more correct given the AWD. Plus, if I was doing the auxiliary radioator in the sides of the bumper eventually, I may be wrong, but I think I'd need the Golf R bumper as it was the intakes there for them, whereas the fogs on the GTI bumper are in the way?

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Yeah, I thought about that, but part of my thinking was that the Golf R would be more correct given the AWD. Plus, if I was doing the auxiliary radioator in the sides of the bumper eventually, I may be wrong, but I think I'd need the Golf R bumper as it was the intakes there for them, whereas the fogs on the GTI bumper are in the way?

all valid, besides the fact you’ve already gone full retard on the GTI stuff haha

 

[ckuhns]

all valid, besides the fact you’ve already gone full retard on the GTI stuff haha

Ha, I just like the cloth seats better than leather.. can't please everyone



Just got home from getting the car aligned, front camber was -2.05 degrees on each side, toe set to zero. Best part was they didn't even need to move the subframe! Rear toe set to .10 in, rear camber they set to -1.08... Not the -1.8 I asked for... At that point I was getting frustrated and wanted to go home, so didn't make them reset it. I think I might do rear bushings in the next few months anyways, so I'll drive it as it's set now for awhile. Handling wise, it's so solid! Very happy with it so far.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Ha, I just like the cloth seats better than leather.. can't please everyone



Just got home from getting the car aligned, front camber was -2.05 degrees on each side, toe set to zero. Best part was they didn't even need to move the subframe! Rear toe set to .10 in, rear camber they set to -1.08... Not the -1.8 I asked for... At that point I was getting frustrated and wanted to go home, so didn't make them reset it. I think I might do rear bushings in the next few months anyways, so I'll drive it as it's set now for awhile. Handling wise, it's so solid! Very happy with it so far.

Keep us posted I’m loving your build. Godspeed!

 

[jimlloyd40]

Ha, I just like the cloth seats better than leather.. can't please everyone



Just got home from getting the car aligned, front camber was -2.05 degrees on each side, toe set to zero. Best part was they didn't even need to move the subframe! Rear toe set to .10 in, rear camber they set to -1.08... Not the -1.8 I asked for... At that point I was getting frustrated and wanted to go home, so didn't make them reset it. I think I might do rear bushings in the next few months anyways, so I'll drive it as it's set now for awhile. Handling wise, it's so solid! Very happy with it so far.

Same here I wanted cloth.

 

[golfdave]

also got the Clubsport shifter installed, it feels great! Being taller than the stock shifter, it’s likely negated the shorter throw of the euro S3 bracket I installed, but it’s fine for now.

View attachment 228047

If you had the OEM low spec knob it sits lower due to the shaft going into the knob...on the GTI/GTD/R/CCS the shaft can only go to the underside of the two pillars section (between gaiter & knob)..so on those cars they have a shorter shaft!

You have to cut your longer shaft down...best way is to place a small hole in a large sheet of newspaper & place over the shaft & use a set of pipe cutters to trim it to length. Then you have to file down one side of the shaft to make the "keyway"...

Heres a picture of what I had to cut when I did mine 6yrs ago..

 

[ckuhns]

If you had the OEM low spec knob it sits lower due to the shaft going into the knob...on the GTI/GTD/R/CCS the shaft can only go to the underside of the two pillars section (between gaiter & knob)..so on those cars they have a shorter shaft!

You have to cut your longer shaft down...best way is to place a small hole in a large sheet of newspaper & place over the shaft & use a set of pipe cutters to trim it to length. Then you have to file down one side of the shaft to make the "keyway"...

Heres a picture of what I had to cut when I did mine 6yrs ago..

View attachment 228159

Thanks, Dave! I ended up drilling out the knob as someone else suggested, worked fine! I actually don’t mind the extra height, though the extra height seems to have negated the shorter throw I got from the S3 shifter.

 

[ckuhns]

Same here I wanted cloth.

Yep, I just don't like leather at all. Shoot, if I had all the money in the world I'd get the GTI seats and door cards reupolstered in something funky like Porsche's Pasha stuff or like the interiors Leah Keen does in the safari 911's