Rear Anti-Roll bar

I'm new to Golf's and have today changed the rear suspension on my 1985 Golf Cabriolet 1.6 auto.

Two things I have noticed.
Firstly - the ride at the back is now very hard. Will this soften up in time or have I done something up too tight?

This is the item I bought, along with new bump stops and bushes…

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-GOLF-MK1-CABRIOLET-SCIROCCO-SUSPENSION-KIT-40-/220638405625?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item335f12e3f9

I'm fitting the front ones over the weekend along with new wishbones, ball joints, ARB bushes, Tie rod ends and top strut mounts.
Any pre warnings or advise would be welcome?

Secondly - Ive noticed people selling rear anti-roll bar bushes.
I have looked very closely and I can not see a rear anti-roll bar on my car. I cant even see any bolt holes where one would fit on.
Were all the Cabriolet's fitted with rear anti roll bars?
If so, has anyone got a picture of one on the car please?

If its missing, I would like to fit it urgently.

Cheers.

Trev.

hi mate.

as with the stiffness of the ride, i read somewhere on here that with new suspension some times you need to "activate" it…

basically when shock absorbers stand for a long time the oil in them can congeal and go stiff in places.

what they recommend is when you buy them to get them and pull them apart and press them back again several times so the oil mixes again and becomes soft and level throughout. if that makes sense

they will loosen off over time but if you can whip them off and do this im sure it will help. also if your using poly bushes you will feel the road more as the old rubber ones were probably perished and had alot of play.


im not sure about the rear arb as i own a 1.1 and i know mine doesnt have one

but they dont bolt down as such, they have a metal band that clamps round the rear beam and the arb bushes.

you can fit them to any golf, i plan to do so myself when i poly bush everything as they do help ALOT

hope some of this helps, and welcome to the site

I doubt it would have an arb as standard no.  To fit one means drilling the beam for the bracket in the middle, or swapping the beam out entirely.

As for the suspension Mixerman is dead on, you should always "activate" a damper first so that it can push the air to the top and create an even flow of oil around the damper.

Basically what happens is that the shocks are usually stored on their side, and this makes the air in them settle in the damping mechanism with the oil spreads thinly across the whole mech.

When you run the damper through 5 or 6 full strokes, it allows the air to the top and makes sure the oil is level in the mech to allow maximum damping.

You should find that the first 3 or four strokes may be a little hard, but it should soften up and be a smooth movement from one end of the stroke to another.

This is one of the reasons why I'm finding my dirt cheap hottuning coilovers have quite a decent ride, while others say they're mega harsh and too bouncy!!!  They've not activated them and so the damper isn't working at the top or bottom of its stroke

Hope this helps, but it really is something nobody seems to do anymore.  I remember when i last bought a set of bilsteins, it said in big letters on the box "activate before use."

Jon.

Thanks for the advise chaps.

No I didnt activate them.  :redfaced:

I think for the time being, I'm going to leave them on and hope they activate over time.
If I take them off again, I will probably need new lower mount nut and bolts again as these are designed to used only once according to VW.

I'm happier knowing others don't have a rear anti-roll bar and being as i'm not a boy racer, I don't think I really need to fit one.

So, here goes with teh front ones, Ill definately activate these and see what difference it makes.

Cheers.

they wont activate over time, as the springs wont allow them to compress to the bottom

I've reused lower mount nuts and bolts on mine. Just do them up tight, and check them again after a drive.

Jon.

Thanks Jon.

I'll do that then.