Well, been thinking....... some of you have bound to have sm

Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:27 pm

Well, been thinking....... some of you have bound to have smelt the smoke lmao..... Laughing

Anyone know anything about up[grading the anti roll bars on our B3 cars?
Specifically the 10v fwd 90's or the like?
As anyone that has one of these cars is well aware there is quite a bit of body roll.........
I know upgrading the suspensinon does help a bit........... but i was wondering is there thicker/stiffer anti roll bars on other B3's/B4's that could be easily transplanted to improve things?
Or is this train of thought a complete waste of time??
Answers on a postcard...... or something lol Laughing

TIA
Dan.

Needs to get out more Joined: Jun 11, 2008 Posts: 183

I'm also interested to find this out.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:43 am

there are different mounting points for the various B3's I think.... I know my current 90 quattro front suspension is different to the last one, and I think it's different to those on the Sport models....

Mike maybe able to answer this- or Jas- when they see it. I could be barking up the wrong tree Laughing

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:06 am

I changed the front ARB on my fwd 90.

A little research with the electronic parts catalogue gives the different sizes. I presume that all the front ARBs are interchangeable between B3 and B4. I ended up fitting one from a B4 estate.

The ARB bushes need changing to match - I think I fitted Powerflex bushes.

As a result, it rolled a lot less in the corners, and got rid of a lot of the understeer.

Upgrading the rear suspension on the B3 fwd models is a lot more difficult. The rear axle on the 20v models has an ARB (inside the upside down 'U' beam), while the 10v doesn't - if I recall correctly.

Ian.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:27 am

Thanks for response guys, so it is worth looking deeper into the subject then!
I wait patiently (or not lol) on more info then! Laughing

UltraUser Joined: Mar 18, 2005 Posts: 1570 Location: Gwent

I think early 80/90 >1988 had antiroll bars where the roll bar end was sanwiched between a stack of rubbers/washers, the later cars use the balljoint type droplinks.
I think the RS2 rollbar is the one many go for, Audi reproduced it but raised the price accordingly... another option is weitec.

Then again if Ian used a B4 estate bar in a (20v?) 90 there must be an upgrade there?

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:59 pm

Cheers m8,
Aye the later 90's definately dont push the nose quite as bad as the earlier ones. i must have a look through Vag-cat and see if i can make sense of the info there....
Then its phone dealer or breakers yards for prices lol Laughing

Could only find wietec stuff for vw's, Not urgent anyway, is only a idea for now.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:16 pm

I was forgetting that some of the earlier cars had different ARB mounting. Both my 1989 10v and 1991 20v had the drop links with ball joints at either end.
A fairly easy mod, but I do recall that one of the captive nuts on the ARB bush mounting bracket became rather less captive.
IAn.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:44 pm

Hi Ian, do you remember which engine size/ model of 80 avant that it was you got the arb from off hand?
Daft question but what do you mean by a nut became less captive? Confused

And is that a problem? Confused

TIA
Dan.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:53 pm

No, I don't recall which B4 estate it was - it was in a local scrappy, about third car up in a pile. Never saw the tailgate, only ever saw the sump of the engine.
The ARB bushes are held in place by 'U' clamps, which are bolted to the front subframe. These bolts engage in captive nuts, welded to the rear of brackets on the subframe - so the bolt is easily tightened from front/underneath. Once the welded nut breaks loose, you can hold the bracket in place with a bolt+nut, but getting a socket/spanner on the nut to hold it still as you tighten the bolt is really difficult. Just a little bit of buggeration you don't need when you're trying to get the ARB into place.
Ian.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 6:15 pm

Thanks m8! I understand now! Cool

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:25 pm

sounds about right; my current 90 (10v quattro) is similar to my 20v quattro sport, and I think that's similar to the S2, and the 80 Avant 16v I had; the other 10v's were something like 1988, 1989, 1990 I think- and they were different set up...... (drop links wise)

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:34 pm

Aye my E reg 90 didnt have droplinks........
The later ones all did, and this one does too......

Site Moderator Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 9144

They all had drop links.

Early (pre- mid 90 MY) have them mounted to the wishbones.

They moved them to strut mounted at the front and added a rear ARB.

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:19 pm

I'll have to go out to garage and double check but i'm near sure mine doesnt have a rear arb...... Confused

So does that mean fitting a rear one wouldnt be too much of a nightmare afterall?

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:26 pm

ok, i do have a bar running inside the upside down u beam (rear axel) at the rear of the car.........

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:31 pm

That might explain why that car rolled more than the rest, if they where missing the whole length of time i had it lol Laughing

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:35 pm

The bigger the arb the less independent the suspension is, arb are used on road cars to minimise body roll without sacrificing comfort, you can also run stiffer springs and just use arb to fine tune.

No idea on FWD rear though I am afraid.