l98tpi

After setting the C4 aside for a couple years to focus on the C6, I finally got around to ordering coilovers for my C4. I have seen a few threads on here but not a lot. I ordered the coilovers from Vansteel late December and received them a week or so ago. And with the heat wave we had come through Southern Ohio this past Sunday, I couldn't resist the temptation to install these. I had already removed the transverse composites in mid December. When I received the new coilovers from Vansteel I removed them to inspect and they appeared of good quality. I started the install with the rear since I figured this would be the most difficult to install due to space. I followed right along the instructions included from Vansteel. Most notable thing I would mention would be make sure you swap your bolts around on your torque arms (dog bones) so you have clearance for the adjustment rings (spanners) and I did find that mounting the longer end of the upper mounting bracket at the rearward position made the alignment of the coilover better. The upper and lower mounts fit nicely with good precision. I did use one shim on driver side lower coilover mount to make the fit tight. Up front was easy, if you can install new shocks, you can install the fronts. I did replace the lower ball joints while I had everything apart and that was the worst part of this install. Pretty simple and straight forward with precise fitment. I have attached some pictures that may help if anyone decides to install these coilovers on their C4. Mine is a 91 so I think pre 88's may be a little different up front. Lastly, I see no issue with installing rear sway bar, but supposedly there may be a slight alteration for the front. Just doing a visual now, there doesn't seem like there will be, but I will post after I do get to the front sway bar install which may be this weekend or the next.

Upper Mount Passneger side

Passenger Side

See orientation of the bolt for the torque arm.

This pic shows both mounts, upper and lower.

Orientation of coilover to toque arm bolt , clearance

Better pic of clearance. Your adjustment for Compression and rebound will be towards the center of the car.

Front has plenty of clearance and you can see the ease of install here. The fronts are inverted. You clould flip if you wanted but might be more of a pain to adjust. Not sure.

blackozvet

There are a couple of differences between early and late C4,
the front on the later model is easier to deal with as the tower is wider - Vansteel overcome fitment issues by running the shock upside down.
the rear on the earlier model is probably easier to fit the coil over as you dont need a new upper mount, it will bolt up the original bracket.

using spherical bearings on the shocks makes life a lot easier too.

if you run 8" rear springs it will get rid of the problem of being close to that trailing arm bolt. When you use the Vansteel rear brackets you lose some space making the coil over spring adjuster lower and right next to the trailing arm bolt. Everyone seems to use 9" or 10" springs on the rear, whereas 8" is a much better option.

l98tpi

MatthewMiller

I'm curious about something. What is the difference in leverage between the stock rear shock mount bolt vs the Van Steel adapter bracket. IOW, measuring from the center of the ear on the knuckle to the center of the shock eye, what are the distances for the two setups?

l98tpi

MatthewMiller

Can you give us the distance between the two red lines, please? I can measure the stock setup on my 96. Thanks very much!

l98tpi

Distance between the two red lines is 2.75" . Also here is pict that shows the stock mount vs VanSteel Bracket. The mounting point of my shocks compared to the coilover probably moved less than .5"



VanSteel lower rear coilover mount bracket compared to stock shock mount bolt

MatthewMiller

Thanks for that info. You knew what I was trying to compare. I was curious about added stress to that mounting ear.

mxnuke

l98tpi

Got the anti-roll bars installed today. I switched to heim enlinks which I got a few years ago just never used. I like to use these for ease of disconnecting the bar for corner balancing and have less resistance to movement than the stock bar mounts. No issues with clearance front or rear.

l98tpi

I got the wheels and tires back on and checked for clearance and had plenty of clearance so adjusted ride heights to be able to drive. First time out was still a little low in back and had bad rear hub bearings. Installed new hub bearings and today took out on long drive to work on tuning the shock settings. Still have to put on alignment rack for a more precise corner balance and alignment, but for the most part, I am very satisfied with these coilovers.

l98tpi

Have gotten a couple of events with the new coilover suspension now. Both lots I have ran on are bumpy and asphalt that is sealed, so not the best for grip. As well, the temps have been in the 40's. I almost have the shocks settings set and tire pressures dialed in. The front is perfect, its laser precise, but the rear has a very slight oversteer. Not bad, just a little tuning and it will be spot on. Very satisfied with how this turned out.. Hope to run on some concrete soon to see how it handles with better surface conditions. So far it seems like this set up should be competitive with the c5's. C5's have better suspension geometry and frequencies but with a little luck and some skill this set up could possibly win

MsEllie

Not stock tire width, is it? BTW, very nice looking C4!

l98tpi

315's square. My actual stance is a little different now that we corner balanced the car and changed ride heights. Thanks

Microtome

Would you mind sharing wheel specs? Grabbed this from the C5 stickies any info would help just wondering if I have to cut her up to run 315s. I'm just starting my "Stock C4" to "Road driven Track C4" Journey and would like to make as few detours as possible.
Thanks,
Wheel Make:

Wheel Model:

Front Wheel Size:

Front Offset or Backspace:

Rear Wheel Size:

Rear Offset or Backspace:

Front Tire Size:

Rear Tire Size:

Suspension mods: Stock, Lowered on stock or aftermarket bolts, or coilovers:

Problems or Issues, such as clearance/rubbing problems:

Misc.Comments:

MatthewMiller

I'm not l98tpi, but I also run 11" wheels with 315s front and rear and can add in my data. Can't hurt to have more than one data point!

Wheel Make: Forgestar

Wheel Model: CF5

Front Wheel Size: 18x11

Front Offset or Backspace: 50mm, 7.96" backspacing.

Rear Wheel Size: identical

Rear Offset or Backspace: identical

Front Tire Size: 315/30/18

Rear Tire Size: same

Suspension mods: Stock, Lowered on stock or aftermarket bolts, or coilovers: A lot, with much stiffer VBP leafs and probably at least 1.5" lower (using longer rear bolts and the front leafs had adjustable pedestals like C5 springs), lots of negative camber front and rear (~ -3.2f and -2.5r), Banski rear links, etc.

Problems or Issues, such as clearance/rubbing problems: None, with stock bodywork and fender liners. It's close, but it works.

Misc.Comments: Those wheels specs work for 88-96 C4s. Earlier C4s probably need 32mm offset.

l98tpi

I ordered new Forgestar F14's the same spec as Matt Miller; 18 x 11 50mm offset on all 4 wheels. I ordered at Thanksgiving 2019 and I just now got a shipping notification. Im sure the Corona Virus has some impact on the delay. Thanks for posting Matt; I was hoping I calculated it out right and had the correct offset to get good fitment.

TommyFox

Can I run the Vansteel on an 87 inverted up front ? If so will it clear the sway bar bracket? And what abut the rear? Vansteel said they bolt up on the early models.