Hi Folks,

Car is a 96 A4, with aftermarket VB&P springs. When I bought the car, I noticed a small chunk out of driver's side front spring pad missing (cosmetic). Other day, I noticed that the left front side of car looked lower than the right......found that the spring pad on the driver's side is now completely missing; looks like it just fell out.

Can materials such as Delrin, high density polyethylene, truck mudflap rubber, etc. be used to fashion a set of pads? Also, does there have to be a mechanical bond between the pad and the spring or the pad and the lower control arm (like epoxy or other adhesive), or is there a way to make them fit such that they stay in by themselves?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

Rich

 

I believe VB&P just used urethane for these. No reason you couldn't use that again. The pads need to be free to slide on the control arms, but I assume they should be bonded to the spring. VB&P used 3M Window Weld for this.

 

Matt,

Thanks. Unfortunately, just got back from business travel about 1/2 hour ago, looked at top of the end of the spring. There is a longitudinal crack from the outside in about 4 inches. Does appear to go all the way through to the bottom. Maybe a chunk of the spring pad is still attached in the bottom middle of the spring end, acting like a fulcrum/pressure point and pressing upward ??? Don't know - just came back up from the garage and got on line. Can an end split be saved, by epoxying the crack back together and (maybe) drilling a 1/16" hole through the spring at the end of crack to stop propagation? Really bummed here......2 weeks before Carlisle......

Any advise is welcome!

Rich

 

I'm afraid the answer is no, it really can't be safely saved. If it's cracked all the way through, then the actual fiberglass has cracked. Gluing it together won't give it any strength. Sorry, man.

 

I agree -- time to shell out for replacement parts. Glue is absolutely not going to get the job done.

 

I looked at my original response to MattMiller,; in my haste last night, I mistyped....the crack did NOT go all the way through; only about 1/8" deep, about 3 1/2" long, top of the spring, from the driver's side end on in. Turns out there was a lump of the old urethane spring pad down the centerline of the end of the spring that was acting like wedge. I used JB Weld in the crack, then after it set up but not completely hard yet, I jacked up the car to unload the spring, and the crack closed up and extruded out some of the epoxy. What added insult to injury to all this was that as I was looking along the top of the spring, i noticed the urethane pads/spacers on top of spring where it mounts to the chassis were completely crumbled and falling out in marble-sized chunks; the driver's side was almost gone. Anyway, made up new spacers using 3/8" high density polyethylene from a plastic cutting board, re-mounted the spring, made some end pads from the same polyethylene material, cleaned off the spring ends, installed the end pads, and called it a night at 2:00 am

Took the car out this morning - ride height is now restored, and front suspension feels better; car does not pull to the left any more.

I'll keep an eye on the crack to see if it propagates, but hopefully dodged a bullet for now.

Thanks for everyone's input!!! That's why I love this forum. BTW, didn't know urethane could crumble like that under load - strange!

 

Using the polyethylene cutting board as raw material for replacement spacers/pads was clever. I'm going to remember that trick. 😀👍

The JB Weld you are going to have to keep an eye on. JB Weld is very hard and very stiff after it cures. There is little to no flex in it. Springs are nothing but flex. I imagine the JB Weld will crack or shatter at some point.

 

Hey guys...I just did a new post that is related to this and if any of you in this thread are still subscribed to this thread, I wanted to call you out here on this original post to ask for your help with my new post.

Nutshell: I have the VRB front leaf spring and there is hardly any rubber on the end tips - top or bottom. This would allow for direct contact with the a-arm, as well as space fr the "unprotected" spring to slide back and forth within the concave portion of the A-arm. The spring itself looks fine - no cracks.

Is this a terminal problem? As in: "Do not under any circumstances drive the car like this, especially on the track, you moron!!" Or is there a more nuanced answer? ("That rubber breaks off after a year or two and it's not that big of deal as long as the spring is not cracked.")

Thanks!!