TT LCA, TT Spindle, H2Sport Spindle, etc

the bruce said:

The superlap/moonface does not only have ordinary holes,
it also seems to give way more camber than SP. Plus the
the elevated roll center.

Click to expand...

I installed these about a month ago and am very happy with the results so far. They are pricey, but the benefits are definitely there. I have done 5 autocrosses with these now and the difference is noticeable.

They added 0.9 degrees of negative camber in my case and pushed out the wheel quite a lot, which is always a good thing if you plan on making turns fast...

Thanks, Nocats. :thumbsup:

JRutter said:

I don't think that the TTs have a systemic problem with the slots shifting. Same setup.

Click to expand...

It's quite easy to fill the gap with a piece of aluminium. No shifting possible.

Slave IV said:

As far as I know, yep. Using Passat LCA and Spindles will just replace yours with lighter, aluminum versions...doesn't change geometry or track and bolts up. In fact, I think it goes easier if you have both because I recall there was a slight issue if you only use the arms w/o spindles.

Click to expand...

Passat ( = Audi S3 = RS3 ) spindles are not exactly the same
geometry as Golf/GTI/R32 stock swivels.
Passat arms come with shorter steering arms and so give a
different steering ratio, making your steering slightly more direct.

The opposite is true for TT swivels. They unfortunately have a
longer steering arm. While TT swivels are good for lowering the
roll center, they cannot be used with the Golf/GTI steering rack.

Best options:

- S3/Passat spindles or keep stock
- TT control arms w/ TT ball joints OR S3 arms w/ Superpro ball joints
- TT or Superpro bushings (S3's are sufficient if you already have them)
- Ground Control camber plates or TT mounts or 034 mounts

do the TT control arms work with stock fenders? what about with 245/40/17s?

I'd imagine if I went the passat spindle/LCA route, I could ALSO use GC camber plates?

Have you driven a passat spindled car to verify the steering changes? thoughts on the switch?

the bruce said:

The opposite is true for TT swivels. They unfortunately have a
longer steering arm. While TT swivels are good for lowering the
roll center, they cannot be used with the Golf/GTI steering rack.

Click to expand...

There are at least two people who have posted on here who have TT swivels with Mk5 steering rack. Are we/they missing something? When I compared the TT swivels to the A3, it didn't look like the steering arm was much longer. It is difficult to measure accurately because the pivot axis (strut tube to ball joint) is higher than the steering arm. I could try to run a string from the strut clamp center to the ball joint and measure the distance to the tie rod mounting hole center. I know that the TT rack has a tighter ratio for quicker response. It would be odd that the engineers would then partially defeat this with a longer arm...

Yes, there is missing something. As I said, a friend of mine went for TT swivels and
noticed he needed to fit the TT steering rack as well, which is a VERY costly and
complex job. :yikes: But he did it for good reason. :wink:



Jake already mentioned it in 2012, and I bet, I did this quite some times meanwhile:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136174&page=7

Don't miss to read this:

http://www.projectsofdan.com/?p=181

Definitely, the S3/Passat swivel is WAY easier to implement than the TT one. :smile:

Well, the reason why precious knowledge gets lost is clear: Lazy people starting new
threads instead of reviving the old ones.

Don't get confused, while this doesn't say anything about steering arm, it's still clear
about ball joint position and roll center:

Or you can grind ~5mm off of the ends of the steering rack, which is what jakethemoss did:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3478380&postcount=150

There is also someone on this board from California who had 034 Motorsports do the full TT conversion using stock steering rack on an A3, but I am not finding his post / pics at the moment.

I guess what I meant was that it has been done despite the disadvantage of the steering rack not wanting to mate with the tie rods...

I went back to get better measurements on the steering arm length, comparing A3 (MK5) to TT (MK2). I get a difference of only 2.4mm rounded up. This is an order of magnitude different from the measurement that everyone has been using! So pretty much no difference between the steering on these two spindles unless this way of measuring is completely wrong...

The geometry of the entire spindle is different, so there are no good reference points to measure from without creating an error due to different diagonals. I created a reference plane by fitting a piece of plywood into the strut clamp, which happens to line up with the ball joint center on each spindle. Then I laid the ruler flat against the steering arm and held it square to the plywood. The ruler is in an archaic measuring system, but the difference is ~3/32" or 2.38mm.

Method:


A3:


TT

We are mid process for swapping to the TT spindles, so I thought I would post up some pics of the steering rack ends.

Stock - the unthreaded portion makes it risky to use the TT tie rods. Only 2-3 threads engage because of the difference in the inner tie rods.


I didn't want to remove the rack and have a machine shop mill off the ends (although that would be a good option for accuracy). I found a router bit with a bearing slightly smaller than the female threads and a shoulder wide enough to hit the whole diameter of the steering rack end. Even though it is carbide, I used up two of these bits.


Here is the end result. Having the bearing helped keep the drill braced and steady and as straight as possible, while also keeping the threads safe. It ended up being as close to square as I could measure.


If I ever need to go back to stock tie rods, some heavy washers will take up the space that was milled away.

That's a good hand, Mr. Rutter!!

kgw said:

That's a good hand, Mr. Rutter!!

Click to expand...

:beer: