aerolithe

Good day I am looking to raise the front of my car 1991 S4 ROW. Reading at few other thread and read that some have adjustment and some other don't. How could i see the difference? Mine look like adjustable but when I put a spener tool on it nothing move. Should I compress the spring the relief some pressure on the adjuster nut?

jpitman2

You should remove load by jacking, but they will probably need some penetrating fluid soaked into the adjusters for a while. Even then they can take quite a bit of force to move. Have you measured the current height? If you jack it, it can take a few miles over uneven surfaces to settle the front end down again. I did mine - full right lock, raise left front behind the wheel pushing the spanner, raise right front from in front of wheel pulling the spanner. A piece of tubing over the end of the C spanner handle to lengthen it helps.
jp 83 Euro S AT 57k M474 M220

Wisconsin Joe

If it has the adjuster on it, it's adjustable.
It's the early ones that are not adjustable.

If it hasn't been moved in a while, it won't move easy. If it's seen salt, it may not move at all.

I would start by soaking it with a good penetrating oil.

STRIKEMASTER

A '91S4 has adjustable front shocks...If you're lucky, the adjuster nut turns and the collar stays still...If BOTH turn, things get "Complicated" SOAK it with something like PB-BLASTER over and over again for a few days...Forget about W-D 40, that's for drying out your electronics...Maybe even use a heat gun to warm up the adjuster nut and expand it...If they both turn,then you have to find a way to wedge the collar in place, without messing up the shock ( you REALLY WANTED new front shocks after all. didn't you...LOL- been there myself ) I think it's 3 turns of the nut changes the ride height 5mm.

dr bob

Start by measuring and recording current settled height, so you know ow much you'll want to adjust to get to a new target height.

The adjusters are aluminum threaded onto steel in front so any prior exposure to water or road salt means the adjusters will be tough to impossible to turn. Follow the above guidance and drown the adjuster in penetrating fluid to try and break a corrosion bond. The inner part is pretty short, so plan on filling the cavity between the outer adjuster and the lower shock tube with your favorite fluid, and let it go to work. Top up the supply of fluid regularly for a week or so, and expect some to seep out of the threads at the bottom when there's a path through.

The inner threaded piece is short, so has a small contact area with the tube. It slides over some slight protrusions on the lower tube, but otherwise is not secured to the tube. Get real aggressive with the spanner on the adjuster, and there's risk of the inner piece slipping on the tube before a corrosion bond from the adjusting collar lets go.

The lower spring perch sits on the adjusting collar, and is likely sticking to it. Again, a liberal treatment with penetrating fluid will help, as will unweighting the springs by raising the car. That's why you measured before lifting; the car needs to be driven 75+ miles to get everything settled again after any lifting, before final adjustments and alignment are attempted.

aerolithe

Thanks to all your answer. I unfortunately didn't take any mesurement before lifting the car but it look low to me and I am touching to often the road for comfort. I got a winter project to change the engine mounts and the oil pan gasket before getting on the road on the spring. After reading am confident I will need to turn at least one turn to start and will see from there

Bertrand Daoust

If your car has seen salt and snow/water and the adjusters have never been touched, there's good chance everything is seized.
Try what's suggested above.
If nothing moves, then you will need to remove everyhting from there and take apart the shock from the coil spring and change the adjusters, both parts.

My car has seen one or two winters and everything was seriously seized when I tried to play with the adjusters back in 2010.
I changed the adjusters (used ones from 928Intl - not expensive) and everything is fine now.

Good luck.

dr bob

You'll have the lower control arms unbolted as part of your motor mount project, as the inner brackets secure the end s of the crossmember to the car. It's a perfect time to remove the shock assembly and do your surgery with parts on the bench. There's a cavity formed above the inner threaded sleeve that holds a bit of everything you drive through, so the likelihood of seized adjusters is high. They will be easy to change while the assembly is out of the car.

Speedtoys

I have a spreadsheet that lets you enter in current heights, desired heights, and tells you how much to initially turn all corners. I posted it a while back, could again.

Id like to add it to the FYI sticky thread.

aerolithe

I will be very interested in this information, How could we do it

chart928s4

I would advise measuring the height before doing anything. Search the forum for Rob Edwards 928 height adjustment and it will show you where to measure.

As an easy guideline, raising the suspension to 175mm on all four corners is in factory spec and works great.

As a fellow owner of a '91 S4 who has done the adjustment, I can tell you that getting the spanner seated on those stupid nuts well enough to turn them is way beyond difficult. Someone should check this but I think 1 full turn = 3 millimeters of height. 1 turn also requires 6 pulls on the spanner. Most cars seem to sag a lot, or are lowered, so you might need a lot of turning.

Speedtoys

Lots of guesses on how much one turn raises the car...

See if this works for you guys:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

It is view-only link, go to File, and make your own Copy of it..and have fun, here are the instructions:

Speedtoys

Did this help you?

aerolithe

Yes thank you very much it is to cold here lately to work on the car

z driver 88t

Very cool!. I had no idea this spreadsheet tool existed. Thanks for posting.