Lowering Spring Issues

From the people that have lowered the cars, anyone have had any noise problems coming from the suspension? I bought INTRAX springs. 1.7" front and 1.5" back. I thought the lower the cooler, now it looks real low in the front which is kind of scary because you have to be so careful with everything on the street. Also have 18" rims on.
Had to replace the front struts already with some BILSTEINS (they lowered it even more) and the back ones are going bad too. My question for any of you is: how much did you drop your car?, what brand springs did you use? and have you had any noise problems?. I'm thinking in changing the springs again maybe for some that aren't that low. Saw some german brand "Vol"-something (not H&R or Eibach) that did 1.4" all around, don't know if it will do something or not. Need advice before I keep spending more money. Mine is a 1998 A4 1.8T Quattro.

Yikes! dropping a car that much sounds dangerous. All the sport suspensions ive seen that are recommended for our cars are only like 1-1.25 in. drops. Your riding pretty damn low and i'd really worry about hitting anything from pot holes to roadkill. it sounds like a snow plow to me. Im sure your car looks badass though. I like that really low look. I havent bought psrings yet and i jsut got the 18's but i will only go at the most 1.4 in the rear and 1 in the front. But i still have snow covered roads the worry about. Sorry about your luck and i think Eibach or H&R springs are your best bet for any German Masterpiece.

Like I said, I found that other brand "Voltreng" or something like that, it drops the car 1.4" front and back. If you have a Quattro you might have noticed that much of the springs for sale come lower in the front than the back, why? I don't know, but this brand I found have the same measurement all around. Fortunately I don't have snow here in Texas but pot holes and speed bums suck sometimes. I'm in that big debate if I'll have to have the suspension worked again. Haven't talked to the shop yet but can't really trust them 100% since they want the money too. In reference to the HR and Eibach not sure if I'll notice too much of the diference, I know they are all progressive springs but that's why I need someone that have done it on a Quattro.

trying to add the pics

I'm dropped on neuspeed race and bilstein's and its a bigger drop than that...and haven't had any probs...

I was waiting to hear form you, I've seen from your other comments that you have tried different things on your car. Well I'm at that point that don't know exactly what to do, I just hate to hear any "squekie" noise while driving at it's not even on the freeway just on the street. It was real bad before I replaced the struts last week, it reduced the noise alot, now I'm thinking that the springs might be to soft for the weight of the car, just a thought though. Plus I know the rear shocks are dying slowly with the days, that helps the noise too. ohhh well. GOT MY PIC ON.

wha'ts the sound like?

You made me a tough question about describing the sound. I can say that it was reduced alot after replacing the strusts but now the back sounds are stronger. I read a comment I guess you did before that it could be the arms but "I think" the guy at the shop would have told me something if they looked worned, maybe.
What kind of sounds could it be so I can pay attention on my drive home? Is yours a Quattro?
Thanks for your interest.

yeah.my car's quattro.. is it a clunk? is it a squeal? does it happen at any particular time? how many miles?

Appreciate it. I tried to listen to it yesterday on my way home. I would say it's more like a squek noise. On the freeway or driving in a way fast it doesn't make it. It's more like on the irregularities of the street driving let's say street speed. Even if I go in a hole it doesn't make any, it feels solid there. Another thought I had is that since the car is leaning forward because of the difference of heights on the front and back that can affect it also?. If you see the pic I have in one of the replies you can notice that. I know this cars are pretty heavy on the front end. My car has 56.000 miles on it and its a 1998. Are your springs different measures front and back? Do you have any idea why they do that with the Quattro lowering springs? The A4 come same measurment front and back. I found some brand, don't know much about it that gave 1.4" both sides,(front&back) I'm tempted to go back a little but not sure if doing that would solve anything other than going up a little. The brand starts with a "V" is Vol"something" have you heard of them?

I need to add that before installing the springs I had ZERO noises and the struts could still hold the car.

ok..one more question... is it like a constant squeak or just when you're hitting a bump or whatever..?

It's mostly on uneven roads and pretty much when I'm going slow. Thanks

I used to have a constant squeak at low speeds... I think the wheels were slightly out of round.. once I changed wheels..no more squeak..

Well let me tell you that this past weekend they were able to rise the car like an inch on the front thanks to the Bilstein struts that were installed a couple weeks ago. I feel more comfortable now since the car was getting slam pretty bad with every single bump on the street. The noise level was reduced alot but the guy that did it said it's coming form the upper left control arm, so your comments from before are coming to this problem. I think someone said that there are 8 on the front of the Audi? Does it mean they all have to be replaced at the same time if I decide to change the upper one? One more thing how is that , that the wheels were not round? how can that happend?

Did you ever experince vibration on your car? I have that issue right now. It vibrates when I'm around 60 mph on the freeway. Tires were balanced and rotated twice but the mechanic said that if the wheels are not put right and aligned correctly with the holes on the car it can cause that vibration since this cars have the hole and not the stud. Any info on this?
where do you live?

yeah....that's possible... might want to look into getting hubcentric rings to make sure the wheels are centered exactly..I havent had a problem with vibration..

the control arms dont 'have' to all be done... but if you're getting them done..may as well get all of the front's done b/c they will go eventually.. very typical problem..if you wanna save some $$.. check out www.ecstuning.com they have some good deals on stock control arms and stronger control arms..check it out.

For right now I'll have to put the control arms in the list of things to buy, for whenever I have the money.
One more thing, what are those hubcentric rings?
Is it something just to center them? when installed do they make the wheel come further out? hope not.

nope..not at all..just makes sure the wheel is centered...

http://justforwheels.com/index.jsp?cat=hubcentric&sub=how&track=GHR

Yeah I found out that they sell them at Discounttire for $15 the set. Are you in USA?