GTI ARB's onto Driver + Rear Beam

[rich_4130]

Hey, got a 1600 Driver, generally sorting out the handling, has no ARB's as standard, what is the easiest way of fitting them? On the front is it easiest to get a whole subframe/wishbones off a GTI and bolt it on, or just the arb itself?

And on the rear, how difficult is fitting the rear beam with disks from a gti?

Cheers
Rich

[nealey]

You can just fit the front anti roll bar which would be as easy as changing the whole subframe

As for the rear, it depends on how handy you are with a spanner as you will need to do some pipework as the brake pipes are different lengths as you have to plumb in the brake compensator

[Village Idiots]

Fitting just the ARB to the front is a lot easier than the whole sub frame as these have the engine and gearbox mounts on them. They also cost a lot more even from scrapyards.
I have a cynical theory about rear discs: I think they are a fashion item! Yes they are better brakes than drums, but due to weight transference under braking, they will lock your rear wheels unless you fit a compensator. What do they do? They take away most of the braking effort to the rears unless you have an elephant in the back seats. And... you end up with loads of trouble trying to get a decent handbrake. But if you are a car manufacturer, try selling a sports model without discs on all wheels.
If you really want better brakes upgrade the fronts. About 70 per cent of your braking comes from the front.

[rubjonny]

I would say it is easier to fit the ARB with the subframe off the car, I tried it once when it was just dropped a little and it was a nightmare.  Mainly the inner bushes!
If I were you, I'd build up a spare subby with wishbones attached, poly bush the lot, new ball joints etc then swap the lot over in 1 go, easy.  If you can go for an uprated one, a Golf G60/Corrado 28mm bar is a nice oem-look upgrade.  These were also fitted to some SEAT ibizas
Oh and a new rear engine mount & gearbox mount too, go for the morte expensive 16v/G60 rear mount, much stronger!

For the rear ARB, you could just buy an aftermarket one that bolts underneath the beam, should match the 28mm front nicely.

To fit it you need to jack up the front and put it on axle stands, remove the front wheels, unbolt the rear engine & gearbox mounts then support the engine, undo the ball joints from the hubs,  then 4 bolts hold the subby & wishbones to the car, once its lowered a tad you'll be able to get to the rack nuts more easily, once off just tie the rack up to something.  Be VERY carefull undoing the 4 subframe bolts though, the captive nuts can brake loose which is not fun as big holes need to be cut into the bodywork to fix.

[Village Idiots]

If you want to build up a spare sub frame etc., I have one from a G60 Corrado with wishbones and the G60 ARB. Where are you? I'm in Blackburn.