EvaResto Premium '66- Front Air Kit install Guide
Thank you for purchasing an EvaResto air suspension kit. This guide should tell you everything you need to know about fitting and operating your kit, but if you have any questions or are unsure of anything, feel free to email or call us and we’ll assist as soon as possible!
This kit is designed as an easy to fit, well performing and highly practical air ride system for Ball Joint style front suspension on ‘66- T1 cars. It is an ’independent’ kit and will replace the torsion bars completely.
Care must be taken out at every point to ensure the kit is installed correctly. Once it is in place, no ‘servicing’ of parts is required, but it is recommended that you check on the system periodically to make sure everything remains in top order.
Installation is simple with the use of this guide, however we do recommend installation by qualified technicians familiar with Air Suspension systems and Aircooled Vehicles!
The only part requiring fully professional services is Ball Joint replacement. If you're not confident/able to do this, a local garage may be able to assist. Ensure ball joints are installed correctly as per manufacturer spec, with notches facing front/rear of vehicle. Failure to do so will lead to poor dropped/lift heights and unsafe handling!
Please note: This kit is designed for use with independent management types (4-way), and will perform it’s best if used as so. 2-way systems will operate it, however wont allow for the best performance
+ ride levelling available.
Parts list
Our kits are comprehensive and come with everything you need for proper installation.
We Recommend you take some time, familiarise yourself with the components and make sure you have everything present before you start the install.
Parts supplied (as standard):
- 1x Air Ride axle Beam assembly
- 2x FreeRoll Rods (pre-fitted)
- 2x Airsleeve shocks
- 1x Pair of Track Rods + Locking nuts
- 1x Steering Extender Kit with fixings
- 2x Upper grease seals
- 2x Lower grease seals
- 2x Long Travel upper ball joints
- 2x Long Travel lower ball joints
- 2x 1/8” NPT to 1/4“ PTC Air Fittings
- 1x Complete Fastener kit
Fastener kit:
All Necessary fixings are packed together.
Metric tools are required for install.
- 2xM12x60 Bolts
- 2x M10 Washers
- 4x M12 Washers
- 2x M10 Nyloc Nuts
Preparation
Get yourself and the car ready for the job.
Ensure vehicle is safely lifted and supported, using safe and correctly graded equipment. Wheels off, tools at the ready.
Note: Your kit may differ slightly in visual
design to the kit depicted in this fitting guide.
Car Preparation
Your original suspension system must be almost entirely removed for the new kit to be installed. Don’t worry though, there’s no cutting or fab work needed,
and the full kit is only bolt-on. Parts that will need removing entirely are:
- Brakes and spindle assembly in full
- Trailing arms
- Steering Track Rods + Ends
- Steering damper
- Steering Box + Clamp + Pitman Arm
- Beam assembly in full
You will also need to remove your fuel tank and set it aside for proper access when fitting and setting up the front suspension.
With all of your existing setup removed, you should be left with something like this:
Now for the install guide...
Step 1
Installing the new beam.
Install the new axle assembly as per original style. Use your original rubbers (if they are serviceable, replace if not!) for between the body and the beam. Refit using the original bolts and washers, and torque up to factory specs. The Shock towers will fit close to the inner wing on 4" narrowed size, but should not contact the body anywhere.
Step 2
Installing the grease seals
The grease seals supplied are a direct fit for our custom axles. The upper seals just sandwich in place between the arm and beam end plate, whereas the lowers sit snugly into the beam tubing like a factory beam.
Fit these, then move on to the next step
Step 3
Fitting the Ball Joints.
The trailing arms need to be prepared for the new Long Travel joints to be fitted. Clean these up, remove the old joints and fit the new.
This is the only part of front kit installation that requires professional tools/equipment, and as such should only be taken out by a qualified Technician.
Ball joints must be installed as per VW specification, with notches aligned with marks in arms, 90deg from the bearing surface. Incorrect installation will prevent proper drop and lift, and can cause dangerous handling characteristics!
Step 4
Fitting the Trailing arms and Grub Screws.
With the arms cleaned up and new ball joints installed, it's time to fit them into the new beam.
Ensure the Bearing Surfaces of the arms are clean and free of any rust and damage, and go ahead and give them an even coating of a high-quality lithium based wheel bearing grease or multi-purpose grease.
Drive the arms fully into the beam. They will be a snug fit, but should easily knock home with aid from a plastic mallet. Please don't use a hammer here, Aesthetic damage to the arms looks a mess and is easily avoided!
With the arms fully home, the grub screws and locking nuts can be re-fitted.
The grub screws *MUST* be aligned with the v-groove in the freeroll rod ends!
Ensure the groove lines up with the position of the grub screw by looking down the threaded hole in the arm. Once you're confident the arms are in the correct position, fit the grub screws and tighten them down snug (but not over-tight), ensuring there is no way the arm could move outwards or inwards. Fit the locking nuts onto the grub screws and tighten down fully.
Image shows correct alignment of grub screw into V-groove.
For assistance here, use of a G-clamp can be helpful to pull the arm into position and allow proper Grub screw fitment
Failure to do this correctly can lead to big problems down the line, ensure it is done correctly!
Step 5
Fitting the air fittings into the Air Shocks.
The Air fittings used are 1/8” npt to 1/4”
ptc (push to connect) 90deg fittings and require a good thread sealant for a fully air-tight seal. Use Loctite 565 or PTFE tape sparingly, and install the fitting into the port on the bag. Tapered type fittings do not need to be tightened all the way home. Do them by hand, and then one full turn further.
Step 6
Fitting the Air Sleeve Shocks
The Shocks supplied with the kit are a straight fit to the custom Air Ride Beam. Offer them up to the beam and fit them with the supplied M12x60 bolts and washers on either side of the bushing, like in this picture here. The M12x60 Bolts and washers may be pre-fitted into the beam if you're having trouble locating them.
Secure the shocks onto the lower arm with the two M10 Nyloc nuts and washers. You may need to move the arm either up or down to line it up in position with the shock eyelet.
Now tighten all the shock fittings down fully. Positioning of these doesn't matter as the Bushings allow for complete travel with no hang-ups.
Step 7
Refit the spindles, brakes and hub assembly in full. Using your original (or new) Caster nuts and washers, re-fit your spindles in place. Drop spindles are required here for full drop and best operation. Adjust the caster nuts to a straight ahead position for now giving as little caster as possible (dead ahead starting position), and tighten down all fittings fully.
Step 8
Re-fitting the steering box and steering gear. The Steering box must be re-fitted and allowed to line up with the steering column as closely as possible. Ensure the rubber disc coupler between the steering box and steering column is running true when rotated and not stressed in any directions (this is why alignment is so important).
Your kit comes supplied with a replacement uprated steering box clamp, with an integral steering lock stop. You should have an install guide for this. If not, see here for install details!
EvaResto T1 Adjustable Steering Stop Install Guide – EvaResto Online Store
Once the 'box is refitted, the Steering extender can be fitted. The steering extender bolts to the underside of the pitman arm, and allows the track rods to be moved backwards out of the way of the shocks. Ensure the tapered holes are towards the back of the car, ready for the track rod ends to be refitted.
Bolt the steering extender in position and tighten down fully.
The steering extender supplied uses 1968 onwards style track rod ends with the 19mm nut, ensure this type are fitted!
Next, assemble your track rods with your existing or new ends, and fit them to the pitman arm. Wind the ends all the way in for now, as adjustment can be made later. The ends of the Rods with the locking/jam nuts are the inside ends (bolted to pitman arm).
The Short rod is a specific shape to fully clear the Drivers-Side air shock on full lock both directions. This must be set in position so that the curve of the rod gives maximum clearance to the air shock, like shown.
Fit these now into the spindles, and tighten the nuts down fully.
Refit your steering damper using the standard eye in the track rod end, and the mount on the beam.
Step 9
Greasing the beam. Using a grease gun, pack each corner of the beam with grease through the Nipples/Zerks. The beam features an OE-style grease cavity, and will take around the same amount of grease as a stock unit. Use a good-quality lithium grease and pump it in until the resistance increases in your grease gun (it gets harder to pump).
Clean off the excess and move on to the next step.
Step 10.
Next, fit your air lines from your management to your air shocks. Ensure that at all times the air line is free from chafing, stretching, road debris and the road wheel. Failure to do so can easily end up with a broken line/breakdown. Make sure the line is clean and cleanly cut (using the line cutter supplied with your management) and push it firmly into the air line connector.
Use the small holes on the beam (near top mount and on upright gusset) to tie the line out of the way if your line goes forwards out of the beam, and if going backwards (like i typically do with the management fitted in the rear of the car), tie the line to the inner wing with P-clips or similar. Again make sure the road wheel cannot contact this at any time!
Step 11
Set-up. Re-fit your wheels and pre-inflate the shocks to around 40psi. lower the car off of the supports and ensure you’re clear of any obstructions underneath the car. Roll the car back and forwards slightly to allow things to settle.
By eye, adjust the track rods so that both wheels face as straight as possible. They do not need to be 'locked' in position just yet.
Now let the suspension down fully, allowing the bags to completely deflate and the car to reach maximum drop. There should be no hang-ups, and the car should sit level side-to-side and of course, look great.
Step 12.
Alignment set-up.
Lift the car to a height you'll be happy to drive at 90% of the time. For me, this usually very close to half way between the suspension total stroke.
With the suspension set at this height, the alignment can be taken out. If you have tracking gauges, great, otherwise, set it as close as you can to dead ahead, and take the car to a specialist at first opportunity.
Remember to always set the road wheels dead ahead position when the pitman arm is in dead central position, and visually parallel to the steering column. This is of vital importance, and is the only way the steering box will work as intended.
Set the tracking, and then 'lock off' the track rods fully using the lock/jam nuts and the 13mm clamp nuts/bolts.
The steering wheel will most likely need to be re-centred once you're finished.
Step 13
Let the suspension fully down again, ensuring everything is clear of the body and there are no hang-ups or clearance issues. In rare cases, the passenger side inner wing may need a small notch to allow for adequate track rod clearance under full drop. This tends to be in about 1 in every 10 cars (don't ask me why, i don't know myself!).
Re-fit the fuel tank. If the tank isn't allowed to sit flat, and is hanging up on one of the track rods, it must be raised to accommodate for this. Again only some cars require a fuel tank lift, some don't.
Most people knock up a simple square timber frame and extended bolts for this, allowing for around a 1" raise. We do offer a bolt-in raise frame option though for those wanting to keep things looking super tidy.
Refit the tank and fuel lines, ensuring the fuel line will not come into contact with any suspension parts under any circumstances.
Step 14
Selecting a good ride height. With the setup installed and wheel alignment taken out, it's time to start operating the kit normally.
The Eva Premium front kit is designed to be driven low, high, and everything in-between. A good starting point would be around 40psi in each bag. This should give around 3-4” of lift, great ride quality and ground clearance. You may need up to 5psi difference side-to-side to offset the weight of a single driver and no
passengers in order to maintain a level ride height, but this depends mainly on driver weight!
The kit should start to lift at around 30psi and can be driven low. But as a general rule with all air suspension systems, you should not operate the kit in the upper or lower 10% of it’s limits, as this can cause damage to the chassis of your car, and the shock absorbers. Get a feel for the kit, and
experiment with different pressures and ride heights, to find what suits your driving style best.
Step 15
Now it’s time to rack up some miles on your newly-bagged vw. We recommend after the first 10, and then 50 miles or so to check over a few things, make sure nothing looks off, or has come loose. Once you’ve completed this period, standard service intervals apply, and your kit won’t need any special treatment, replacement parts or extra servicing for a good many years and thousands of miles.
We always recommend keeping an eye on the underside of your (most likely) 50+ year old classic car, but that’s just common sense ;).
