Rear Air Spring DIY

Hi All,

Having owned my VW Golf GTI for 8 years I have made a change to an Audi A6 C6 Allroad owing to the arrival of our little boy. 

I bought the car privately a couple of weeks ago and inevitably I'm going through the 'bedding in' period of fixing all of it's issues. Although it's had just 1 previous owner the car has covered some ground in it's lifetime with 144k miles on the clock. 

Main faults to date are as follows:

- creaking rear suspension 

- smokey on cold start

- knock from the front (sounds like drop link)

- faulty fuel gauge

- sinking rear air suspension 

I've done my research on the forums and out of all the faults listed I'm most concerned re the sinking rear air suspension and as most garages won't come near it I plan on sorting it myself in the comings weeks. I've gathered lots of useful information but wanted to double check my approach as from everything I've read and watched I still have some queries.

1. As it seems to hold air when in Allroad/lift mode but not when in automatic/dynamic I'm assuming the rear air springs have a slight leak which is exacerbated when the car is lower?

2. Money is tight so replacement parts need to represent the best value for money. Genuine parts are out of the question and so I've narrowed it down to:

- Aerosus (268 pounds for a pair)

- Miessler (250 pounds for a pair approx.)

- Car Air Springs (188 pounds for a pair)

Does.anyone have any experience/ recommendations re the above options? 

3. Is it possible to change both rear air bags with a couple of trolley Jack's and axle stands?

4. Specifically I plan to leave the front wheels on the ground and jack up the rears (with battery disconnected) and put on axle stands. I will then swap out the rear bags which looks fairly easy before putting the wheels back on. I then plan to 'semi-support' the vehicle with 2 trolley Jacks lowering it to the height it was at before I swapped out the bags (I'll measure from the ground to the top of each wheel arch before I start). I'm assuming I can then reconnect the battery and allow the car to reinflate the bags knowing that they won't be required to support the whole weight of the car from empty? 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Alex