stollen
12-22-2007, 06:51 PM
Since we have done around 6 suspension installs in my garage you would think I have pictures that fully document the process. Well, I have most, but not all. I had some time today so here is a quick DIY on how to do a spring swap on a MKIV (using pics of Abby's install)....
Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you break your car or any part of your person, as always use common sense, and if you don't think you are capable of working on your car take it to someone who is.
NOTE: To make things easier later on I would suggest getting an impact wrench for this job. I picked up a cheesy electric one from Harbor Freight for $40, it works and is cheap, you will probably find other uses for it.
NOTE 2: To make getting the retaining nut off the front struts easier I would suggest loosening it before putting the front up on jackstands. Do that by removing the strut caps in the engine bay, take the 21mm nut off that holds the strut in place, remove the mounting cap, then loosen the black 21mm strut retaining nut. Notice I said loosen and NOT remove, you need to leave it on to keep everything in one piece. Once it is loose put the mounting cap back in place and put the 21mm nut back on that holds the strut in place, again, it doesn't have to be super tight, but good enough to hold things in place.
Step 1: Jackstands, put the car up on them. If you can put the whole car in the air its pretty easy, otherwise do the front and rear at a time.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0542.jpg
Step 2: Remove wheels (impact wrench makes this easier).
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0544.jpg
Step 3: Remove the bolts from both sides for the front sway bar endlinks where they attach to the control arm (16mm)
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0549.jpg
Step 4: Remove the ABS lines from the strut body by just pulling them out of the clips, just don't damage them.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0551.jpg
Step 5: Remove the brake line bracket from the drivers side by unscrewing the T20 (or T25) torx head screw and remove the bolt on the back side of the strut that holds the strut in place (18mm). Also, you can see everything I soak with PB Blaster to make things a little easier.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0550.jpg
Step 6: Now is the somewhat tricky part, on the back of the spindle (where the 18mm bolt that you removed in the previous step goes) there is a slot where you have to use the infamous spindle spreader (http://www.parts4vws.com/catalog/product_detail.asp?PartNumber=T%2E3424) . Once you have it in place put something under your control arm/brake disc and force the whole spindle/control arm/brake assembly down. You can do this a couple ways. Hopefully it isn't too difficult and you can really just push down with your foot. Otherwise take a deadblow hammer and hit on the spindle between the strut and disc brake. The control arm will drop down and the bottom of the strut will come free. Make sure you leave the spindle spreader in place (or put it back in place if it falls out).
Step 7: Once again, an impact wrench comes in handy for this step, and a friend... Open the hood and pull the strut cover off the top. Grab a 21mm deepwell impact socket and (with your friend holding the spring/strut assembly) remove the top nut holding the strut in place.
Step 8: Grab a pair of spring compressors and work their magic on the springs. After they are compressed enough you can remove the top retaining nut off the top of the strut. If you did NOTE 2 above you should be able to get the nut off easily, possibly even with your fingers. If you did not do NOTE 2 above you are gonna need another specialty tool (or lots of imagination). You could either use a deep offset wrench or a ratchet that has a hole in the middle or whatever your imagination comes up with that allows you to stick a hex key through it to hold the strut rod in place while loosening the nut.
Step 9: Remove everything from the strut, remove the spring compressors from the factory springs, and reassemble everything using the new springs. The order to install stuff on the strut is: spring, spring hat, strut bearing, strut bushing, retaining nut. If your car has a few miles on it I would suggest new strut bearings and bushings (and new struts, but thats a whole different argument).
Step 10: Reinstall spring/strut assembly on the car. Its basically reverse of removal, loosely install the top mounting nut first, then jack the control arm back onto the bottom of the strut. Make sure you have the spindle spreader still in place and it should slide right in as long as you have it aligned right. Remove the spindle spreader, reinstall the 18mm bolt and all other hardware (wait on the sway bar end link bolt until you are finished with the other side).
Step 11: Do the same for the passenger side as you did to the drivers side. Just one little difference. It may be much harder to get the spindle to drop low enough to get the bottom of the strut out. If thats the case first try turning the steering wheel all the way both ways, that might give you enough clearance. If it does not I would suggest removing the two subframe bolts for the passenger side. That will for sure get you enough clearance.
The rears:
Step 1: Remove the nut from the bolt that holds the bottom of the rear shock in place (16mm). Place a jack under where the bottom of the spring sits, jack up slightly so you can remove the bolt easy and not damage any threads (if reusing the bolts). Lower the jack and move to the other side.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0554.jpg
Step 2: Do the same on the other side, except when you lower the jack this time have someone on each side grabbing the stock springs, otherwise they will fall out and make lots of annoying noise.
Step 3: Transfer the rubber mounts on the ends of the springs to the new rear springs, put them in place, then jack one side up, put the bolt in one side, lower the jack and do the same on the other side.
Thats about it, yeah this is a pretty brief DIY for suspension (and lacking pictures), but wanted to get something up. If I find any more pics or think of anything I missed I will update this.
Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you break your car or any part of your person, as always use common sense, and if you don't think you are capable of working on your car take it to someone who is.
NOTE: To make things easier later on I would suggest getting an impact wrench for this job. I picked up a cheesy electric one from Harbor Freight for $40, it works and is cheap, you will probably find other uses for it.
NOTE 2: To make getting the retaining nut off the front struts easier I would suggest loosening it before putting the front up on jackstands. Do that by removing the strut caps in the engine bay, take the 21mm nut off that holds the strut in place, remove the mounting cap, then loosen the black 21mm strut retaining nut. Notice I said loosen and NOT remove, you need to leave it on to keep everything in one piece. Once it is loose put the mounting cap back in place and put the 21mm nut back on that holds the strut in place, again, it doesn't have to be super tight, but good enough to hold things in place.
Step 1: Jackstands, put the car up on them. If you can put the whole car in the air its pretty easy, otherwise do the front and rear at a time.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0542.jpg
Step 2: Remove wheels (impact wrench makes this easier).
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0544.jpg
Step 3: Remove the bolts from both sides for the front sway bar endlinks where they attach to the control arm (16mm)
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0549.jpg
Step 4: Remove the ABS lines from the strut body by just pulling them out of the clips, just don't damage them.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0551.jpg
Step 5: Remove the brake line bracket from the drivers side by unscrewing the T20 (or T25) torx head screw and remove the bolt on the back side of the strut that holds the strut in place (18mm). Also, you can see everything I soak with PB Blaster to make things a little easier.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0550.jpg
Step 6: Now is the somewhat tricky part, on the back of the spindle (where the 18mm bolt that you removed in the previous step goes) there is a slot where you have to use the infamous spindle spreader (http://www.parts4vws.com/catalog/product_detail.asp?PartNumber=T%2E3424) . Once you have it in place put something under your control arm/brake disc and force the whole spindle/control arm/brake assembly down. You can do this a couple ways. Hopefully it isn't too difficult and you can really just push down with your foot. Otherwise take a deadblow hammer and hit on the spindle between the strut and disc brake. The control arm will drop down and the bottom of the strut will come free. Make sure you leave the spindle spreader in place (or put it back in place if it falls out).
Step 7: Once again, an impact wrench comes in handy for this step, and a friend... Open the hood and pull the strut cover off the top. Grab a 21mm deepwell impact socket and (with your friend holding the spring/strut assembly) remove the top nut holding the strut in place.
Step 8: Grab a pair of spring compressors and work their magic on the springs. After they are compressed enough you can remove the top retaining nut off the top of the strut. If you did NOTE 2 above you should be able to get the nut off easily, possibly even with your fingers. If you did not do NOTE 2 above you are gonna need another specialty tool (or lots of imagination). You could either use a deep offset wrench or a ratchet that has a hole in the middle or whatever your imagination comes up with that allows you to stick a hex key through it to hold the strut rod in place while loosening the nut.
Step 9: Remove everything from the strut, remove the spring compressors from the factory springs, and reassemble everything using the new springs. The order to install stuff on the strut is: spring, spring hat, strut bearing, strut bushing, retaining nut. If your car has a few miles on it I would suggest new strut bearings and bushings (and new struts, but thats a whole different argument).
Step 10: Reinstall spring/strut assembly on the car. Its basically reverse of removal, loosely install the top mounting nut first, then jack the control arm back onto the bottom of the strut. Make sure you have the spindle spreader still in place and it should slide right in as long as you have it aligned right. Remove the spindle spreader, reinstall the 18mm bolt and all other hardware (wait on the sway bar end link bolt until you are finished with the other side).
Step 11: Do the same for the passenger side as you did to the drivers side. Just one little difference. It may be much harder to get the spindle to drop low enough to get the bottom of the strut out. If thats the case first try turning the steering wheel all the way both ways, that might give you enough clearance. If it does not I would suggest removing the two subframe bolts for the passenger side. That will for sure get you enough clearance.
The rears:
Step 1: Remove the nut from the bolt that holds the bottom of the rear shock in place (16mm). Place a jack under where the bottom of the spring sits, jack up slightly so you can remove the bolt easy and not damage any threads (if reusing the bolts). Lower the jack and move to the other side.
http://web.mac.com/gjstoll/abby/DSC_0554.jpg
Step 2: Do the same on the other side, except when you lower the jack this time have someone on each side grabbing the stock springs, otherwise they will fall out and make lots of annoying noise.
Step 3: Transfer the rubber mounts on the ends of the springs to the new rear springs, put them in place, then jack one side up, put the bolt in one side, lower the jack and do the same on the other side.
Thats about it, yeah this is a pretty brief DIY for suspension (and lacking pictures), but wanted to get something up. If I find any more pics or think of anything I missed I will update this.