Front Suspension Refresh

[Guest Richard Anderson]

My 1.9GTI is getting distinctly loose at the front end after 110K and I'm thinking of trying to correct this by replacing all the cheap parts that I can....my question is, what parts should I replace and how easy is it to do (not having much mechanical experience)?

 

How easy is it to do the bushes and should I use stock bushes or polyurethane ones?

 

I've heard that the rollbar droplinks are a common cause of looseness....is this true?

 

Rich.

[fiji bob 0]

new ones made alot of difference on mine its worth changing the track rod ends as well i think they are about £10 each but youll need the tracking checked afterwards both are easy to do and can be done at the same time

[AndyR 0]

Changing the bushes is a nightmare dont bother if youre not very mechanical, they are cheap parts but I think its impossible to get the old bushes out of the wishbones.

 

You will probably have to replace most of the bolts and nuts you remove as they are so rusty they wont be worth re using again. (wishbone/subframe/suspension pinch bolts)

 

Track rod ends (little metal chicken drumsticks) are about 15 quid each and can be removed with some persuation (an hour of hammering and blowtorch)

 

my honest opinion.

[Guest Joe_M]

Suspension Top Mounts, they are about £22 per side for genuine Pug one's from GSF - they seem to tighten the front end nicely.

[Guest puggti]

What is a suspension top mount??

 

sounds like a stupid question but i need to learn!! is it where a strut brace goes??

[AndyR 0]

Sort of yes. it goes on the end of the shock absorber and is inside the suspension turret and pokes thought the hole into the engine bay.

[Guest puggti]

ok cheers mate!! Ill get some of them! If you buy a suspension kit do you get these with it?? i mean its not part of the shock is it??

[AndyR 0]

I think bilstein streetline kits come with them, but if you buy just the shox you dont. BE VERY CAREFULL if youre compressing springs, if you like having a jawbone.

[Guest puggti]

lol, i have done it before!! one got loose and the spring went miles!! lol! Blistine Streetline, is that a good kit??

[Guest kermit]

Suspension Top Mounts, they are about £22 per side for genuine Pug one's from GSF - they seem to tighten the front end nicely.

Sorry for a dumb question, but:

which parts from this graph. are included in this Top Mount kit?

 

wbr

kermit

[Guest puggti]

prob just number 6 by the looks of it!

[Wurzel 16]

Recently got OE stuff from Eurocarparts and Pug dealer.

 

Standard shocks I got were Bilstein sort

Top mounts only include the large rubber ring which is all that wears.

Wishbones come with bushes (rubber) already fitted and are pretty hard as standard.

Drop links are a piece of piss to replace but they don't come with new nuts

Anti roll bar bushes I got from Pug dealer. Eurocarparts and GSF sell the blue one (drivers side) but not the orange one (passengers side). The orange one has a locating groove type arrangement that the Anti roll bar sits in.

New nuts and bolts all sourced from pug dealer for ease.

 

Tools I used included spring compressors and ball joint separator. A big lump hammer helped to remove the hub carrier from the shock.

 

Not too difficult to do really. Make sure you support the hub as you separate it from the shock to stop the drive shaft popping out the gear box and spill oil everywhere.

 

Took me about 90minutes to complete each side (nice and sunny!)

 

Follow Haynes manual as it is pretty good for this job

 

Made a 100% difference to handling of my car.

[Wurzel 16]

Forgot to mention, Anti roll bar bushes are Polyeurathane sort as standard.

[Guest doughboy]

Sorry for a dumb question, but:

which parts from this graph. are included in this Top Mount kit?

You get numbers 1 to 8, plus the bit between number 8 and the spring.

 

BTW, that's in a genuine pug kit.

Edited May 7, 2003 by doughboy

[perfecto pug 0]

if you are ordering an SKF (make) top mount kit you will get either parts 6 and 8

 

or 6 'n' 7 combined and 8

 

no 8 is the bearing by the way

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

i have bought aftermarket kits which gives you everything 1-8 but the bearing is very poorly constucted and i wouldn't use it even on a childs bicycle.

 

i have bought oe kits before which gives you 4-6-8 but the difference in quality of the bearing is considerable.

 

washer 4 is quite important, its rubber coated and eventually the rubber wears off leaving a metal to metal rattle when traveling over rough surfaces which can be annoying .

[Guest kermit]

Just called local Pug dealer. They are offering this kit for 1 shock for approx. 35 GBP

So I guess I'll just change the pad, washer and bearing that could be less than 20 GBP.

 

wbr

kermit

[Guest Hallsy]

Yep, when i bought my OE top mount kit from Pug it was around £35, but did include all bits from 1-8. Pretty sure they offered me a kit that had less bits in, probably just the rubber pad and bearing, which was cheaper.

 

I only did one side, but i'm thinking i should have done both.