2012 SportWagen rear suspension upgrade for heavy bike rack?

Good morning! This is my first post here; love the forum! My wife has a 2012 Sportwagen TDI, and I have 2012 Golf TDI. We got them both through the CPO program, and they are about halfway through their warranties.

On my wife's car, we added a tow hitch to attach a bike rack. We also got two electric bikes, and a pretty serious bike rack to handle the weight. We've gone on several long road trips and it seemed to be working well. Her Sportwagen only has about 60k miles.

Until my wife noticed that her rear suspension (unloaded) is now sagging pretty bad.

I've read up as much as I can, I need some expert advice.

1. Did we likely overload the rear of the car due to weight, or did the shocks, with their mileage, just go?
2. We want to keep towing the bikes, should we stick with stock, or are there stronger shock/spring combos we could install?
3. With that, what would be recommended while keeping the ride as close to stock as possible?
4. And lastly, there seems to be contradictory info on the CPO warranty. Does it cover shocks?

Thanks all!

If it is sagging when not loaded you may have broken spring(s). Need to get that checked.

I personally like the adjustable air shock bags relatively easily added to rear springs.

Here is one guy's install: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP3CtjTDbGQ

Note: I have not done this install, just like the adjustability of it.

Thanks! We are checking the springs today to see if they broke.

I've seen several threads on replacement springs. I know suspension is a complex area, but are there "stronger" springs we could look into to effectively increase the amount of weight we could tow on the bike trailer?

Tigaun rear springs have also been suggested as helping. That is a lot of weight to put on the rear of a front wheel drive car, so be careful. We found a small kayak/bike trailer as a better alternative for longer distances, but then went one step farther. Nothing beats the bed of a pickup for hauling bikes.

Nice! We got into this slowly... first it was just a normal bike rack, then we got the e-bikes, then we realized we needed a sturdier rack, and here we are! I'll look into a small trailer option, that's a good idea.

Bilstein makes great Heavy Duty shocks for this exact purpose. Note that they also stiffen the ride, although that might feel like an improvement if you like the feeling. Even the less expensive Bilstein Touring shocks are also slightly firmer than stock. I have the Touring version on my 2010 Golf and like the increased firmness. I like to run my tires on the soft side, but I like a firmer suspension.

One of my OEM shocks started leaking at about 135K miles. Your car has lower miles, but if you're stressing it and maybe from age I'm sure they could go sooner. I don't know if the CPO covers worn shocks, but it seems like it might/should. For free, if covered by warranty, I bet new OEM would be an improvement.

2WD Tiguan rear springs will work great. Slightly firmer spring rate without being obnoxious. Easily changed with an hour of your time.

AllieJetta said:

2WD Tiguan rear springs will work great. Slightly firmer spring rate without being obnoxious. Easily changed with an hour of your time.

Click to expand...

Where did you get the springs from?


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IDparts.com has those springs, as well as the Jetta Sportwagen "towing" springs.

I'm going to be installing the towing springs on my JSW, and I'm deciding right now if I want to mess with the Koni shocks or just do the springs for now.

Geordi said:

IDparts.com has those springs, as well as the Jetta Sportwagen "towing" springs.

I'm going to be installing the towing springs on my JSW, and I'm deciding right now if I want to mess with the Koni shocks or just do the springs for now.

Click to expand...

i just did this. do the konis. much better ride/drive quality. your going to be in there anyway so might as well do it all at once.

My issue is that the factory rear springs are definitely shot - the car drops over an inch with about 150 lbs in the cargo area. BUT - the overall ride doesn't feel bad to me at all. I don't think the dampers are bad, this was a company car that must have been used to carry sample cases around or something (medical research company that does the blood samples for doctors) so I think it spent its life just carting around the same load all the time.

Either the factory springs were made of bubblegum and the shocks are fine... Or the shocks spent their entire life compressed and never got used much. Dunno. I may pull one off just to see if I can compress it by hand - if the damper is trash, it should be easy.

Here's what I'd do based on my experience:

1. 2wd front Tiguan springs
2. 3C0511115AG rear Tiguan Springs
3. Jetta Koni Special Active struts front
4. Tiguan OEM or Bilstein B4 rear struts
5. OEM GTI 21.7mm rear sway bar (used for well under $100). Spend a few bucks extra to get new bushings.

If you're going to do the springs, get new struts. Period.

Hi all! Thank you all for the input.

We ended up replacing the springs and shocks in the rear; went with the Sportwagen towing springs (1K0511115CT) and Bilstein HDs (1K0513029HK). It did seem to raise the back a little, which is great; before it was sagging. It drives MUCH better. My wife says that before, it would feel loose at speed over bumps, now it feels well controlled.

Next up is figure out what to do in the front! My wife likes the lift, may want to match it.

Thanks again to everyone who posted.


Edited; sorry, I tried to attach a picture and it went weird.