Front strut mount replacement 'How to'

Snowman

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2002
Location
Elmira, Ontario
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
What?! You guys are still using miles??:eek: Start using metric already, then give yourself a warm welcome to the 21st Century!:)

But seriously; it could be the strut mount. Have you checked for play in the ball joint as well? Is it a hard metal clunk or a thuddy kind of klunk?

Ben
 

michTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2000
Location
Charlotte, MI, USA
TDI
2003 Jetta and 2015 GSW MT
there was a big push to use metric here some years back......but old habits die hard......I would say its a metal clunk......but not super loud......but it has gotten increasingly noticeable.......first just over larger bumps-and now even on smaller ones.....the sound hasn't gotten any louder necessarily......but it happens more frequently......
 

samiam

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Location
Texas
TDI
A4,2001.5, red
My klunking started at 70-80 k miles. I put new Koni reds and mount kits in the car. Ride is better but clucking is still there. My deluxe hardware kit didn't come with the spacer shown in this writeup- J10 412 311A. Is that my problem or should I look at? Ball joints. Rear lower control arm bushing has a few cracks but has not failed to cause a clunking sound.



Michael
 

r90sKirk

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Oct 21, 2003
Location
CedarTuckey, Michigan
TDI
All TDI's - No gassers! Luxo-Tourer = 13 Passat (hands down, the nicest car we've ever owned), Most fun = MK4 Golf
Michael,

Replace the sway bar bushings next, that should take care of the noise. I believe Wingnut did a "How To" on that as well, take a look. They are real simple to do.

Kirk
 

supertrucker

New member
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Location
Kelowna BC
TDI
2000 Jetta 5 spd
Front Strut Mount Replacement

Hi. I was reading some of your How To's. Great resource. I just did my front strut mounts today, and found you can remove the spring tension quite easily by supporting the lower control arm, and then removing the lower sway bar ling bolt to the control arm. Then lower the jack, and the strut drops down low enough to remove the mount and bearing.:)
 

supertrucker

New member
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Location
Kelowna BC
TDI
2000 Jetta 5 spd
Front Strut Mount Replacement

Hi. I was reading some of your How To's. Great resource. I just did my front strut mounts today, and found you can remove the spring tension quite easily by supporting the lower control arm, and then removing the lower sway bar link bolt to the control arm. Then lower the jack, and the strut drops down low enough to remove the mount and bearing.:)
 

unjester

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Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Location
San Francisco
TDI
2000 Golf
Okay I learned that you can't access the bump stops this way. Oh well. And I was not able to do this without the spring compressors.
 

IXLR8

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Joined
Mar 9, 2003
Location
Cushing, ME
TDI
12 Passat Platinum Gray, 02 Golf Black, 01 Jetta Black
supertrucker said:
Hi. I was reading some of your How To's. Great resource. I just did my front strut mounts today, and found you can remove the spring tension quite easily by supporting the lower control arm, and then removing the lower sway bar link bolt to the control arm. Then lower the jack, and the strut drops down low enough to remove the mount and bearing.:)
How did you deal with the spring tension when you removed the second nut to remove the strut mount?
 

IXLR8

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Joined
Mar 9, 2003
Location
Cushing, ME
TDI
12 Passat Platinum Gray, 02 Golf Black, 01 Jetta Black
je said:
He would have used a spring compressor, as advised in the instruction.
The way he worded it, it sounded like he didn't use a spring compressor. I have found that some folks install the mount above the second nut rather than under it. That is part of why I asked.
 

LNXGUY

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Location
Barrie, Ont, Canada
TDI
'05 Jetta TDI Wagon
You don't need a spring compressor to remove or install the struts on the car. However, you do need one to swap the springs onto the new struts.
 

je

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Location
Chesterton Shores, Ontario
TDI
-
This isn't about doing any of that. The spring compressor keeps the length of the spring short, so there is clear space for you to get your hand in and pull out/replace the bushing and bearing. It's a patience- and character-building exercise, but not as much as taking the spring out.
 

Wingnut

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Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
Just to clarify the last few posts. In my original method, I removed all the nuts on the top of the strut with the car on the ground. So the weight was still on the springs. As I raised the car, the springs decompressed and were allowed to extend further than if the retaining nuts were still in place. After raising the car with a jack & securing it with stands, you can remove the wheel and gain access to the decompressed spring. But it now has to be recompressed in order to gain the clearance needed to remove & replace the mounts and add spacers, etc.

So to sum up, you still need a compressor to change the mounts, but you do not need to remove the springs or struts from the car.
 

Ironman24

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Joined
Apr 13, 2006
Location
Hillsborough, NC
TDI
15 Passat TDI DSG
I have a clunking from the front that I feel when going over bumps in the road. You can almost feel it in the floorboard/pedal area as well.

At 120K I put Bilsteins from tdiparts on all four corners and I got the front kit as well to replace the strut mount and bushing. I did not install spacers or new bump stops. The bump stops looked OK. I also did the sway bar bushings at that time and my speed bump squeaking stopped.

A few weeks ago I did all the front control arm bushings, front ball joints, and a new pass side axle but the clunking is still there.

Any suggestions on what to look for now? Should I order a new mount kit with new bump stops? The car now has 163K on it, I can't imagine they would wear out that fast.
 

Tdi-Matt

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Location
CFB Cold Lake
TDI
2002 JETTA TDI
I have some mystery clunking coming from my front driver side as well, just replaced all the suspension with Koni Reds, mounts, stops, etc. Everything torqued to spec, so its not the suspension. Similar symptoms as Ironman.. I did replace both of my sway bar bushings, although the driverside one....the bolt head snapped off on re-install....could that klunk be related to that??
 

sdk131

Veteran Member
Joined
May 19, 2004
Location
Calvert County, MD
TDI
2004 Jetta GL RC1+
Tdi-Matt said:
....the bolt head snapped off on re-install....could that klunk be related to that??
Um.....yes. Any loose bolts or bushings in the suspension can generall cause some sort of squeek, thunk, or pop.
 

Wingnut

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
Uncle Milty said:
I notice that you suggest putting the spacer on top of the bearing, but the picture shows it under the bearing. Does it make any difference which way it's done?

Actually, If you look at the picture of the parts laid out, I have the parts lined up in the order they should go back on. The spacer goes inbetween the bearing & the perch, not between the bearing & the rubber mount. Just like the illustration.
 

Uncle Milty

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Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Location
Prince Edward Island, Canada eh.
TDI
2001 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA GLS TDI
Here are the replacement parts. Notice the adition of the spacer. This goes in between the bearing and the upper perch:

That was the part that was throwing me off, but I do now see that your picture and the guide's picture have the parts installed the same way.

Thanks for All the how-to's :)
 

Ironman24

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2006
Location
Hillsborough, NC
TDI
15 Passat TDI DSG
I was installing a set of front brakes today (thanks Wingnut for the great how to on brakes) and I noticed that I could lift the spring/strut assembly in the wheel well and a gap would appear between the strut mount and fender under the hood. I could actually move the assembly side to side with just a little tension removed from the spring by hand.

I'm assuming this is not supposed to happen and I hope I have found a clunk in the suspension that I have been chasing for months.

Do I need a set of these spacers to take up some slack somewhere? I tried to tighten up the nut with the specitalty tool but it would not budge. Both sides moved around and both were as tight as they could be.

See my above post for what has been replaced. Maybe I put the bushings together in the incorrect order?
 

Wingnut

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
When the weight is off the front wheels, the struts fall down a bit. That is why there are those little hats on the top side, to prevent them from falling through when you lift the car. It is normal for there to be some play when the weight is off the front wheels as the rubber mounts are no longer wedged up into the strut tower hole.

As for the clunking when going over bumps, I would look at the sway bar bushings. I know you said you replaced them at 120k, but the noise can come back within 30-50k. Your last post mentioned you had 163k on the car, that means 43k on the sway bar bushings. You might want to consider poly sway bar bushings this time.
 

neimis

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Joined
Dec 12, 2000
Location
Victoria, B.C., Canada
TDI
'92 Passat TD, '01 Golf GL TDI, '15 Golf Trendline TDI
sle91h said:
The only trouble I had was finding a 7mm allen wrench. Nothing at PartSource or Canadian Tire. But I did find it a Rona of all places..:) So any of you need a 7mm allen wrench, Rona in Ottawa carries them.
Thank you! I've been searching for ages for a dang 7mm allen wrench. Went to the local (North Vancouver) Rona, and there it was! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Very helpful for Canadians! Neil Miskey
 

astrolumen

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2008
Location
St Paul, MN
TDI
2002 Golf GLS TDI 5-speed Stock
word of warning

Thanks for the great write up!

I wanted to post a word of warning to others who are bold enough (or naive enough) to try this without a lot of experience working with the suspension system of your car. I attempted this job on 100k mi struts and this is what happened:



The strut basically collapsed after I released the retaining nuts at the top. It held no pressure so it wasn't tall enough to go back into place at the mount, even when the springs were compressed this much! I highly recommend against compressing the springs like this. Nothing was injured, but a catastrophic injury was possibly here.

The job is done now, but not after a lot of extra work and head-ache.
 
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