Axle beam bushing replacement

On the apex of a long road trip this past weekend the rear caliper seized and unfortunately (but expectedly) pretty much obliterated the pad and rotor on the return trip. So now it seems I have a complete rear brake job on my hands.....

While I have the car up on stands and somewhat tore apart I'd really like to replace the axle beam bushings. I've checked out the Bently manual and I do not have a good tool to press the old bushings out and the new bushings in, nor do I have the Volkswagen special protractor tool to line up the axle beam mounts as the manual describes.

Has any one done this job and have any advice and/or tips? I can't seem to find any how-to's and the one I can find is a dead link.

Much appreciated!

1999.5 VW Golf TDI
A4 AHU

There's a how-to on Vortex:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1980960

If you do try it post how it goes, I need to do this soon...

Make sure you order the latest P/N bushing, which is 6R0 501 541 A

Cheers.
Jeff

http://www1.snapfish.com/bellsouth/...2/PictureID=107995953012/a=90366812_90366812/

I do not know if that link will work. Some 3/8" threaded rod, two threaded rod couplings, some washers, and two pieces of 1" thick yellow pine disks with holes drilled in the center to allow the bushings to press on through. Note that one of the wooden disks has a few millimeter taper sanded in it to match the taper the axle bushing has on one side. This makes it a lot easier to press in if the big wooden "washer" has a taper to it.

One comment.

Get these bushings at the dealer(OEM) or BOGE.

The Mehle and others (one sounds like "first genuine parts" or something) are crap, made in China. Not even close to being round. Rubber flash around the outer lip is hard to clean up to get to the outer plastic ring to push against, etc. Have been known to kind of explode when trying to press them in. I've had experience with these 4 brands.

Buy the good bushings. It'll make your life much easier no matter the method.

I created a tool for this and have sold a few. Better than the factory tool. Better than the cheap tool.
Haven't really tried to sell them yet, had a small run made and VW techs and a few members here have bought a few. Have a few left.

I've got VW techs that can do a set in under an hour with the beam in the car. Leaving the beam in when you work on cars in the rust belt is nice. Not to mention no brake bleeding, etc.

Just don't go cheap on the actual bushings.

If your rear rotor got that hot I would look into replacing the bearing, stub shaft and the hub. I am unsure if it got "melting" hot but any extreme temperatures is not good for metal, could crystallize and crack down the road.

As for the axle bushings I installed some later model axle bushings that had half the rubber material that my OEM's had and WAY more flex. I am planning on redoing them with poly bushings even though everyone says not to do, naysayers... A good way to remove the OEM bushing is to use a hole saw, and then cut the sleeve with a bandsaw. The install used a all thread rod or large bolt with plate and some pieces of pipe to match the hole in the housing to pull the new bushing in place. (I think my hub shark kit had a piece of round steel that I used.)

Finished replacing the axle beam bushings. Didn't go too badly. Thanks for everyone's help. I removed the old bushings by hammering out the rubber centre. They were toast and came out easily. I then took a hacksaw and cut the sleeve out. There were two parts to the sleeve. Just be careful not to cut the beam itself. I then grabbed the bushings that I had in the freezer. I bought them at the dealership for $40 each CDN. I made a press with threaded rod similar to what roadhard 1960 mentioned and they went in within about 5 minutes each. I tightened the nut to keep tension and a friend hammered the metal plate on the press and they went in way easier than I thought.

Any specific questions just PM me.

Will

You should go to the Ho5G GTG in August and have Jason aka TDIJetta99 replace them in 23 minutes.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=287881

If he is going to show up and is committed to such. I might even pay money to have my own done it that is the case.

I'll be doing this in a couple weeks.

done

Finally did this job last week. It turned out to be a pain in the arse, because I couldn't remove one of the bolts from the bushing. It was stuck about halfway out, but wouldn't budge any further. I used a jack to relieve pressure on the bolt, but it still wouldn't budge. I decided to cut the bolt off.

Had I thought of it at the time, I would have remove the bolt from the rear shock and try to give myself more mobility with the axle, but I was thinking of leaving the axle in. That didn't happen as planned either.

My axle was rusted awful, so I removed it, and sanded it down. Primed and painted it. I don't see how I could have removed the bushing with the axle still on the car, as it required intense pounding to remove the old bushings. Using a hacksaw and a dremel on the collar of the old bushing made them easier to pound out with a large drift and hammer.

Installation of the new bushing went smooth as butter with Davebugs awesome tool! Finding a new bolt to replace the one I cut was very testing of my patience, but idparts.com was able to overnight it, and I finally got it all back together.

While the axle was out, I took the time to install new rear rotors and pads, and adjust the rear shocks. The Koni Reds have 6 positions of adjustment. 1 being the softest, and 6 the stiffest, mine were at 2. I readjusted them to 4.
Also, I did a complete brake fluid flush, as the lines were diconnected to remove the axle. It was time for one anyway.

I'm glad I did this, the car feels much better.

Glad I could help make atleast the installation go better.

Did you end up getting "better" bushings to install? Or were the ones from the parts store o.k. and if so what brand were they?

I recommend OEM or BOGE. Not Mehle, First Genuine parts(?) and I forget the third one. I'd be curious what you leaned about the bushing options/quality/price.

I got some quality bushing to install. I wish I took that advice to start. I just thought that my local parts store would come through for me... Nope. The ****ty bushing I got there had rubber around the outer collar, which would have made pressing them in that much worse, and the collar itself was flimsy.

The quality ones were solid, and did not have a rubber coating around the outside.

Still have an annoying crack/snap sound. always heard at acceleration from 0. I'm guessing it is either the front sway bar bushings, or maybe an Engine mount.

BIG quality difference in them axle bushings. Not the place to try and save a few bucks in my opinion.

I chased a noise as well in the front. Removed DG skid plate - no help.

Engine mounts (technically one is a tranny mount) replaced - no help.

LCA bushings didn't seem to have play, ball joints were solid. Gave up and got some new LCA's (come with bushings) and new balljoints and noise is gone. I'm guessing about 180k at the time. Mine is an auto.

I have my old LCA's here if you'd like to press new bushings in to make the LCA swap go quicker. But truthfully I'd just buy new ones. I got Mehle's.

I had a clunk up front that went away with new Audi type bushings on the control arm. I did not replace the front bushings but I do not live in the rust belt anymore. I have read posts that the rust belt folks suffer a lot more damage due to the salt and the beat up roads.

Update*

That noise is apparently a broken mount for the exhaust, and there is damage/leak to the exhaust. Going to attack it with a welder.

What are febi bushing like?

Willy, where are you located in Ontario?

Thx

Rear axle bushing replacment - U

I have been reading all of the forums on the rear axle bushings.
I would like to thank everyone for their great advice.
I found my bushing at Auto Parts Warehouse and they had free shipping also. Since I have bought other items they sent me a $10.00 coupon besides.

I currently have the rear end out of my Jetta waiting to take it to the powdercoater next week. Figured since it was out, what the heck.

I knocked out the rubber center section out with a few hits of a hammer and used a die grinder with a carbide burr to cut slot in the metal part of the bushing. It just tapped out very easily.

Below is the part number and description for the bushings.
Mine is a 2001 Jetta TDI.


Part #: E12153118G
Energy Susp Control Arm Bushing Control Arm Bushing Jetta|TDI
Energy Susp
Qty: 1.00 Price: $ 68.80

www.autopartswarehouse.com

ENERGY SUSPENSION CONTROL ARM BUSHING KIT, BLACK -- Consists of 6 bushings, 2 center metal sleeves, and Formula 5 prelube; Bushings are made of Hyper-Flex polyurethane to resist oil, road salt, and other corrosives; Offers better handling, greater vehicle control, reduced wheel hop and improved cornering; Maintains proper caster and camber alignment even under extreme conditions; With Energy Suspension's limited 2-year warranty.
MaterialolyurethaneWarranty:Energy suspension's limited 2-year warrantyLocation:Rear SuspensionQuantity Sold:Enough for all rear control arms

GD said:

What are febi bushing like?

Willy, where are you located in Ontario?

Thx

Click to expand...

I cannot attest to longevity, but they seemed to be of good quality and pressed in with no issues. I got mine at IDParts.com.