Looking for rear coil springs...

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
Anyone know of anywhere that carries rear coil springs for a 96 passat? I have been all over the internet, called IDParts, rockauto, napa, autozone, everywhere. They're almost $200 at the dealer and I would really like to avoid paying that much!

Also, any thoughts on how important it is to replace both sides at the same time? Only one spring is broken, but I can see that having one new one and one very old one might present a problem.
 

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
Also, are there other model years that would be compatible with the '96, maybe I can find at a junk yard? There really don't seem to be a lot of '96 Passats out there.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
RockAuto.com lists a ridiculous number of aftermarket B4 rear springs for both sedans and wagons and include HD models as well. Always replace in pairs.
 

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
I called rockauto, all of the springs that they list are for European built cars, which mine is not.

Any thoughts on if I need to replace both springs if I am getting a used one? I can get a whole strut assembly shipped for $150 from a junk yard, maybe then it wouldn't be so critical to get both, or is that a bad idea?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
All B4 Passats sold here were assembled in Europe. Either Brussels (Belgium) or Emden (Germany).
 

G60ING

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Location
MD
TDI
No TDIs Currently, I have an R36 Corrado. I've had an ALH Corrado swap, AHU Corrado swap and 2003 TDI Jetta
I called rockauto, all of the springs that they list are for European built cars, which mine is not.

Any thoughts on if I need to replace both springs if I am getting a used one? I can get a whole strut assembly shipped for $150 from a junk yard, maybe then it wouldn't be so critical to get both, or is that a bad idea?

With suspension its best to replace in sets and to get new. If you are replacing the rear springs then I suggest you install new rear shocks, bumps stops (if they have never been replaced) and shock bushings. I hear B4 wagon rear shock removal requires a lot of interior parts to be removed.
 

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
I am in the process of rebuilding the rear struts. New shocks, boots, bump stops, mounts, and a few other parts that had worn out, including one of the springs.

The person that I talked to at Rockauto gave me the impression that the springs listed on their site wouldn't work, but I have a lot more trust in the folks here. There are lots of springs listed on the rockauto catalog...anyone have any suggestions for this car? The Rockauto catalog can be a little intimidating.
 

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
Here is what the Rockauto site has to say about parts with a flag next to the listing, as all of the coil springs listed have. "If there is a flag next to the car name in part listing heading: Car and parts are for a market outside the US, indicated by the flag (as far as we know, the car was not sold in the US)."
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
Ignore that. The same springs were used in both NA and Europe, though more varieties were available in Europe.

Monroe (Tenneco), Boge, KYB all should be good choices.

Monroe #SP0492 appears to interchanges with VW #3A9511105C (FWD, wagon, std. duty).

If you want extra towing or cargo capacity Monroe #SP0495 appears to interchange w/ VW #3A9511105D (FWD, wagon, HD, but not available in NA)

Ignore Monroe #SP0410, which, according to RockAuto, appears to be the correct application, but appears to interchange with sedan spring #333511105(A).

I did your homework for you with Monroe, but you should be able to do the same with Boge and KYB.
 

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
Ignore that. The same springs were used in both NA and Europe, though more varieties were available in Europe.

Monroe (Tenneco), Boge, KYB all should be good choices.

Monroe #SP0492 appears to interchanges with VW #3A9511105C (FWD, wagon, std. duty).

If you want extra towing or cargo capacity Monroe #SP0495 appears to interchange w/ VW #3A9511105D (FWD, wagon, HD, but not available in NA)

Ignore Monroe #SP0410, which, according to RockAuto, appears to be the correct application, but appears to interchange with sedan spring #333511105(A).

I did your homework for you with Monroe, but you should be able to do the same with Boge and KYB.
Where did you get the information about how part numbers correspond to VW part numbers?
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I got the correct Monroe application numbers from the Monroe Euro catalog and the interchange #s from a British vendor.
 

dieseljunkie

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Location
New England USA
TDI
96 Passat TDI wagon
I too had one broken rear springs in my B4. I bought a set of used OE springs from Ebay in very good condition (not rusty) and used only one of them and I still have the other one. pm me if interested
 

joshuare

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Location
Greenfield, MA
TDI
1996 passat B4V
Sadly I have given in to the pressures of time, and have ordered 2 new springs from the dealer. They cost over 1/4 of what the car cost me. At least they'll be shiny!
 

G60ING

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Location
MD
TDI
No TDIs Currently, I have an R36 Corrado. I've had an ALH Corrado swap, AHU Corrado swap and 2003 TDI Jetta
A lot of times my local advance auto will price match rockauto
 

G60ING

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Location
MD
TDI
No TDIs Currently, I have an R36 Corrado. I've had an ALH Corrado swap, AHU Corrado swap and 2003 TDI Jetta

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
You mean they can? That's big news unless they ding you with an equally huge overseas shipping charge like RockAuto.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
A lot of times my local advance auto will price match rockauto
I hope they use a different in-store database than their online one. I looked up suspension springs for a '96 Passat and it returned nothing but leaf spring helper springs and U-bolts!
 

G60ING

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Location
MD
TDI
No TDIs Currently, I have an R36 Corrado. I've had an ALH Corrado swap, AHU Corrado swap and 2003 TDI Jetta
let me translate the #$%& = $uck$ for the people on here.

I checked out the advance auto parts site and all of their coil springs were in the shock section, what a horrible search tool. They carried Moog but I had no idea what was an appropriate part.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I checked out the advance auto parts site and all of their coil springs were in the shock section, what a horrible search tool. They carried Moog but I had no idea what was an appropriate part.
It's worse than that. Moog makes no springs for B4s. The Advance Auto catalog shows 42 "Fit varies" Moog p/ns for a B4, but at least they show 0 "Exact Fit" p/ns. Hey, maybe the first Moog B4 p/n they list (for a Chevy application as it turns out) will work great :rolleyes:
 

glenn1179

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2005
Location
wausau, wi
TDI
na
I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on the Monroe #SP0495 for my sedan, but paying just as much in shipping as the cost of the spring is making me hesitate. Has anyone measured the spring diameter and length and tried to see if a spring from a US manufacturer could be sourced? A lot of springs are made here for racing applications and perhaps one of those could be made to work.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
You might contact Matt-98AHU to see what he used on his current project B4. He installed extra load rear springs.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on the Monroe #SP0495 for my sedan, but paying just as much in shipping as the cost of the spring is making me hesitate.
You realize those are wagon springs, right?

Just found out that Matt used Boge HD springs (sedan) from RockAuto.

If you want a low cost solution, you could get a used set of std. wagon springs. Ride height might be elevated and the wagon springs seem to be vulnerable to breakage, but not sure if that's inherent in the spring or that wagons are more likely to be overloaded and the springs are particularly sensitive to coil binding/bottoming.
 

jimnarem

Member
Joined
May 4, 2007
Location
Connecticut, USA
TDI
1996 Passat TDI
There seems to be a two HD Boge springs listed for the B4 passat on rockauto.

#259350 (3A2, 315)
#25D640 (3A5)

Rockauto lists them both for 1988-1997 passat and passat variant with some callouts for model and year. I don't understand the model code and the years seem to overlap. And they both come from the UK with outragous shipping costs.

There is a monroe listing for #SP3251, 10.1996-11.2000 HD saloon, but that year range makes no sense at all in the US; they must have got the B5 early. And it's also from the UK with even worse shipping charges. For $171 I expect it to be hand delivered and installed!

The monroe #SP0495 as "glenn1179" pointed out is also from the UK, they say it's HD for the estate up to 05.1997.

I have a 1996 passat sedan that broke a rear spring and I put in some random springs from a 1993 passat I found on ebay. They worked, but the rear is low when loaded up and the hitch scrapes on speedbumps. I have Bilstein TCs on the car now. It would be nice to know what would work. A few months ago I read all the posts I could find here and the bottom line seemed to be that there was no easy solution to finding HD springs.

What is the real difference between the sedan and wagon springs? Is the installed length different (length of shock rod) or is it just the spring rate?


It's actually pretty obvious why all the HD springs are available in the UK if you watch Top Gear. Think caravans.
 
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