Convinced dealership hosed me on rear axle bushing install

I took my beetle to a VW dealership in Sioux City, IA to have the rear axle bushings replaced. They quoted me about half of what the VW dealership in Omaha, NE was wanting, so I figured it was worth the extra couple hours on the road to save about $300.

So scheduled the appointment for Saturday morning, they said they'd have it done yet that day. Well several hours later they hadn't finished it and I ended up with a loaner for about 2 weeks. And when I called about picking it up, the service manager said they went ahead and replaced the rear springs, which I hadn't asked them to do, at no-charge for the labor. Ok...

So when I go to pick up the car, the rear-end is sitting up a good 6 inches higher than it was when I dropped the car off. It was after-hours and the service techs/manager had all gone home for the day. As I got down the road a few miles I went over a bridge on the highway and heard that "thunk" or "boom" noise coming from the rear. I'd heard that noise before on my 2002 jetta and after having a buddy put new axle bushings in (he said it was a huge PITA) the noise went away completely. The noise in my beetle was the same, which is why I made the appointment (I had a dealership loyalty card from the whole dieselgate thing that I needed to use).

I'm now convinced that the dealership either did something wrong on the install or just flat lied to me and didn't replace the bushings at all. The unrequested rear spring replacement makes me more suspicious.

I'm wondering if the noise could be something other than the bushings? I already ordered some of the Cupra R replacements and talked to a local shop who said they'd install them for me. Just looking for any suggestions, as far as other causes for the "thump" sound and/or how I should approach the situation potentially with raising hell with the dealership.

I feel for you, the job isn't that hard.
An air chisel and decent hammer and you can have one side out in under an hour, and another hour to install.
The first one I did I used Woden blocks and a threaded rod.

Since then a fellow member made a tool to install the bushings, well worth the money I spent as I have currently 7 mk IV running around.
I can now do each side in an hour.
I do it with the axle installed, but the bracket removed. It drops the axle down far enough to do the job.
If I can find the link to the member I will post it.......it's been awhile��

Sitting 6" higher is not a good sign. You need to crawl under there and inspect.
You can look at the bushings and tell if they've been done or not.

The only other thing that can really cause the nasty thump in the back is the upper shock mounts if they wear.

Replacing the springs sounds sketchy. They come out when you do the bushings (should fall out basically).

This has been discussed a lot lately. If you bought the Cupra R bushings, there is a cheap install tool on Ebay ($34 apprx) that will install the bushing fine about 90% of the way. The receiving cup of that tool is designed for OEM though, NOT, the Cupra R bushing. So you need a receiving cup from a heavy duty ball joint kit (local auto parts store) or a cup from a wheel bearing kit. They are large enough in diameter and deep enough to receive the Cupra R bushing as it's being installed the rest of the 10%

I see that IDparts has a tool now

http://www.idparts.com/rear-axle-bushing-installation-tool-a4-p-3051.html

Also the original member is Davebugs, not sure if he still makes the tool or just rents them out.
It looks completely different than the one one from ID parts.
Both will work.

Are there any trusted tdi mechanics around? might be worth a road trip. Or perhaps a local shop that coudl show you what's been done and make an educated decision on whether it looks like they replaced them. Or you can just go to the dealer, say *** is wrong with you all and then never go back after the refund your money or pay you for the job to be done correctly somewhere else.

I doesn't surprise me but it blows my mind how little some dealerships and techs seem to care about the only thing that really matters... quality jobs and customer service. They sure price it like they have the best of both. Sorry to hear your sufferings.

csstevej said:

I see that IDparts has a tool now

http://www.idparts.com/rear-axle-bushing-installation-tool-a4-p-3051.html

Also the original member is Davebugs, not sure if he still makes the tool or just rents them out.
It looks completely different than the one one from ID parts.
Both will work.

Click to expand...

That is the same tool you can get on Ebay as I have one. Also as I mentioned in my above post, it will not work 100% with the Cupra R bushings, which the OP is getting

thanks for the info everyone...I just had the rear shocks replaced within the last 6 months, can I assume he replaced the shock mounts as well?

I looked for the tool on ebay and now I'm getting really tempted to try this myself. I can get jacks and stands and can use a shop with air tools if need-be, but I'd like to just do it in my garage if possible.

Could they have swapped in a whole rear axle from a used car? Hard to say what they did.

starjays said:

thanks for the info everyone...I just had the rear shocks replaced within the last 6 months, can I assume he replaced the shock mounts as well?

I looked for the tool on ebay and now I'm getting really tempted to try this myself. I can get jacks and stands and can use a shop with air tools if need-be, but I'd like to just do it in my garage if possible.

Click to expand...

I believe the mounts and bolts are supposed to be replaced. At this point I would assume nothing.

You should be able to do it, if you feel comfortable. I've done clutches, replaced the rear suspension (not the bushings though) all out in my driveway.

Although looking at the weather you may want to wait a bit??? LOL

Signed,
the guy east of you that's watching the approaching weather.

What MJ said, I however did not replace my bolts, and that's been about 8 to 10 years ago and currently have just shy of 400,xxx miles on the car, I do 110 miles a day,The mount doesn't need to be replaced.
And I myself ,although have a garage.......cannot get into to it��.
But have done the same as MJ and also did the auto to manual swap in the driveway.

If the rear end is sitting significantly higher, like they maybe put on the incorrect, taller/stiffer springs, there is a chance that the rear shocks are extending to their max extent and causing the clunk.

starjays said:

thanks for the info everyone...I just had the rear shocks replaced within the last 6 months, can I assume he replaced the shock mounts as well?

I looked for the tool on ebay and now I'm getting really tempted to try this myself. I can get jacks and stands and can use a shop with air tools if need-be, but I'd like to just do it in my garage if possible.

Click to expand...

You can't assume they replaced the upper mounts, they're meant to be re-used. But it is really the only other thing that can wear like that and develop the same sounding clunk. Since the mounts are cheap, I just did them when I did the shocks.

Yes you can do the rear axle job solo. I just went through the entire process myself in the garage with jackstands and for the most part it was painless.

I worked by myself the first half of the day. I had the wheels off and rear axle completely out (I chose to remove it from the car, it's as simple as removing the 2 brake line connections, but you will have to bleed the brakes when you're done, no biggie) within an hour.

The next part took 35-45 min a side and that was getting the OEM bushings out. My rubber was shot so I was just able to put the bolt through the bushing and pound on the head and break the rubber free. Then I was able to cut through the bushing housing and race with a sawzall to notch it to get it to release, then using a chisel and hammer pound them out.

Many have left the axle on but I opted to give myself some room for swinging a hammer and getting good angles when cutting so I didn't actually cut into the axle housing for the bushing. Plus I didn't want to lay on the floor and work.

Once they're out, just clean up the inside add a little grease, and use that press to push them back in. If they're OEM you have to clock them correctly, if they are the Cupra's I don't think it matters since they're solid, but I marked the OEM clocking anyway and did the same. Like mentioned if you have the Cupra's you're going to want to rent a HD balljoint kit from an auto parts store so you can utilize one of the deep cups to receive the last 10% of the bushing.

It helps to have a second set of hands to line it back up but if you do it's no problem. Even solo it wouldn't be bad, it's just heavy. About 20 minutes to get it back in the car.

I also bought a second set of bolts for the axle beam because I had heard of people having to cut them out because of how VW installed them and they would hit the tank. This was not my experience, so mine may have been replaced before, but looking at the condition you wouldn't believe it. They were trashed.

Make sure final torque is done with the axle loaded. I can say I easily was able to torque mine to final spec laying on the ground, just moving the rear mud flap aside. The weight of the vehicle will keep the nut on the backside of the bolt from spinning.

So things to have ready IMO:

• Sawzall and or body saw
• extra set of bolts
• Bushing press + additional cup if using Cupra bushings
• Brake fluid if you remove the axle
• Hand Sledge
• grease
• If you have a brake line plug those are nice, but not necessary
• Common metric tools

Matt-98AHU said:

If the rear end is sitting significantly higher, like they maybe put on the incorrect, taller/stiffer springs, there is a chance that the rear shocks are extending to their max extent and causing the clunk.

Click to expand...

My money's on this very thing. I suspect they didn't have a clue what they were doing and put in taller springs thinking that that would eliminate the slop. Rebound forces on the shocks is causing them to hyper extend and make noise. I'd figure the ride should be pretty harsh.

Easy enough to just kneel down and look at the rear axle bushings to see if they look like they've been touched.

ALWAYS ask for your original parts back. If there are disputes you have some evidence (unless the actual parts were swapped). ONLY broken springs or springs that have their protective coatings compromised (OR just upgrading to as part of a total refresh) would be reasons for replacing the springs. No one should be replacing springs, or any other parts, without telling you WHY!

My car was taken to a shop by the PO because she was hearing clunking in the rear, "shock noises." Well, the shop, which seemed like they were semi-competent, checked the shocks and stated they were fine. YET, nothing was done about the original complaint! Of course you know what was the source of the noise: totally shot rear axle bushings (I've done a complete suspension refresh on this car).

I have recently (finally) put an end to my rear clunking every time I ran over a small crack in the road; the noise was really annoying. I had my shocks and springs replaced a little over 100k miles ago due to excessive camber: the inside of the rear tires were worn off. I just replaced the rear shocks and all the mounting hardware and the noise went away. Yay! I was concerned the noise might have been the rear axle bushings, but this time it was not; if the clunking starts again I will replace the rear axle bushings at that time.

One other thing that can cause clunking is that the lower shock mount bolt holes wear and there ends up being slop. So, one other thing to check for: just remove lower shock bolt, push shock up and out of the way and then reinsert bolt and check for play.

KrashDH said:

This has been discussed a lot lately. If you bought the Cupra R bushings, there is a cheap install tool on Ebay ($34 apprx) that will install the bushing fine about 90% of the way. The receiving cup of that tool is designed for OEM though, NOT, the Cupra R bushing. So you need a receiving cup from a heavy duty ball joint kit (local auto parts store) or a cup from a wheel bearing kit. They are large enough in diameter and deep enough to receive the Cupra R bushing as it's being installed the rest of the 10%

Click to expand...

Could you elaborate a bit more on what receiving cup would be needed to install the Cupra R bushings? Could you possibly post an image of what one of these looks like?

I keep stumbling on the "cup" concept and am not visualizing this. Is it a piece that sits against the rim of the axle receiving piece but has a recessed area to allow the bushing to push in past the lip of the axle receiving hole? It sounds like the Cupra R bushings are longer than the piece in which they mount. Is that correct?

Thanks! Just trying to get my head around this before I commit...

Oly, yes, you've got it figured. As I'd mentioned, a front wheel bearing outer race works really well. It's the diameter of the inside of the receiving cup that is the issue. Take a look here:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...pra-R-rear-axle-bushings-some-info-and-review

OlyTDI said:

Could you elaborate a bit more on what receiving cup would be needed to install the Cupra R bushings? Could you possibly post an image of what one of these looks like?

I keep stumbling on the "cup" concept and am not visualizing this. Is it a piece that sits against the rim of the axle receiving piece but has a recessed area to allow the bushing to push in past the lip of the axle receiving hole? It sounds like the Cupra R bushings are longer than the piece in which they mount. Is that correct?

Thanks! Just trying to get my head around this before I commit...

Click to expand...

Yes you got it. You use the all OEM tool to get it 90% of the way until it bottoms out on the "cup" that comes with the tool. Then remove the tool "cup" and replace it with a deeper cup from a ball joint press. The cup from the BJ press needs to sit on the outside rim of the axle housing the bushing is getting pressed into, while the ID of the cup needs to be larger than the bushing so it can let it "go through" the housing all the way, and the face can seat on the housing.

You need to use one of the backing plates from the BJ kit (the one that's raised and has different diameters corresponding to the ID of the cup you use that fits the bushing (allows it to be received). Those backing plates have a thru hole for your all-thread, then you can attach the nut on the outside of the backing plate, and continue to press the bearing in:

Roger that! Thanks guys!

Thanks for the idea on the springs being too tall. I crawled under the car and took a good look at the bushings in the axle and it definitely appears that there was some work that had been done. The rubber media on the inside of the bushing looked and felt reasonably new and elastic and it appears that the bushing housing is made of plastic rather than the metal housing that comes from the factory. So I think they did replace the bushings.

As for the springs, again the car sits at a noticeable angle, considerably higher in the back. I tried to push down on the back of the car last night to get the shocks to compress and I couldn't push it down at all really, very rigid. That doesn't seem normal, does it?

I'm going to take it to yet another local guy and get his opinion on it before I contact the dealership.

Thanks again for the feedback everyone.

I'm assuming the springs are too tall and/or stiff and the shocks are maxing out and that's where the thump is coming from. The shocks were just recently installed, after the springs had been put on.

Are they at any risk to have been damaged by being overextended like that for 10K or so miles?

starjays said:

I'm assuming the springs are too tall and/or stiff and the shocks are maxing out and that's where the thump is coming from. The shocks were just recently installed, after the springs had been put on.

Are they at any risk to have been damaged by being overextended like that for 10K or so miles?

Click to expand...

Yes. If the clunk is the shock topping out hard like that every time you hit a bump you could have damaged the internals. If you don't see any leaks, and if the shocks still cycle normally I would just put in the correct springs and call it a day. You won't be able to really tell though how the shocks are until you can get those springs out and give a few cycles.

if they tightened the bushing bolts when the suspension wa down the bushings themselves will act as a spring lifting the rear

meserschmitt cycle-cars had a rear suspension based around a rubber torsion spring like this, as with any torsion trailer axle