2002 Golf suspension rebuild

edit: i just wanted to say thanks to Aaron at Cascade (aka: Boraparts). in my last post i had a couple of pics of how my car was sitting after the suspension rebuild. the rear end was quite low and the springs were mostly compressed...needless to say the ride wasn't great. after some back and forth discussion Aaron sent me GTI rear springs free of charge, he covered shipping, duties, and the extra cost of the springs (they were $40 more than what i had originally purchased). I installed them and the ride is much improved. the rear end sits similar to a stock golf, but i expect it to settle a little.
i know Cascade has a lot of happy customers here, but i just wanted to share my personal experience. i will definitely be buying from Cascade again when the time comes.


well, i finally bit the bullet and purchased everything i need to redo the suspension on my golf (five speed). i have attached lists of my purchase from roseland and boraparts. if i'm missing anything let me know. i bought the car with 80,000km. it now has 145,000km. the suspension is totally shot. the car was in newfoundland for most of its life until i moved to bc. for those of you that don't know newfoundland is notorious for road salt in the winter, needless to say bc is a much more car friendly environment. it is stock except for the egr/egr cooler delete i did a couples months ago when i cleaned the intake. i don't own a lot of the vw specific tools needed, but i hope to get by with what i have in terms of tools. i gave the car to my girlfriend after i bought a toyota tundra, it was a sad day. but i still drive it and it would be a shame to let this great little car fall to pieces.
anyways, i'm sure i'll have lots of questions once i get started. so feel free to give your two cents.


roseland
Items Qty Price
Brake Caliper Guide Bushing Kit
SKU: 101282
2 $16.00
Brake Splash Shield, Left, Rear (MK4)
SKU: 100455
1 $21.00
Brake Splash Shield, Right, Rear (MK4)
SKU: 100372
1 $21.00
Caliper Pin and Boot Kit (MK4)
SKU: 100411
1 $16.45
Front Left Brake Splash Shield (MK4)
SKU: 102330
1 $22.50
Front Right Brake Splash Shield (MK4)
SKU: 101212
1 $22.50
Nut, Rear Axle (M20x1.5)
SKU: 100424
2 $7.00
Bolt, Rear Axle Bushing (M12x1.5x125mm)
SKU: 100423
2 $8.20
Rear Axle Bushing (MK4)
SKU: 100134
2 $55.00
Nut (M12x1.5mm)
SKU: 100197
2 $2.20
Clamping Washer (5x30mm)
SKU: 100229
8 $3.60
Fuel Filter, Bosch (MK4/B5.5)
SKU: 103372
1 $24.75
Air Filter, Mann (MK4 w/ Pre-Filter)
SKU: 100058
1 $12.75
Oil Filter, Mann (ALH/BEW/BHW)
SKU: 100128
1 $6.95
Bolt, Rear Stub Axle (M10x32mm)
SKU: 100251
8 $20.00
Bolt, Splash Shield (M6x10mm)
SKU: 103192
6 $3.84
Subtotal $263.74
Shipping & Handling $16.00
CA-GST (5%)
$13.99
Tax
$13.99
Grand Total $293.73

bora
7214 Brake Kit, 232mm Rear Bosch .. SKU: 140554129-BP340A 1 N $88.89 (USD) $88.89 (USD)
7215 Brake Kit, 280mm Front Bosch... SKU: 1835211027PD-BP768A 1 N $129.89 (USD) $129.89 (USD)
7216 Factory Sport Springs, Mk4 GLI SKU: 1J049850025 1 N $148.00 (USD) $148.00 (USD)
7217 Sway Bar Bushing & Brack... SKU: 1J0498314T 1 N $16.95 (USD) $16.95 (USD)
7218 Parking Brake Cable Set, Mk4 SKU: 1J0609721AC-SET2 1 N $37.89 (USD) $37.89 (USD)
7219 Suspension Rebuild Install K... SKU: Mk4SUSPENSION-UBR, Tie Rod: assemblies-40-00, Control Arm Bushings: audi-tt 1 N $253.50 (USD) $253.50 (USD)
7220 Control Arm Bolt Kit, MK4 SKU: BOLTKIT-MK4-CONTROLARM 1 N $9.89 (USD) $9.89 (USD)
7221 Suspension Bolt Kit, Mk4 SKU: BOLTKIT-MK4-SUSPENSION 1 N $29.89 (USD) $29.89 (USD)
7222 Suspension Kit, MK4 Bilstein... SKU: 22-045751 | 19-029177 1 N $248.00 (USD) $248.00 (USD)
7223 Wheel Bearing and Hub Assemb... SKU: 1J0598477-AFT 2 N $54.89 (USD) $109.78 (USD)
7224 Oil Filter & Filter Hous... SKU: MN7614 1 N $13.00 (USD) $13.00 (USD)
7225 Oil Drain Plug (14mm) SKU: N90813202 1 N $1.00 (USD) $1.00 (USD)
7226 Strut Spreader Bit SKU: MN3424 1 N $15.00 (USD) $15.00 (USD)

Pretty low kilos on the car. I guess that doesn't account for the salty roads. No list was attached but that is fine, we all know what a 15 year old car needs

For various parts from local VW drivers, check out dubberz.com. You can find some good used stuff there.

As far as special tools, maybe we need to organize a Vancouver GTG so you can get acquainted with people over here and get setup with a local VW guru or get an idea of who you can borrow tools from.

i just posted the lists (first time posting pics and files). i live in west vancouver. in the past i've taken my car to autohaus on pemberton avenue in north van. but having a network of people for help and loaner tools would be great. this will be my biggest mechanical endeavour with this car to date. thanks.

Wow, that's a list! How's the timing belt? I didn't notice if you had some new front upper strut bushings. They flatten out over time and the front of the car will drop down. When I put new ones in the Beetle, the front lifted up about 1/2". Have a look at: SKU: 0346011005TD-SET2 as an example.

Autohaus is great, my buddy had his 02 GLI there but decided to get a Lexus and sell the Jetta due to a failed slave cylinder. It is listed on that dubberz website now!

Those wheels are great by the way! Love the Fat Fives look.

Sway bar bushings?

well i got the rear finished. it was a battle of epic proportions. re - re of the axle beam bushings was something i never want to relive again. i'll post some pics soon.

i have a question though. this may or may not be a dumb question. i'm concerned i put the rear springs in upside-down. they are gli springs. one end of the spring has the coils quite close together and the other end it is spaced farther apart (google mk4 gli springs). i put the tighter coil on the top. when the car is sitting on all four tires (weighted suspension sag) this section of tight coils are touching each other, i.e.: there is no more room for compression. maybe it would be the same if they were flipped the other way too.

this probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but if someone can chime in it would be great. thanks.

munly said:

i have a question though. this may or may not be a dumb question. i'm concerned i put the rear springs in upside-down. they are gli springs. one end of the spring has the coils quite close together and the other end it is spaced farther apart (google mk4 gli springs). i put the tighter coil on the top. when the car is sitting on all four tires (weighted suspension sag) this section of tight coils are touching each other, i.e.: there is no more room for compression. maybe it would be the same if they were flipped the other way too.

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It would be the same, and I really do not think it matters which way.

rebuild is going well. took most everything out of the front end today. i couldn't get the rear lca bolts out so i took out the subframe and lca all in one piece. as you can see from the photos the bushings are pooched. hoping to get it all put back together in two or three days. i've taken a few random photos of the mission. no how to's because everything i'm doing has been well documented.
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I'm amazed at how beat all that looks like for only 145,000kms. Are you sure that it only had 80,000kms when you got it? Maybe this was from the island? (daughter's wagon came from Nanaimo, or so I'm guessing- it has a lot of pitting; wheels were really bad) I'm working on my wife's car doing a suspension refresh (and a clutch) and the car has 200k miles on it (which is twice what your car has) and it looks vastly less trashed: so far I've only done the rear shocks- they seem to still have a bit of life in them).

Vancouver (city) roads are really rough. Wife's Mazda 5's suspension was really hammered after only about 38k miles: one strut had failed and the rears bushings were bad.

Were those rear axle bushings steel or plastic sleeved? I did them in my Golf, which is a 2000, and they were metal. Did them in the daughter's wagon and found them to be plastic (sleeved). The metal sleeved ones are FAR more of a PIA to deal with. For what it's worth, the replacement bushings will always be MUCH easier to deal with.

Regarding rear spring installation, the Simplex springs that I've been using have a little sticker on them which indicate top. I just installed some in the wife's car (rears) only to find that the stickers were upside down (arrows were pointing down); I'd installed based on the paint markings, dots were at the lower half of the springs like with the stock ones.

The car is originally from Newfoundland. It spent over a decade there. I never spent any time in the "rust belt USA" but I'm confident the Newfoundland winters are more damaging to a car, for the sole fact of how much salt they use. A lot of times they don't even plow...just salt. This car is extremely rusty underneath, very difficult to work on...especially with no air tools. But I'm making progress.

As for the rear axle the bushings that I removed were original (oil filled, metal sleeve). One had no oil left in it...they were in bad condition. The replacements were plastic sleeved. The new bushing were a larger diameter than the axle sleeve...so you have to compress the bushing as is pushes in. I did it with a combo of treaded rod, blocks of 2x4, and massaging with a dead blow hammer. I bent one bushing, so I had to buy another. I'll post pics of the old bushings and the one I bent. The old ones look mangled.

As for the rear springs, I'm still not sure which way is which. There was a code on the spring (EF4..something like that?) I put the writing right side up. I still find it strange that the tighter section of coils (top of spring) contact each other with the car weighted, theres no room for compression in that section of spring.

Newfoundland, yes, that explains it!

Those oil-filled, metal sleeved bushings ARE a real bear! I'm not sure which job I hate more, doing these bushings (the metal ones) or doing a heater core replacement.

munly said:

The car is originally from Newfoundland. It spent over a decade there. I never spent any time in the "rust belt USA" but I'm confident the Newfoundland winters are more damaging to a car, for the sole fact of how much salt they use.

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UhOh said:

Newfoundland, yes, that explains it!

Click to expand...

Newfoundland would indeed be place to get rusty. It would be as bad as any of rust-belt northern states. The Atlantic Canadian climate is just bad for rust anyway...since the winter temps hover around freezing so often, the salt trucks never stop. Living anywhere close to the ocean is even worse.

When it comes to any work on the underside of a car, I just assume new bolts are required and if anything looks the least bit sketchy, it gets cut off before I even try a wrench or a socket on it.

well everything is finished...for now. car is all back together. i've been driving it for about a week around the city. drives straight on the freeway, although i will get an alignment done in the near future. the car sits a little low in the rear for my liking. i may have to change the rear springs...something leads me to believe the ones i installed defective (for lack of a better word). anyways, just a few more pics of the carnage that was removed. and my poorly painted subframe/control arms and sway bar with new bushings before i put it back under the car. i put those three things in pre assembled, by myself...hilarious...not at the time, but afterwards.
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That's a nice car (esp now). All your hard work will pay off.

Would love to do that to mine, it rides horribly as the bushings (at least in rear) are frozen up - by this I mean if you unhook the rear shock, the axle does not drop. Great writeup!

Heres a picture of how the car sits right now. It is about 2 cm (1 inch) lower in the rear. I'm not a fan of the look. I also attached a photo of the rear spring. Both pictures are without any weight in the car (no passengers, luggage, etc.) except for the 30lbs bike on the roof. As you can see the spring is quite compressed. I'm no expert, but that doesn't seem normal. I'm in contact with Cascade German (Boraparts), where I bought the suspension kit and springs. I wanted to get there info and see what they would have to say. Ideally I would like to replace the rear springs with something that levelled out the car with the front.

Also, since I've owned this car it has consistently got 36-38 mpg, which is low from what I understand (five speed). The rear brakes were dragging before the rebuild, they are a little better now. I still have to replace the rear carriers. Also, I'm pretty sure the nozzles are original as well. I just replaced the oil, air filter and fuel filter so I'm hoping to see the milage improve...at least 40 mpg for city driving would be nice.

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I agree that's odd.
Is it possible the rears are short? Could you have flipped the fronts to rear (unlikely)?
Bora is usually very responsive/helpful.

Pile of lead, or a dead body?, in the trunk?

Yup, that is not correct. I just installed new shocks, struts and springs (and other stuff) in the wife's car and it's sitting up nice and tall all the way around: third suspension refresh (two on two other cars) and none of them have sat low like that. I'm wanting to say that I get about 15 1/2" from the bottom of the wheel well arch to the middle of the axle.

Can you read the weight rating from those springs? It's the color dots on the springs.

Gothmolly said:

Would love to do that to mine, it rides horribly as the bushings (at least in rear) are frozen up - by this I mean if you unhook the rear shock, the axle does not drop. Great writeup!

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I highly recommend Cupra R rear axle bushings. Careful about disconnecting the shocks because should those bushings loosen up a bit it'll be the brake lines that'll end up being the next stop point

UhOh said:

I highly recommend Cupra R rear axle bushings. Careful about disconnecting the shocks because should those bushings loosen up a bit it'll be the brake lines that'll end up being the next stop point

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Nah, if I detach the axle from the body, I'll never get it back on. Previous owner ran the car into a wall and bent the frame.

i'll take the rear wheels off and have a look at the code on the spring. it is supposed to be GLI springs. i bought them from Bora. i know something isn't right here. the rear suspension feels harsh over bumps. i've had springs lose there strength on my mountain bikes...as in, when tested they don't provide the resistance they are supposed to over an extended life. this feels like a similar situation to me. maybe defective from the factory...i really don't know. maybe they sent the wrong springs.

in a perfect world they would ship me new rear springs to bring the rear up level with the front. i'm waiting to here back from Bora. i emailed them the pictures of how the car sits and the compressed springs. fingers crossed.

bump for edit