Replacing front control arm bushing bolt

garciapiano · Jan 7, 2020

I am getting a squeak from the front control arm bushing, but the reason I suspect it is because the bolt is not tightened enough. Of course VW uses a stretch bolt here and I know the bolt has already been stretched once in the process of being installed once. Normally I’d just torque it down some more but any more tightening and I can tell that the bolt head will round off.

Has anyone successfully changed the bolt without removing anything else? My guess is that I won’t even be able to get it out without getting everything else off the control arm arm first. I literally just got the car aligned last week and really would prefer not to have to get another alignment.

Mongler98 · Jan 8, 2020

Should be able to just pull it out and swap it. No need for an alignment.

Steve Addy · Jan 8, 2020

garciapiano said:
I am getting a squeak from the front control arm bushing, but the reason I suspect it is because the bolt is not tightened enough. Of course VW uses a stretch bolt here and I know the bolt has already been stretched once in the process of being installed once. Normally I’d just torque it down some more but any more tightening and I can tell that the bolt head will round off.

Has anyone successfully changed the bolt without removing anything else? My guess is that I won’t even be able to get it out without getting everything else off the control arm arm first. I literally just got the car aligned last week and really would prefer not to have to get another alignment.

I don't think it's a stretch bolt, I believe it's really just single use per VW. A lot of people reuse these and maybe add a little loc-tite for good measure. I reuse these all the time, VW is just being picky for some reason.

Mongler is correct, it won't affect alignment, just tighten the bolt and be done with it. If tightening the bolt wont resolve the squeak then the bolt might be worn or the bushing might be junk.

Steve

Mongler98 · Jan 8, 2020

ive pulled those bolts about 6 times now doing various repairs from hitting curbs to change out bushings and then sway bar parts and so forth. every time i do add some blue locktight but i dont think its necessary. its a big bolt, torque it down and motor on. the only way this would affect alignment is if you change the bushing when it was aligned with a bad one and now you put in a new one.. besides it would only affect toe and that's really easy to do with a string and a tape measure.
for the most part, bolts are only 1 time use truly if it is an internal part of the engine or extremely hard to get to like fly wheel bolts. they should always be one time use as A its critical and B its designed to be. for this case, just use it again and toss some thread locker on it.

garciapiano · Jan 11, 2020

Thank you for the feedback. To clarify, the reason I would be wary of removing the bolt would be the potential challenge of getting a new one back in cleanly with the tension on the bushing from the suspension still being in. Any misalignment could cause the bolt to bind on the bushing. If the new bolt wouldn’t go in it is likely I’d have to tear the knuckle apart to take the tension off the control arm so I i can guide the bolt in to get started, which would then necessitate another wheel alignment.

Anyways I’m gonna give it a go today. Getting this bolt properly torqued while the control arm is in its neutral loaded position is tough, not much space to get my wrench in there with the wheel in the way, and going in from the front requires 3 ft of extensions which is too much for the required torque.

Mongler98 · Jan 11, 2020

dont worry about neutral load or whatever. just put the car up on jackstands, pull the bolt out and put a new one in. not difficult and no need for fancy extensions. if you ever put a control arm bushing in, you would know there is no way that this thing is going to shift on you unless its so far worn out that it needs replacement. if your saying that you cant get this bolt to tighten up the control arm bushing and its already tight, then the threads might be gacked AKA messed up. i would highly suggest you chase the threads with a tap but that would involve a LONG tap or an extension for the tap.

Tdijarhead · Jan 11, 2020

Jack the car up, support it properly and take the wheel off. That makes things so much easier, no 3' extension needed.

garciapiano · Jan 11, 2020

Mongler98 said:
dont worry about neutral load or whatever. just put the car up on jackstands, pull the bolt out and put a new one in. not difficult and no need for fancy extensions. if you ever put a control arm bushing in, you would know there is no way that this thing is going to shift on you unless its so far worn out that it needs replacement. if your saying that you cant get this bolt to tighten up the control arm bushing and its already tight, then the threads might be gacked AKA messed up. i would highly suggest you chase the threads with a tap but that would involve a LONG tap or an extension for the tap.

I don't think the threads are messed up. It's the head of the bolt that looks like it won't take much more tightening before it rounds off, and it could just be from my old crappy tools being used on the bolt head. I'd rather pull the bolt than attempt to tighten up the one that is in there.

The reason I'm trying to get the bushing unloaded in its neutral position is because it is a poly bushing (these are the BFI control arms with the poly front bushing and the R32 rear bushing) and really can't articulate much. The reason for the squeaking I believe is A) I switched out my springs so now my car is riding about an inch higher than before, and B) the bushing was not "reclocked", e.g. loosened and retightened to correspond to the higher ride height, and C) the bolt may just not be tight enough, period to keep the bushing from twisting in the subframe.

Anyways I'll be giving it a go next weekend and fingers crossed it'll go smoothly.

Mongler98 · Jan 11, 2020

garciapiano said:
I don't think the threads are messed up. It's the head of the bolt that looks like it won't take much more tightening before it rounds off, and it could just be from my old crappy tools being used on the bolt head. I'd rather pull the bolt than attempt to tighten up the one that is in there.
The reason I'm trying to get the bushing unloaded in its neutral position is because it is a poly bushing (these are the BFI control arms with the poly front bushing and the R32 rear bushing) and really can't articulate much. The reason for the squeaking I believe is A) I switched out my springs so now my car is riding about an inch higher than before, and B) the bushing was not "reclocked", e.g. loosened and retightened to correspond to the higher ride height, and C) the bolt may just not be tight enough, period to keep the bushing from twisting in the subframe.
Anyways I'll be giving it a go next weekend and fingers crossed it'll go smoothly.

Oh i see. well you can always weld on another bolt to it if it gets fubar. or a bolt extractor socket.

Steve Addy · Jan 12, 2020

garciapiano said:
I don't think the threads are messed up. It's the head of the bolt that looks like it won't take much more tightening before it rounds off, and it could just be from my old crappy tools being used on the bolt head. I'd rather pull the bolt than attempt to tighten up the one that is in there.
The reason I'm trying to get the bushing unloaded in its neutral position is because it is a poly bushing (these are the BFI control arms with the poly front bushing and the R32 rear bushing) and really can't articulate much. The reason for the squeaking I believe is A) I switched out my springs so now my car is riding about an inch higher than before, and B) the bushing was not "reclocked", e.g. loosened and retightened to correspond to the higher ride height, and C) the bolt may just not be tight enough, period to keep the bushing from twisting in the subframe.
Anyways I'll be giving it a go next weekend and fingers crossed it'll go smoothly.

Are you talking about the bolt for the front or rear bushing?

There's not much articulation that can happen at the rear, the center is bolted in tight and the arm pivots as necessary. As for the front, I would be really surprised if you could tighten it enough to stop that bushing's center core from turning, but maybe.

If you're worried about the bolt though I would drop in at a local JY and snag a couple off any Mk3 or B3, prolly Mk2 also or 93-02 Cabrio.

You should be able to find a replacement pretty easily.

Steve

Replacing front control arm bushing bolt

garciapiano

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Mongler98

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Steve Addy

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Mongler98

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garciapiano

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Tdijarhead

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garciapiano

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Steve Addy

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