kurtzie
Active member
I want to share my results on replacing the rear axle bushings on my 2002 Jetta with 188K miles. Also brake caliper dust boot.
First the Vortex "how to" is the way to do the bushings. I only wish mine looked as new as the Vortex pictures after 7 winters commuting in the salt roads of the snow belt of NY. Still it is a testimonial to VWs quality that every bolt to remove the axle, and the brake lines, removed with hand tools. Try that with my last GM product after many fewer miles.
My R&R was not planned. Now I am in Madison WI, and Jason TDI pointed me to Zimbrick VW who has the press and would do it for $100. In fact they said "bring it in any day, no appointment needed", except when I got there, it all changed. Full up with appointments, cant do it, and the other service writer (the smart-ass one) piped up that it was 1.9 hours at their shop rate of $100/hr. No pleading helped, and the svc mgr said to go to a local parts store that pressed bushings. I protested that this site had informed me that auto machine shops couldnt do this. But anyway the axle was in the pickup, so I bought the bushings from them (at $50 each. I would have bought on-line for $20, but you dont go to the dealer and ask them to install someone elses parts). The other machine shop of course couldnt press them. So now I am mad, vowing that the Sportwagon I am considering wont be from Zimbrick, and vowing I will do this myself.
And I did ! Didnt use the c-clamp that Vortex how-to says. Bought a 1 ft piece of 7/16th All-thread as mentioned in some other threads here. Also was able to get some 1 3/4 washers that would fit over the center extension of the bushings. With these, some smaller washers, some wood blocks with large holes cut in them, I built up the press mechanism. First used it to remove the old rubber center of the old bushing. About 2 minutes to pull it out of the housing, and much easier than the hammer and chisel method in Vortex, which wouldnt have worked anyway with my rusted bushing. Sawsall to cut out the metal parts. Clean up the housing.
Bushings spent the night in the freezer. Mark them for correct orientation. Clean the axle housing of rust, and rough spots. Propane torch to warm the axle to about 200 degrees. Spray some lubricant; I used silicone. Caution with this or WD-40 or whatever: flammable of course.
Assemble the bushing, washers, spacers, etc. Be sure the draw bolt is centered, as this will help it pull squarely. The rubber wear lip on the inside end of the new bushing housing is tapered, so is not square to the housing (if you look at the Vortex photos, you can see this), but that didnt cause any trouble. I had to fiddle for a minute getting started squarely, but no trouble. These are the VW bushings with the plastic housings. I used a 3/8 drive ratchet with about 8 inch handle, and that is as much leverage as I needed. The first one went in, in about 3 minutes using that. Lots of protesting, groaning and popping, but it went easily. The second one was a little more difficult, but I just tightened until I couldnt pull the ratchet, then gave a tap with a hammer on the big washers, and the bushing would pop in about 1/8 inch. Then tighten the ratchet again, tap again till it pulled home. It did not take more than 5 minutes to install either. I wll comment that the plastic bodies swelled as I was pulling them in, and I worried they might split, but I was in a "what ta hell" mood, so I kept going. I considered putting a few hose clamps on them to contain the swelling; but no problems.
So it is possible, even easy with basic tools.
Now another comment: Caliper piston dust boot replacement. I tore one of mine a few weeks ago trying to free a stuck pad. (remember: the road salt !) Searched everywhere here and everybody said "cant/dont". Well, in another "what ta hell" moment, I ordered a caliper repair kit at World Impex. I figured I could try it, and if it didnt work then, the kit was cheap. The kit (Dorman) had a boot that was smaller than the OEMs, so I called them. Very helpful, compared the boot in a Dorman to the 2 other brands they stock, and said that was right.
So I installed it: Unscrew the piston out; carefully grab the end of the piston with channellocks and about 2 turns and it is out. Inspect and cleanup. Install the new boot from the back of the piston, leaving about 1/4 inch of the boot, including the square molded part that goes into the housing groove, hanging off the inside end of the piston. Insert that square molded part into the caliper housing groove, push the piston into the housing. Then set up your method to screw back in, the same as done when installing new pads. When screwed in, pull the boot the rest of the way forward on the piston, and into the groove on the outside end of the piston. Whole job about 15 minutes. Mine does not leak. I worried that with the smaller boot diameter, the boot would not fold up accordian style when fully retracted for installing new pads, but I installed new rotors and pads when I did the axle bushing R&R, and it worked fine. I am not an expert, so you are on your own, but it worked for me.
I also installed the KYB shocks I bought 3 years ago, even though the OEM shocks are still functioning at 188K miles. I love the ride again, and now will put the TT bushings on the front LCAs.
Hope my comments are useful. I'll be back in a week, so no responses to questions till then.
First the Vortex "how to" is the way to do the bushings. I only wish mine looked as new as the Vortex pictures after 7 winters commuting in the salt roads of the snow belt of NY. Still it is a testimonial to VWs quality that every bolt to remove the axle, and the brake lines, removed with hand tools. Try that with my last GM product after many fewer miles.
My R&R was not planned. Now I am in Madison WI, and Jason TDI pointed me to Zimbrick VW who has the press and would do it for $100. In fact they said "bring it in any day, no appointment needed", except when I got there, it all changed. Full up with appointments, cant do it, and the other service writer (the smart-ass one) piped up that it was 1.9 hours at their shop rate of $100/hr. No pleading helped, and the svc mgr said to go to a local parts store that pressed bushings. I protested that this site had informed me that auto machine shops couldnt do this. But anyway the axle was in the pickup, so I bought the bushings from them (at $50 each. I would have bought on-line for $20, but you dont go to the dealer and ask them to install someone elses parts). The other machine shop of course couldnt press them. So now I am mad, vowing that the Sportwagon I am considering wont be from Zimbrick, and vowing I will do this myself.
And I did ! Didnt use the c-clamp that Vortex how-to says. Bought a 1 ft piece of 7/16th All-thread as mentioned in some other threads here. Also was able to get some 1 3/4 washers that would fit over the center extension of the bushings. With these, some smaller washers, some wood blocks with large holes cut in them, I built up the press mechanism. First used it to remove the old rubber center of the old bushing. About 2 minutes to pull it out of the housing, and much easier than the hammer and chisel method in Vortex, which wouldnt have worked anyway with my rusted bushing. Sawsall to cut out the metal parts. Clean up the housing.
Bushings spent the night in the freezer. Mark them for correct orientation. Clean the axle housing of rust, and rough spots. Propane torch to warm the axle to about 200 degrees. Spray some lubricant; I used silicone. Caution with this or WD-40 or whatever: flammable of course.
Assemble the bushing, washers, spacers, etc. Be sure the draw bolt is centered, as this will help it pull squarely. The rubber wear lip on the inside end of the new bushing housing is tapered, so is not square to the housing (if you look at the Vortex photos, you can see this), but that didnt cause any trouble. I had to fiddle for a minute getting started squarely, but no trouble. These are the VW bushings with the plastic housings. I used a 3/8 drive ratchet with about 8 inch handle, and that is as much leverage as I needed. The first one went in, in about 3 minutes using that. Lots of protesting, groaning and popping, but it went easily. The second one was a little more difficult, but I just tightened until I couldnt pull the ratchet, then gave a tap with a hammer on the big washers, and the bushing would pop in about 1/8 inch. Then tighten the ratchet again, tap again till it pulled home. It did not take more than 5 minutes to install either. I wll comment that the plastic bodies swelled as I was pulling them in, and I worried they might split, but I was in a "what ta hell" mood, so I kept going. I considered putting a few hose clamps on them to contain the swelling; but no problems.
So it is possible, even easy with basic tools.
Now another comment: Caliper piston dust boot replacement. I tore one of mine a few weeks ago trying to free a stuck pad. (remember: the road salt !) Searched everywhere here and everybody said "cant/dont". Well, in another "what ta hell" moment, I ordered a caliper repair kit at World Impex. I figured I could try it, and if it didnt work then, the kit was cheap. The kit (Dorman) had a boot that was smaller than the OEMs, so I called them. Very helpful, compared the boot in a Dorman to the 2 other brands they stock, and said that was right.
So I installed it: Unscrew the piston out; carefully grab the end of the piston with channellocks and about 2 turns and it is out. Inspect and cleanup. Install the new boot from the back of the piston, leaving about 1/4 inch of the boot, including the square molded part that goes into the housing groove, hanging off the inside end of the piston. Insert that square molded part into the caliper housing groove, push the piston into the housing. Then set up your method to screw back in, the same as done when installing new pads. When screwed in, pull the boot the rest of the way forward on the piston, and into the groove on the outside end of the piston. Whole job about 15 minutes. Mine does not leak. I worried that with the smaller boot diameter, the boot would not fold up accordian style when fully retracted for installing new pads, but I installed new rotors and pads when I did the axle bushing R&R, and it worked fine. I am not an expert, so you are on your own, but it worked for me.
I also installed the KYB shocks I bought 3 years ago, even though the OEM shocks are still functioning at 188K miles. I love the ride again, and now will put the TT bushings on the front LCAs.
Hope my comments are useful. I'll be back in a week, so no responses to questions till then.