Strut/Shock Recommendations

[Jeff_Duncan]

I am looking to replace the shocks and structs on the 02 TDI. I wouldn't mind doing the springs with the job as well. And of course the bearings, etc.

What do you recommend for stock comparable ride and height? I see the TC's are popular but a little harsh ....

Jeff

 

[ruking]

I am looking to replace the shocks and structs on the 02 TDI. I wouldn't mind doing the springs with the job as well. And of course the bearings, etc.

What do you recommend for stock comparable ride and height? I see the TC's are popular but a little harsh ....

Jeff

There are many searches you can do on this and also Vortex.com. You might wish to pay particular attention to posts by Peter Pyce, when you search both sites.

You don't say how many miles you have on your 02 TDI. I would swag your oem shocks and springs are just fine and unless you have a leak , they would be still good to go to app 200k. Though a real life experiment has not been done, there is some interesting data that points to the hypothesis that if you only replaced only the ancillary products, that alone would tighten things up considerably.

But to answer your more long distance questions oem Sachs, Koni Reds, Koni Yellows. Springs would be again OEM replacements and oem V6 model springs. I have the Neuspeed SOF springs, but have not put them on of yet and it has 90,000 miles.

 

[Jeff_Duncan]

It has 136,000 miles on it. Noisy front strut bearings I'm pretty sure. And very harsh ride when loaded in the rear. springs I would do if they werent too $$ since I have them off anyways.

Jeff

 

[ruking]

It has 136,000 miles on it. Noisy front strut bearings I'm pretty sure. And very harsh ride when loaded in the rear. springs I would do if they werent too $$ since I have them off anyways.

Jeff

Yes that is the real "gotcha". I mean if all you did was to replace the replaceable kit stuff: such as bearings etc, and if no one told you any differently, you'd be good to go for another 100k. The most logical is to go in and do the struts and shocks.

Pyce did a shock dyno of a relatively new OEM SACHS and a oem SACHS with 110,000 miles and they were virtually identical in dyno characteristics. This of course can be seen as revolutionary, counter intuitive etc.

 

[Jeff_Duncan]

For the $235 it costs for all four, might as well do them complete I suppose.

 

[cage]

You really should do the ball joints, tierods, and bushings too.
I had all that done on my Beetle and it made all the difference in the world.
Those bushings dry and weaken and allow suspension play.
There are two bushings in each front control arm and two total for the rear suspension.
There are bushings on the sway bar as well but those can be done anytime since you don't have to take things apart for those.
My car is amazingly solid driving now.

 

[ruking]

You really should do the ball joints, tierods, and bushings too.
I had all that done on my Beetle and it made all the difference in the world.
Those bushings dry and weaken and allow suspension play.
There are two bushings in each front control arm and two total for the rear suspension.
There are bushings on the sway bar as well but those can be done anytime since you don't have to take things apart for those.
My car is amazingly solid driving now.

Right and this is the "other angle" of what I was saying. So again, what mileage did you do that would be a key question. Ultimately what we are trying to determine is how long before stuff like ball joints, tierods, bushings, etc, get loosie goosie.That is a technical term for getting out of specifications. We already know the oem shocks, unless you have a leak is good to go to app 200k. Springs app the same. The top strut bushings/bearings anywhere from 100-150k. The additional cost and or problems is when you go to replace those inexpensive items, the bolts and nuts that secure these systems are also recommended to be replaced and they are costly. They are even more costly than some of the parts that need replacing.

 

[cage]

I have 130,000mi. on my 98 Beetle.
Nothing seemed "wrong" with the suspension but I figured if I had it done I wouldn't have to worry for another 9 years and 130,000mi.
I would think 100,000mi is about it for those parts. Yeah they might not be broken yet but they certainly aren't like new anymore

 

[cage]

I had everything done for $1,700.00
My guy isn't cheap though.

 

[Dorado]

For the NB, which comes stock wish a sportier suspension and usually 16" wheels, Bilstein TC's are just right. Highly Recommended.

 

[nicklockard]

There are bushings on the sway bar as well but those can be done anytime since you don't have to take things apart for those.
My car is amazingly solid driving now.

No! Most definitely do the sway bar bushings (droplinks)...it tightened up the steering considerably.

 

[nicklockard]

I am looking to replace the shocks and structs on the 02 TDI. I wouldn't mind doing the springs with the job as well. And of course the bearings, etc.

What do you recommend for stock comparable ride and height? I see the TC's are popular but a little harsh ....

Jeff

Jeff, I just did my complete suspension on a 99.5 with 155K miles. The rears were stuck/shot and the fronts were bottoming out constantly. Basically I was riding on bump stops half the time.

I did shocks, struts, shock and strut mount bushings, sway bar bushings, new bolts all around, dust caps, the whole works. The whole lot cost me $120 labor + $350 parts.

Here is a write up I did for a club member in an email/PM:

Nick,

How do you like the shocks you had put in your car?

-Jason

So far, we've only installed the front struts. I was missing the dust shields and bump stops for the rear shocks, so Justin (oldpoops) wanted to wait for them to arrive.

So here is a partial report: Replacing the front struts, strut mounts, and anti-roll bar bushings has vastly improved steering feel. The car now communicates to me about the road surface. I am able to hear subtle cues about the dips, ruts, and adhesion. I attribute most of that to the new ARB bushings. The struts are compliant everywhere, forgiving, yet communicative. I think *so far* that they are a great OEM-like setup.

There is a hard right 3/4 circle freeway entrance onto my local 217 Fwy that I have routinely had fun with throwing the Jetta into a 4-wheel drift throughout the last half. With the worn suspension and worn bushings, it felt very dead, but it went into a 4-wheel drift early and was hard to keep there. (Done at 45 mph on wet road) With the new front suspension, the Jetta won't slide until I'm at 53 mph, but at that point it is easy to maintain the 4-wheel drift because the car is so talkative.

I attribute this difference in entry speed to induce sliding to the old struts were bottoming out on the bump stops and it felt dead...now, the new ones absorb ripples and bumps and hold the road much better. The new ARB bushings (OEM rubber) keep my apprised of the road through the steering wheel vibrations/subtle language.

I can finish the report in a few weeks when Justin and I get the rears installed.

I should say that I also have the newish Pilot Exaltos which is part of the overall handling.

So far, I am very pleased with this setup. I plan to:

• finish the suspension install of Monroe SensatracII and OEM bushings/bumpstops/hardware
• Install new Lower Control Arms with Audi TT bushings in the rear bushing location, and OEM Jetta Tdi bushings in the front location--I bought David_594's LCA's.
• Install the ebay strut tower brace.

Also, I'm thinking to find some steelies and some summer tires for autocrossing or racing buddies...thinking to rent out PIR for a weekend for the PDX Tdi club and have an amatuer race day--but I haven't looked into prices yet; just dreaming so far

Update:

I installed the rear SensatracII shocks tonight with fresh bump stops, covers, and shock mounts (comfort, revision C, IIRC.)

The car rides absolutely just like a new car off the lot. Ride at the limit is vastly improved (can maintain higher cornering speeds.)

Next I am going to install my strut tower brace and look for a rear shock tower brace. I thought I saw someone that installed a bar between the C-pillars back in early 2005 or late 2004, but I haven't been able to find that thread (before the forum upgrade.)

 

[Jeff_Duncan]

Thanks for the post! Where did you get the new bushings?

 

[nicklockard]

Rear components from BleachedBora (a club member, PM him):

> 2 lower bolts N90517302
> 2 lower nuts N10286102
> 4 upper bolts N90648401
> 2 Bump Stops 1J0512131B
> 2 protective pipes 1J0513425A
> 2 protective caps 1J0512135A
>
> That should be all you need for the rear install.....

You probably have all the items in light text. If the bump stops look rotted then replace them, otherwise reuse.

I couldn't find the part #'s for the front stuff, but Aaron can source them for you. Whatever he can't get you can get at good prices from 1stvwparts.com

The installation of rear shocks is simple, obvious, and took me 1.5 hours taking my time. I had Justin install the fronts because they are more complicated. You need a spring compressor and great care.

 

[wjbski]

Jeff, I just did my complete suspension on a 99.5 with 155K miles. The rears were stuck/shot and the fronts were bottoming out constantly. Basically I was riding on bump stops half the time.

I did shocks, struts, shock and strut mount bushings, sway bar bushings, new bolts all around, dust caps, the whole works. The whole lot cost me $120 labor + $350 parts.

same here. I bought my TDi in November last year from the original owner. As soon as I got the car running ( I had to replace the engine) I was very unhappy with the way the car handled. I bought new Bilstein HDs and found some very low mileage 1.8T GLi springs. I did the ball joints at the same time, as they were shot. The difference was night and day, the car felt nice and firm and responsive.

The old shocks and struts that I replaced only had about 60K on them, according to a reciept that the PO showed me. I could easily collaspe the front struts with my hands and cycle the shock in and out. the rears were almost as dead. Both units were a factory Sachs part.

My point is, you can't just assume a stock shock has 200K miles of life in them. There's too many factors in determining the life span of those components. Rough city or country roads will wear them out faster than constant highway use, for example.

 

[feafg]

Bilstein HD

Just installes Bilstein HD's (Shocks and struts) on my 04 Jetta with 100k miles.
HUGE improvement over the stock stuff, even when it was new. Handles like a dream.

 

[nicklockard]

...you can't just assume a stock shock has 200K miles of life in them. There's too many factors in determining the life span of those components. Rough city or country roads will wear them out faster than constant highway use, for example.

Agree 100%

Here is a guideline I came up with to tell a car owner how soon they'll need to replace shocks:

The speed at which you can comfortably take a speed bump...

As it goes up, your shocks and struts are getting progressively worse. For example, with my worn suspension in my apartment complex's parking lot, I could drive over the speed bumps at ten miles per hour or more. With the brand new shocks, I have to slow to 1-3 miles per hour.

Also you can do the cycling test wjbski mentions. When I took my shocks out, I found that one of them would stick in the fully compressed position.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Interesting guideline Nick, though it would be useful if you could better quantify "comfortably take a speed bump" and describe the bumps in your lot (are they the wider asphalt ones, or the plastic, 'bolt to the ground' type?

I'm going to be searching a bit on this now too - just had mine in for the 130,000 mile service and the service writer said the tires were feathered and very noisy. He attributed this to the struts and shocks being shot, so recommended doing a strut/shock refresh. (he suggested the tires as well, but they still hold the road like glue at 77K miles, so I want to see how much more I can squeeze out of them before I'm no longer comfortable on them)

My driving is mostly highway, though I include a regular helping of speedbumps from the parking lot at work.

Rob

 

[nicklockard]

These are the asphalt ones, but they are speed bumps (one foot wide), not traffic calming speed humps (3 feet wide.)

Also, if hitting a pothole makes you think you might need dentures...your suspension is shot.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

These are the asphalt ones, but they are speed bumps (one foot wide), not traffic calming speed humps (3 feet wide.)

Ah, I know the type. I have the plastic ones (~6 inches wide, sharper trapezoidal profile) in the lot at work.

My problem is that, like most folks, the dampers have apparently gone away gradually enough that I unconsciously adapted without noticing.

Also, if hitting a pothole makes you think you might need dentures...your suspension is shot.

Don't know about Oregon, but out here in NJ, it's uncommon to hit a pothole that doesn't jar like that, even on new suspension .

Off to search now...