front strut mount replacement

[byron84]

I had bought these parts a long time ago and never got around to replacing them, because apparently they were worn out and had a part to play in the creaky suspension noise.

So I finally got around to doing that. This is what it looked like before:


If you look under the hood, at the upper corners on each side you'll see these, it's at the top of the strut assembly

the parts to be changed


the wheel taken off

that skinny bar to the left of the shock connects the stabilizer bar to the shock. we werent able to get that off without breaking it off, so that was replaced too.

a better shot of that skinny bar


and off it comes ...


undo everything else


then the whole shock assembly piece comes out, and you see an empty hole!


you can see into the wheel well with the shock stuff removed


what we used to squish that spring


those being put on the spring


the new skinny bar and the shock assembly put back into place


what it looks like from under the hood after new parts put in


took a little while, most of it done by my dad who was helping me. i've now ordered my timing belt kit and water pump, so i will try to take some (hopefully better) pics of that when it goes down.

it does seem to make a bit less suspension noise but it's not completely gone. it does sound like the remaining noise comes more from the back though. in terms of handling, it feels more or less the same, there could be a very slight change though.

to be honest, it wasn't really worth the work. would have been better to just replace the entire shock/spring while i was at it, but that will have to wait for another time at this point.

[Daox]

None of the pics work.

[byron84]

Wow, that's messed up. I was able to view them a second ago now they aren't working. Will try to fix...,

edit: I tried using a different site, the pics should work now

[serega12]

The skinny bar=sway bar link, and those things=spring compression tools.

[Daox]

Much better with pics.

So, did this fix the clunking noise you had?

[serega12]

I've seen a kit like that offered when I was getting my KYBs, but didn't know what I needed it for (my car only has under 30k on it), so I decided against it. Plus all the parts looked fine when I was replacing struts/shocks.

[MetroMPG]

Was it just creaking, or were the front struts clunking over bumps?

This is like blast from the past: common problem on VW Rabbits was worn strut bearing plates clunking/rattling over bumps. I had to change a few.

[petrified.rabbit]

the upper mounts on these are very identical to vr6 mk3 mounts..

floating front suspensions makes lots of noises when the upper mounts wear out..

[Daox]

Well, I got my front mount kit today and I installed it on one side. There is STILL A GAP (although less) when I lower the car... Not happy. I'm wondering if the mount kit is the problem or what.

[petrified.rabbit]

there should be a slight gap. otherwise the upper cap will be metal on metal and making noise.

the rubber in the mount flexes with age and you hear either the upper cap or the spring cup hitting the strut tower,