DIY Fitting Koni FSD's

[Jason001]

Read a lot of good stuff about the Koni FSD's so am considering upgrading my dampers on my Elegance 2.0tdi as although very happy with general handling performance on good roads I find the ride too harsh and crashing on rough surfaces.

My car is fitted with the 17" alloy/sports suspension set up and I am not particularly interested in lowering the ride height so was planning to keep the current springs.

Has anyone fitted the FSD dampers themselves? Any feedback on how relatively easy/difficult it is to DIY install would be gratefully received. I am guessing I will save around £150-200 by fitting myself.

[rsbspt]

Two fitting guides here:

VWvortex Forums: Springs installation DIY for 06-07 Rabbit

Suspension Installation - 2006 2007 MKV VW GTI / Jetta GLI GTI 2.0T FSI

These guides relate to fitting Eibachs, but will help you with repalcing your dampers as much of the process is common. Don't worry about the fact the guides are for the Golf V as the underpinnings are the same as the Octy.

[Jason001]

Thanks the links look pretty comprehive. Time for a coffee and a read I think.

I was also wondering whether the latest Mk V Golf/jetta aches and pains manual would cover shock absorber replacement.. I will look at your links first as they are free.

[Makefish]

Having only assisted in the install of three sets of FSD's I may not be the best to comment but I can confirm it appears to be a fairly straight forward project but would definately suggest you have an extra pair of hands and a proper garage ramp at your disposal if you are to attempt it.

Having the correct 'spreader' tool for the struts is a deffinate help too .......................................... good luck if you decide to give it a go

[Guinness]

There was quite a few helpful answers when I asked the same question a while back too...

http://briskoda.net/octavia-ii/fitting-konis-eibachs-diy-job/129063/

[Jason001]

Thought I would report back and let you know how I got on fitting the Koni's and Eibach springs. As a DIY job for a first time on an Octavia it took longer than I was expecting (i,e, a whole weekend!) but was reasonably straight forward. There are plenty of good write ups on the internet on how to change the shock absorbers and springs on Golf's and Seats and it is useful reading them fIrst before embarking on the work yourself. In addition, I bought a Haynes manual for a Golf Mk V which gives all the torques for the various fasteners.

I replaced the top mounts and bearings for the front struts (sourced from GSF) and replaced most of the nuts and bolts and one anti-roll bar link. There were 5 areas that caused me a lot of grief and probably doubled the time to the time to finish the job. For anyone wanting to save the £250 and fit the parts yourself I would suggest reading the notes below:

1) You absolutely will need a 6mm spine socket bit (sourced from Halfords in a set for £21) as the top anti roll bar link bolt fixed to the front struts will not come off easily without one. If you make the mistake, as I did, of casually using the nearest sized allen key you will almost certainly round off the socket in the end of the bolt. If this happens your stuffed and will need to destroy the anti roll bar link it getting if off in any way you can.

2) When lifting the old front struts out don't insert the strut speader tool (source from sealey at around £8) too far as it will impead the tab welded onto the strut. It took me a long time to work this one out:(

3) When installing the new front struts I found they would not drop down to the bottom of the hub even with the spreader tool wedged in and plenty of brut forced applied. In the end I discovered the width of the spreader tool was not wide enough so inserted some feeler gauges (maybe 0.5-1mm thickness) and then used the hub spreader to widen the gap in the hub. This worked:)

4) I found after several aborted attempts, the easist way to re-assmble the front supension was to fit the hub back onto the lower control arm, then fit the strut into the hub, then jack the whole assemly up into the wheel arch, then bolt though from the engine bay into the top mounts. It is easy to turn the top mounts and line them up with the three holes in the wheel arch from under the car.

5) Jack up and support the front of the vehicle on axle stands on both sides. If you only do one side at a time, you will find the anti roll bar clashes with the drive shaft on the drivers side. No problem if you jack both sides up level.

Essential tools to complete the job are as follows:

1) Torque wench good for up to 200nm

2) Spline set with 14mm and 6mm spines

3) Cranked 21mm ring spanner from top strut nut or even better a proper strut nut socket.

4) Socket set (will need 16,17,18,21,27mm sockets)

5) Piece of scaffold tube to use as a lever from taking off the hub bolts

6) Hub spreader tool (Sealey, Tools-n-all)

7) Spring compressors

8) 5, 6 and 7mm allen key socket bits

9) Jacks and axle stands

10) WD40

The rears are dead easy.

All the work was well worth it, the Koni's and Eibachs are brilliant.

Hope this helps.

[youngbaz]

Essential tools to complete the job are as follows:

1) Torque wench good for up to 200nm

Wow! The mind boggles! That's what I call a nice touch of v*ginal grip!