Come up against a few nightmares, managed to shred the bolt on the top of the trackrod end and ended up having to remove it with a hacksaw but other than that it seemed to go okay.

What i'm after is whether anyone has a spreading tool in the Sheffield/Yorkshire area to open up the hub to remove/replace the suspension strut with ease that is borrowable/purchasable? Or even an idea of something else that will do a similar job? I did use a hex key which opened it up enough to get it free, but really isn't the best idea as it kept closing up again causing issues.

I believe its VW Special Tool 3424 - is this likely to be something i can grab from a VW/Skoda dealership on monday?

Any ideas?

ps. I HATE COMPRESSING COIL SPRINGS!!!!

http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_IV--1.8T/Tools/Suspension/ES3894/

Thats what socket you will need, makes the job a million times easier!

They will be able to order you a spreader, wont keep special tools in stock.

Its less than a tenner though iirc.

Thats the one - just need to hope i can find one in the UK, preferable in a shop i can walk into a buy one on monday