Have a bit of a problem on mine drivers side

WIth spring compressors and top mount is loosened off and in theory has plenty of space to come out now, its lifting up and down all day long

 

With 1/4" convertor in split hub no problem, its moving side to side indicating free play and trying to shimmy it off the hub, however can't see for the life of me to get it to wiggle out the hub its not going up enough.

It seems because its a funny angle or something, but lift it up but the hub just won't drop without taking the strut with it ??

 

Tried jacking up the strut with a block of wood but the hub is going with it. Any ideas ??? Is the 1/4" adapter too small ?

 

I haven't removed the track end, partly as it seems to move smoothly until it gets to the end and seems to be seizing up so can't get the nut off

I will also pay in beer or money if someone locally wants to help me this weekend !

Solved, just used a square drive without alteration borrowed from a piston ring replacement tool.

 

It was a lot easier after that, 1/4 convertor is a poor solution despite mention on the VW forums. Also fully removed the nut and bolt, I think this despite very loose was adding some resistance.

 

As every dirty girl knows, its about about splitting it wide open

Edited 21 October, 20169 yr by vRSAnt

By far the easiest way to remove the strut is to take it off complete with the hub and disc still attached then remove the strut from the hub carrier on the bench, you can hang the brake caliper out of the way without disconnecting the brake hose at all, just don't forget to go easy releasing the ABS sensor plug, don't tug the wire.

Thanks. However, the steering track rod nut was very resistant however ( rusteda bit too much on the unused part) to make for easy removal - seeming to make for difficulties. I'd already experienced my tyre fitters over torqueing a locking wheel nut ( thanks) which meant it disintegrated trying to remove but they also removed it for me, not looking to tempt fate.

 

.....and since as the amazing VW parts lady I spoke to who promises to get back to me about the nuts and bolts parts, just didn't bother at all it seems as I went in there today and they seemed to know nothing of my discussions that she was looking into getting them, hence I was resistant to further with removing and damaging that nut just for now.

( and didn't need to in the end as I got the strut off without removing the steering track rod nut). Maybe later when I know I definitely have a replacement for it and I can just replace it.

 

Dunno about getting the strut back in with original spring back on however - hope its just a reversal of removal and somewhat easier !

I imagine slipping it in is a darn site easier though than trying to pull apart - gravity can do more of the work !

Edited 22 October, 20169 yr by vRSAnt

Probably one of the best things I have bought tool wise, when I was attacking the (broken)front spring on my wife's late 2002 Polo back in 2006, was a tap and die set from Screwfix!  Not top quality/strength but well up to cleaning up exposed threads BEFORE starting to remove things like nyloc TRE nuts! The combination of excessive rusting on the TRE fixing and the extreme hardening of the nylon insert in the nut meant it was never going to be easy, ie rotating TRE fixing, very annoying and very time consuming while I spent too long hack sawing the nyloc section off the first side - before I bought the tap and die set! That set had coarse and fine threads so worked well with VAG cars.

Probably one of the best things I have bought tool wise, when I was attacking the (broken)front spring on my wife's late 2002 Polo back in 2006, was a tap and die set from Screwfix!  Not top quality/strength but well up to cleaning up exposed threads BEFORE starting to remove things like nyloc TRE nuts! The combination of excessive rusting on the TRE fixing and the extreme hardening of the nylon insert in the nut meant it was never going to be easy, ie rotating TRE fixing, very annoying and very time consuming while I spent too long hack sawing the nyloc section off the first side - before I bought the tap and die set! That set had coarse and fine threads so worked well with VAG cars.

 

Try a nut-splitter, it makes really short work of recalcitrant nyloc nuts, the trick is to use it in two places, then the nut comes off in two halves without even needing to turn it.

Maybe I had duff nut splitters, but all I initially achieved using them was to mark the sides of the nut and be able to use the nut splitter to rotate the nut a bit - that was when I started sawing off the top section of the first nut before buying a tap and die set.

 

I think that I found that the nut splitter would have worked best on a deeper nut, or one without the reduced diameter nyloc top section, all this was happening over Christmas/NewYear period, so finding any where open up in Scotland was not easy, so grabbing any new tools that looked like they might help was more done in desperation than as in sensible selection of what I really needed/wanted. I was aiming at getting wife's Polo back running for the start of the new school term after it broke a spring on Boxing Day night!

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Dunno about getting the strut back in with original spring back on however - hope its just a reversal of removal and somewhat easier !

I imagine slipping it in is a darn site easier though than trying to pull apart - gravity can do more of the work !

 

Making sure everything is clean, well greased and in-line will work wonders.

An angle grinder is your friend.

Making sure everything is clean, well greased and in-line will work wonders.

 

Yeah its in but I think my spring compressors may be a tad on the small side which made very difficult as I couldn't get it around every coil, also as an obvious its a must to get the inner liner out the way for visibility and clearance too ( didn't need for taking them out with lower springs! ).

 

This is driver side, hopefully the passenger is a lot easier

 

Also grumble for the evening -

What is it with parts places, after literally like looking for hens teeth I finally got my bump stops but found what they ordered for me are 2007 onwards FFS ! No problem as they are just a bit too big and you can trim a bump off them, but like wtf.

 

Parts places seem to be really awful as stores nowadays. Online ordering has a lot to answer for ( eroding the quality of shopfront service ) but as a result is now indispensable to know what you want, and then order it online in advance of doing any work.