Club 80-90 Forums

Not having realised that the syncro wishbone upper control arm was different to the 2wd ones I started this job at 3pm this afternoon.

Very easy to get off, and got the old bushes out fairly easily after a bit of persuading.











But now I am stuck, I have hit the new ones as hard as I dare with a hammer to get them in, they are about half way, and stuck. I see in Bentley that VW use a press on the outer edge of the bush, my friendly local garage have gone home for the day and so I dont have use of a press. Is there an alternative way of doing this. I only have a small vice, thats no good. How about the bolt method??

Any ideas. Want it in tonight if poss.

A big nut and bolt! And some way of a spacer and pull it in by thightening the nut and bolt!

Ahh, yes. Used a big coach bolt and a 1 1/4 inch socket. Got most of the way, then because it protrudes out either side, it stopped.
So got a bigger hammer!!





And she hammered home just fine.

I have never dismantled this bit before, on any V dub, and was inspired by Karl T's attempts at camber adjustment. That is what I will do when all is settled down. Havent driven it yet, and there seems to be too much play on the side to side motion of the wishbone. Again according to Bentley this can be adjusted with those shims in different thicknesses, from VW, fingers crossed. The adjustment is fairly pleasing, so here is a little video of the movement.

A squeek free drive at last, but still got a slight knocking on that side, it was'nt the top ball joint, so must be the bottom.

Thats a good thread. Id forgotten that the top arms were different on a Syncro. Ill go down to Lidl/Aldi and get one of those saws!!!! I do have a press though.
As a matter of interest, how long should the bolt be that you used to pull the bushes in? I suppose a lenght of threaded bar would do the trick as well. It could be a useful addition to ones toolbox !!!

I used a bit of M10 threaded bar, which fitted through the 1/2 inch socket. Used a 1 1/16th an a large square fencing washer. If I had two of the right size sockets then I could have wound it in all the way. Had to hammer the last bit, but that was easy, I suppose as so much was in there was no risk of getting it out of square. They would not budge until I had cut through the casings. Have to be careful not to go too far.

I actually just pounded the second one in with that big hammer, and went in fine, took about two minutes, just wasnt brave enough with the first.

Thanks Simon, excellent post, and nice piccies though could be web-optimised a bit first, very slow to load the page fully here... but I'll download, optimise and upload them to the Wiki, then re-link here. Many thanks... love the video clip!

I struggled as well, walked over the road to a very nice man with a very nice car workshop who does everything 'properly' - and I mean everything, no short cuts, and he looked and looked and looked, and then pressed them out with a variety of bibs and bobs and pressed the new ones back in also with said bibs and bobs...

He said ".... Mmm, they sure need aligning spot on before you start pressing"

Also, "... pretty sure your ones won't need tag-welding in, I'll eat my hat if they move even a thou!" So your choice...

See Wiki for camber settings, now has pretty comprehensive alignment and geometry settings for 2WD and Syncros

I've heard that the bottom ball-joints do go occasionally, but I found you have to lever the top-one around big-style to really determine any play... if the boot looks at all perished I'd change it anyway!

Syncro ones are not spot welded only 2WD are.

Syncro ones are not spot welded only 2WD are.

Agree...

Despite what has been said a few times on these pages...

Thanks for the comments guys
I am not looking forward to the bottom ball joint, but will order one soon from Baxter and get the job done properly.

I am not looking forward to the bottom ball joint, but will order one soon from Baxter and get the job done properly.

BY all accounts a real pig.. maybe Russel van nlighten us as to how many out of ten it gets, for piggishness! Is VW tool necessary etc.

I have the press tools here, early easier to do than late cos it's not the whole arm, late is lower control arm off, that means radius rod and hub carrioer too

VW tool doesn't make it much easier.
earlier ones with the bolt off cast bit are dead easy, as Aidan says the ones with the cast arm are a bit long winded.
I got the VW tool for the 2WD ones, and in honesty I was better doing what i did before and removing the rubber boot and just using the usual array of sockets that everyone seems to use.

I'm glad I saw this post as it reminded me to update the price of the bushes on the webshop, I now have a reliable source for lemforder parts and I now have those in stock.
lemforder were the OE to VW for most bushes and ball joints as well as steering arms too.
They are a bit more expensive that the other ones I had, but they are still cheaper than GSF ones and the GSF ones are the 'orrible "Vibring" items that they get knocked up in China!

Vw wanted 60 quid a pop for these bushes, and I am ashamed to say I bought these from JK about 18 months ago, ey seem to be ok, but time will tell.

I realise now why it was said on Karl T's post about camber adjustment, that you should tighten the big bolt up when the wheels are on the ground, as they naturally would if you were adjusting the camber. It is because the long bolt clamps the inner part of the bush to the chassis (when it is tight)and when the suspension moves the outer metal casing moves with the wishbone, and twists the rubber bonded sleeving making a little "indespension" type unit. If you tighten the bolt on full droop, then this little rubber joint will permenently be twisted, and much more likley to fail. On my Vw joint it was the rubber that had deteriorated, and it clearly has a lot to do for a small joint.