GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

Replacing Front Springs

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
I had a recent failed inspection by my local VW Dealership and one of the (many) items that the local dealership found was a damaged front passenger side spring. The car is a 2008 with about 106k miles on it, and has Bilstein shocks that were done at around 60K miles (by a local shop - not me or dealer). That said, this is one of the reasons I have the dealer do an inspection, because they tend to find stuff that I may not be aware of. There is some noise in the front end and I'm thinking that the noise is probably that damaged spring.

The above said, I hate the idea of using a spring compressor, but can do the rest of the work, myself. I was wondering if anyone (at least anyone reading this post) has ever done front shocks and springs. Did you do the springs yourself, have a pro do the the whole job, buy a Quick Strut with the spring already installed, or have a pro with a special spring compressor just compress the spring onto the shock and then you did the work yourself? One idea I had was to just buy new struts and springs and then take them to a garage and just pay them to mount the springs. I could then just remove the current struts and replace them with the new ones - all in one piece.

Any thoughts / comments?

Thanks.
 

ROH ECHT

K04 PLAY
Location
PDX OR
Car(s)
2007 MKV GTI
I'm on my fourth set of springs now and replaced upper strut bearings before, done them myself.
I use a Schwaben 013892SCH01A spring compressor...alright to use an impact with it. Just adjust them evenly, making sure the safety pins are engaged. You also need a spindle spreader to open the lower strut mount when loosened; https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben-parts/spindle-housing-spreader-tool/scw3435/

Be careful dropping the front control arm before removing the front struts. The drive axle may come out of the hub if allowed to drop too much...more so on the left side. Best to have a jack in place under the control arm to use to lower the front control arm to the point of being able to remove the strut.


 

vwengineer

Ready to race!
Location
Switzerland
I also replaced mine using basic spring compressors with an impact. I would recommend to lubricate the threads of the spring compressor, to adjust them carefully and to tighten them evenly.

It's no big deal if done carefully, I did two spring changes, so 8 spring compressed and never had an issue or a scary situation.
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
I'm on my fourth set of springs now and replaced upper strut bearings before, done them myself.
I use a Schwaben 013892SCH01A spring compressor...alright to use an impact with it. Just adjust them evenly, making sure the safety pins are engaged. You also need a spindle spreader to open the lower strut mount when loosened; https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben-parts/spindle-housing-spreader-tool/scw3435/

Be careful dropping the front control arm before removing the front struts. The drive axle may come out of the hub if allowed to drop too much...more so on the left side. Best to have a jack in place under the control arm to use to lower the front control arm to the point of being able to remove the strut.


Just wanted to follow up and thank you and VWEngineer. It's been ridiculous - my car is still not inspected, for a full month now. I did reschedule with another shop that is less likely to find $5k in work for an otherwise well maintained vehicle, but I had to cxl my first appointment due to a CEL I had to reset. The CEL seemed to be more phantom issues, so, there was nothing really to fix - so I reset it, but as you probably know, once you reset it, the computer related to emissions now goes into a "Not Ready" status, so there was little sense to take it in for an inspection when it was just going to fail emissions anyway. I then tried to reschedule, and the garage is so fuqing backed up with business, that I couldn't get back in until the end of the month! Ugh!

Anywho, the above said, I would like to eventually address most of the issues the VW Dealer found. As I mentioned in my OP, the dealer identified a damaged front spring (as well as two rear springs). The rear springs are easy, and I know they're not bad (would pass at most shops, but not the dealer). I do, however, think there is an issue with the front spring. There is a creaking sound that emanates from the front of the vehicle under certain turning/acceleration conditions. I think what happened is the end of the spring rusted and cracked/broke, and it is not seating properly in the strut... and during a turn where the car leans to the right, the spring is "unseating" at the end and rubbing against the "cup" of the strut, thereby creating a creaking sound.

I would like to fix it, but what I'd prefer is to just purchase one of those pre-assembled quick struts. The problem is that most of the quick struts are either really expensive, or cheaper designs that raise the front end of the car and change the geometry. The current struts in the car are Bilsteins, so, it would be nice to reuse them, but I'm just not really sure what I want to do at this point.
 

ROH ECHT

K04 PLAY
Location
PDX OR
Car(s)
2007 MKV GTI
Bilstein should have lifetime warranty.
Whatever you do...you may as well replace the upper bearings, should you go with only a spring replacement.
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
Bilstein should have lifetime warranty.
Whatever you do...you may as well replace the upper bearings, should you go with only a spring replacement.
Thanks, and yeah, I'm aware of the lifetime warranty on the Bilsteins, but you know how that goes. Unless there is a failure, they aren't going to warranty them - and even if they did warranty them, do they require you to ship the strut back to them? The cost of shipping a strut by a private party (like you or I) would be quite expensive at today's rates. As far as the strut bearings, I used KYB strut bearings when I had them replaced a back around late 2015... do they go bad that often? There would be less than 50K miles on those strut bearings... but I hear ya, it's so much work to do this stuff, that for a few bucks more, you might as well replace some of the wearable items when you have access.

Do you have any opinion on any good quality and affordable quick struts?
 

ROH ECHT

K04 PLAY
Location
PDX OR
Car(s)
2007 MKV GTI
I believe you only return the product to the original place of purchase. But yeah, when it comes to car parts you almost always have to return the product to get a replacement and this I suspect is what they hope to deter users from claiming. Because not many cars can be driven while missing a part for a month or so.

Which strut or shock needs replacing? I was under the impression they were OK and you hoped to reuse them. A set of new springs and a strut compressor would cost you less than a set of 'cheap' front strut assemblies. Autozone has one cheap offering by Duralast for the MK5 GTI at $150 each. https://www.autozone.com/suspension...-loaded-strut-assembly-ls33-80841b/761824_0_0

To be honest...I have yet heard of anyone, on a forum, using a replacement strut assembly. So I wouldn't know if any are good.
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
I believe you only return the product to the original place of purchase. But yeah, when it comes to car parts you almost always have to return the product to get a replacement and this I suspect is what they hope to deter users from claiming. Because not many cars can be driven while missing a part for a month or so.

Which strut or shock needs replacing? I was under the impression they were OK and you hoped to reuse them. A set of new springs and a strut compressor would cost you less than a set of 'cheap' front strut assemblies. Autozone has one cheap offering by Duralast for the MK5 GTI at $150 each. https://www.autozone.com/suspension...-loaded-strut-assembly-ls33-80841b/761824_0_0

To be honest...I have yet heard of anyone, on a forum, using a replacement strut assembly. So I wouldn't know if any are good.
Well, I'm pretty sure I bought the Bilsteins from Rock Auto, so good luck. I remember years ago when you could actually call Rock Auto and talk to somebody that knew something about cars... not anymore, that was a long time ago. Pretty sure Rock Auto would not help with a warranty, but regardless, there really isn't anything wrong with the struts. As you mentioned with the strut bearing, sometimes you just replace stuff so you don't have to go through hours of labor to fix it a year or a few years down the line. I wish I would have purchased new springs with my front shocks... but at the time, I was like... springs last forever. Oh well.
 

ROH ECHT

K04 PLAY
Location
PDX OR
Car(s)
2007 MKV GTI
Yeah...I wish I had swapped struts and shocks when I added my lowering springs. Wasn't long thereafter when three of the four were leaking. Since then, I've learned to just think of what else the job gives me access to and which parts I should just go ahead and refresh while in there. Since the upper strut mount and bearing is removed for swapping the springs...I would add new bearings. Are your springs stock? What are the plans for the next set? Are the Bilsteins the B4, B6 or B8?
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
Yeah...I wish I had swapped struts and shocks when I added my lowering springs. Wasn't long thereafter when three of the four were leaking. Since then, I've learned to just think of what else the job gives me access to and which parts I should just go ahead and refresh while in there. Since the upper strut mount and bearing is removed for swapping the springs...I would add new bearings. Are your springs stock? What are the plans for the next set? Are the Bilsteins the B4, B6 or B8?
Yes, I do a fair amount of preventative maintenance. The dealer nicked me on both ball joints, but there's no way those ball joints are bad enough to fail inspection, already. I think whomever was doing the inspection wasn't lying or anything, but he was trying to achieve some type of shop/repair goal with my 2008. Both ball joints were replaced at around 60K miles, and the car has less than 110K on it, now. Actually, I just dropped my car off at another inspection shop - so, we'll see what happens, soon.

Also, as far as the Bilsteins, I believe they are the OE B4 struts. Wouldn't it be nice if sellers such as FCP, ECS, and others offered a custom quick strut where they'd actually install new springs for you? I mean, it's not unlike buying a new road bike frame and picking out your drivetrain and wheels and having a shop like Competitive Cyclist install all the parts on the bike before they ship it to you. As far as plans, I'm hoping it passes inspection, and even if it does, I'm going to address many of the things the VW dealer cited me on... new ball joints, new sway bar links (dealer only cited one, but might as well do both).
 
Top