New or Remanufactured Axle?

[ORCoaster]

I have had to use 6 foot pipes on 2 foot breaker bars in the past.  Also have used the starter to pop it off as well.  Just have to make sure it is held on square and the foot of the pipe is firmly on the ground.  Generally takes two do do this method.  

[rs899]

Unfortunately I was alone, the car was up in the air and 4-500 ft ponds was all I could muster.  I had to shove a hardened punch through the lug bolt holes to keep it from moving.  Broke that. 

I never tighten mine that much -200 ft pounds is the spec, isn't it?

[rs899]

Update.  With no other short term option, I shimmed the ball joint on the knuckle  and put it back together.  The BJ is now very tight in the knuckle.  I had the CV axle out on that side and spun the wheel bearing.  Seems fine.  The CV axle didn't seem obviously worn.  I examined everything pretty carefully.  The balljoint felt a little notchy, but not sloppy.  Took it for a drive today.

Still an odd pop, usually on a slow left hander.  I decided to change balljoints  (these are Taiwanese Mevotechs).  Autozoo had some for $13 each (lifetime warranty).  They had only 2, one was a USA (MOOG) and the other made in Turkey ( probably Febi or supplier of Febi).  I will put at least the one (passenger) side on Wednesday and see if that fixes it.

I hate this sort of crap....

[theman53]

I put a moog ball joint in my jetta IIRC about 20,000 miles and absolutely 0 issues. It is greasable, so I don't expect it to have issues either. It was 50.00 though

[rs899]

Wow. Zerc fitting?  The decline of Western civilization, as we know it, began with the "lubed for life " ball joint.  What a concept...

[bajacalal]

I didn't even know that anyone made a greaseable ball joint for our cars and Moog makes quality parts, at least in my experience. They may not be well known for VW parts but they definitely have a good reputation among the Ford/Chevy/Dodge guys.

[burn_your_money]

Yeah I'm a big fan of Moog for my f250

[rs899]

UPDATE- STILL POPPING...

But now its more start -stop related.  I get a faint "clunk" on most normal starts and a pretty loud "POP" on hard braking

I changed BOTH ball joints.  I changed BOTH axles.  The stupid Mevotech BJs were undersized to spec- they were not 19mm ( not 17mm, either).

I have a set of new motor mounts on the way, but now I am thinking that it might be the passenger lower control arm bolt.  It's tight in the hole, but I wonder if somehow the sleeve/spacer is somehow screwed up in the hole and the bushing is just rocking away on the bolt?

I hate this ***....

[bajacalal]

Since I posted earlier, I thought I would post an update.

The rubber boots on the axles I installed 2 years ago all just suddenly failed. They looked fine this spring, then they all popped out of nowhere, after exactly 2 years. so I replaced my axles again.

Someone commented that they fear the supply of "good" axle cores is dwindling... When I replaced my axles, I noticed that one of them was marked "ARI." ARI was a company that sold rebuilt auto parts and they went out of business 6 or 7 years ago. They had a lot of quality issues. The axles were supposed to be Cardone, and were in a Cardone box. Cardone bought a lot of the existing ARI stock and repackaged it, I knew this beforehand...

What that means is that the axles, a 90 mm for an early mk2, have been sitting on the shelf, possibly for at least a decade. So there isn't much turnover for parts on our cars which have become less and less common. I don't think there is much demand for old VW Golf parts, so what's out there has probably been around for a while. I couldn't even find a place locally that stocked brake pads or tie rod ends for my car and I had to order them.

[R.O.R-2.0]

UPDATE- STILL POPPING...

But now its more start -stop related.  I get a faint "clunk" on most normal starts and a pretty loud "POP" on hard braking

I changed BOTH ball joints.  I changed BOTH axles.  The stupid Mevotech BJs were undersized to spec- they were not 19mm ( not 17mm, either).

I have a set of new motor mounts on the way, but now I am thinking that it might be the passenger lower control arm bolt.  It's tight in the hole, but I wonder if somehow the sleeve/spacer is somehow screwed up in the hole and the bushing is just rocking away on the bolt?

I hate this ***....

strut bearings?

[rs899]

strut bearings?

I don't think so...


In the last 3 months I have replaced..

Strut bearings ( Febi- German)
Struts (Monroe OE Spectrum)
Ball Joints (one Moog, one Febi)
Tie rod ends (Pex- German)
Axles (rebuilt)
lower control arm bushings

motor mounts are about 2 years old

It FEELS like there is some wiggling on acceleration which makes me suspect the rear control arm bushing.  The bolts are all tight but I am worried one or both may somehow be slopping around on its bolt

[R.O.R-2.0]

strut bearings?

I don't think so...


In the last 3 months I have replaced..

Strut bearings ( Febi- German)
Struts (Monroe OE Spectrum)
Ball Joints (one Moog, one Febi)
Tie rod ends (Pex- German)
Axles (rebuilt)
lower control arm bushings

motor mounts are about 2 years old

It FEELS like there is some wiggling on acceleration which makes me suspect the rear control arm bushing.  The bolts are all tight but I am worried one or both may somehow be slopping around on its bolt

ive had the control arm bolts be replaced on my rabbit, and they made the front end clunk.. always wondered why my alignment was different every time i checked..

OEM bolts have a larger diameter shank than bolts you can buy at the bolt store..

[damac]

I replaced everything on my 85 jetta when I got it a couple years back.  Can't say I have had your issues and it was aligned at the shop.

Only thing I have experienced is the passenger side rear strut rattles all the damn time, its annoying and I have tried to reseat it and no luck.

On the front end when I pulled out the old control arm bushings they had a collar.  When I put the new ones in the place told me there was no collar anymore, just a slap in and bolt design?  I took their word for it.

Another annoying thing I get is that jolt when the pedal is stabbed or let off, like the drivetrain is moving.  One time by accident I put in a supposed harder tranny mount and noticed that this issue wasn't present anymore, but there was so much vibration into the dash I had to pull it out.

I'm getting rid of the car and want to look into that further because it doesn't seem right.  I got whatever http://www.autohausaz.com had listed as stock for my car and rolled with it and no wonder if there is an inbetween choice.

[theman53]

I went to all poly mounts. They have absolutely horrible reviews on the Vortex, but I have yet to have a problem in 30,000 miles on the 86 and 15,000 on the 01 TDI. They use a bigger bushing for the same stock bolt.

damac: Did you replace the strut bearings?

[Blocksmith]

Another annoying thing I get is that jolt when the pedal is stabbed or let off, like the drivetrain is moving. One time by accident I put in a supposed harder tranny mount and noticed that this issue wasn't present anymore, but there was so much vibration into the dash I had to pull it out.

My dad's 86 jetta has this same issue; just replaced the control arm bushings, ball joints, and steering rack (all shot to h*ll) to get rid of pretty massive steering wheel shimmy, but clunk is still there.  I suspect that it's the strut mount or the rear motor mount, as it's very definitely coming from the passenger side. Interesting that a firmer trans mount took care of the problem for you; makes me lean towards the motor mount. Probably need to replace all the mounts anyway. That car has had sooo many problems