Removing Rear Suspension bushes/bushings - Troubleshooting - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• Removing Rear Suspension bushes/bushings by Reddiesel on 28 Feb, 2007 09:24
• Hi
  My mk3 Golf td has just failed its MOT  . Apparently both rear suspension bushes (I think there called bushings in USA) are in very bad condition and need replacing. This explains why I hear a large bang whenever I go over a bump. The testing place says that the stock bushes are a right *** to remove and that it could take them many hours to do and therefore cost alot of money. They recomended that I go to a main VW dealer, but main dealers are not cheap.  Sadly I am a student and have no money and probably wont be able to afford to get them done.
  
  Has anyone had any experiences removing them, because I would like to try and do it my self. Any advice would be very welcome. If not I may have to consider getting a new car which I dont want to do as I love my golf. My previous MOT certificate runs out on monday so after then I wont be able to drive my car . Will life be worth living?
  
  Nick
• #1 by jtanguay on 28 Feb, 2007 10:17
• well then they must be wayyyyyyy harder to remove than MK2's... are they talking about the upper mount/bushings??? thats a piece of cake on MK2's... i did my whole suspension (first time) in about 2.5 hours... (had a hard time torquing the front strut towers to 45lbs.. need that special allen key)
  
  the lower strut mount needed some heat because of all the rust...
• #2 by BlackTieTD on 28 Feb, 2007 10:35
• dont give up hope reddiesel. get a hold of a bentley manual for your car and it will tell you what to do.
• #3 by burn_your_money on 28 Feb, 2007 11:11
• The shop is probably confused with a Jetta. The rear suspension is miserable to work on on a Jetta, but Golfs are cake. I think mk2 and mk3 share the same suspension so all you should have to do is go into the hatch, pop the cap off the strut mount, undo the nut, take off the metal plate, take off the next bolt then remove the bushing. Lift the rear end up and the shock should drop down, pull the old bushing off (hard to do) and then put the new ones on and tighten everything back down. It shouldn't take more then 30 minutes a side.
  Now if it was a Jetta you need to take off the parcel shelf and the back seat and c-pillar covers. That's a PITA
• #4 by Reddiesel on 28 Feb, 2007 12:41
• Hmm, thanks for your replies. Its interesting that you think that it should be easy. The guy who tested my car did seem very sure on what he was saying and I do trust his opinion. At the weekend if I have time i will probably give it a go.
  
  Also are there any particular makes of bushes that you would recommend/not recommend or are they all as good as each other.
  
  Thanks
  
  Nick
• #5 by Doug on 28 Feb, 2007 16:25
• I read your first post, Nick, with it looking like these other guys have it mixed up. I believe maybe that the MOT is telling you that it is the lower swing arm/axle pivots which do have a bush(ing) inside. To get that one apart is a bit of a chore as the brake lines need to be disconnected where the flex lines meet the axle. Shocks need to be disconnected at the lower mounts (may as well get new ones while you're in there). Then pivot bolts pulled and axle drops to ground. Now you have to get the bushes pressed out and new ones pressed in. Ready to spring for the dealer to do the work?
• #6 by jtanguay on 28 Feb, 2007 22:08
• Quote from: "Doug"

  I read your first post, Nick, with it looking like these other guys have it mixed up. I believe maybe that the MOT is telling you that it is the lower swing arm/axle pivots which do have a bush(ing) inside. To get that one apart is a bit of a chore as the brake lines need to be disconnected where the flex lines meet the axle. Shocks need to be disconnected at the lower mounts (may as well get new ones while you're in there). Then pivot bolts pulled and axle drops to ground. Now you have to get the bushes pressed out and new ones pressed in. Ready to spring for the dealer to do the work?

  
  
  thats what i was thinking of too... the upper bushings are way too easy to get at... (of course contorting my arm to get in there sucked..) but then again i was working on my mk2 jetta... are mk3's that much harder though???
• #7 by GTD. on 01 Mar, 2007 00:39
• Which bushes have gone?
  
  If its the axle pivot bushes (11 on above diagram) replace with polyurethane "polysport" bushes from Rally Design http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=51&products_id=5127
  
  Far better and easier to fit than the VW ones, you dont even need a press!
  
  Remove the rear wheels, disconnect the handbrake cables, the flexys that go from chassis to axle, the two bolts that bolt the bias arm to the axle as the bias valve is bolted to the beam bracket, the bottom bolts from the shocks, the 2 axle bolts that go through the bushes.
  
  use a big drill bit (10-12mm) to drill the rubber bush out drilling into the rubber, when I did this the drill started to drill into the bush then slid to the outside of the bush and went round between the bush and metal sleve pushing the rubber bush out.
  
  Leaving me with this
  
  
  Take a large hacksaw and remove the blade, pass the blade through the metal sleeve marked in blue
  
   cut through the sleeve then bash out with a hammer.
  
  Then lube up the poly bush and where the sleeve was with copper slip and press the poly bush into where the sleeve was with a g clamp
  
  then reassemble remembering to bleed the brakes if you've removed the axle
• #8 by Doug on 01 Mar, 2007 05:23
• There you have it complete with pictures too! Nice job!
• #9 by bvolks73 on 01 Mar, 2007 10:03
• My mechanic did mine without taking the axle out at all. He just took the pivot bolts out and let it sort of hang by the brake lines. Drove the old ones out with an air chisel and beat the new ones in with a big hammer. Of course he had a hoist. Lol. That's been 8 years ago and they're still holding strong. He did both sides in less than a half an hour. When they need done again though I'm going to drop the axle and do them myself. Then I'll be able to give everything a good wire brushing and a good coat of paint before it goes back on. I hate putting anything back on without giving it a good coat of rust paint.
• #10 by GTD. on 01 Mar, 2007 14:47
• I could have done my beam on car, but I was swapping it as it came up as bent on a geometry check when getting my tracking and camber done, while it was off I decided to clean it up with a wire cup brush in my angle grinder, hammerite it then fit poly bushes as its something you don't want to have to remove very often