[Vwdiesel] Strut service w/o alignment

[Nate Wall]

I tell you I stopped into one of those tire places
(NTB) and asked, "How much to replace the struts and
strut bearings in my '85 VW Jetta" and they said
$475.00! (I do not think that included the alignment).
So I bought the tools and planned on renting a spring
compressor to do it myself, but happened accross a set
of front strut units w/ springs and new bearings,
complete and assembled, off an '89 jetta that the
engine seized up w/ 2,000 miles on the struts AND new
rear shocks were thrown in too (KYBs). I got these for
$150.00 and just swapped them out! and paid $50 for an
alignment. One of the better e-Bay deals I got!

--Nate
--- Val Christian <val at swamps.roc.ny.us> wrote:
> > Well as you an others have pointed out ( and I
> discovered for myself this m=
> > orning ) The strut has to be removed to change the
> bearings ( and making an=
> >  alignment pratically manditory )  It will not
> drop far enough so that I ca=
> > n compress the spring while leaving the strut
> attached at the control arm. =
>
>
>
> I tried this a couple of months ago, on my A2, and
> it worked:
>
> -remove tierod for steering
> -loosen ball joint retaining nut and remove
> retaining bolt
> -remove CV joint nut
> -drop strut down through tower
>
> Alignment was just fine afterwards.  There were a
> couple of problems:
>
> -ball joint didn't want to come out of  knuckle.
> Lots of persuasion.
>  Using a drag link socket, and a hammer, allowed me
> to spread the knuckle.
> -loosening things on a 12  or 13 yo western ny  car
> took more time than
>  it probably would have taken me to set the front
> end up right again.
>
> I think I'd do it the same way next time, though.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Val
>
>
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