Vehicles are equipped with front wheel drive and MacPherson
strut independent front suspension. Wheel bearing housings are supported by lower control arms and vertically mounted strut assemblies. Tie rods and stabilizer bar are connected to wheel bearing housing. See Fig. 1 or 2.
WHEEL BEARING ADJUSTMENT
Wheel bearings are pressed into wheel bearing housing and no
adjustment is required.
BALL JOINT CHECKING
Raise vehicle and support with safety stands. Inspect ball
joints for damaged rubber boots and play. Maximum tolerance for ball joint play not available from manufacturer.
WHEEL BEARING R & I
NOTE: The wheel bearing is destroyed when pressed out of the
housing. Once either the wheel hub or bearing has been removed from housing, a new bearing must be installed.
REMOVAL
1) Remove axle shaft nut. Raise and support vehicle with
1) Press new bearing race onto hub. Using Bearing & Hub Installer (VW 472/1), press new bearing into bearing housing from outboard side. Using same adapter, press wheel hub into bearing housing. Apply a small bead approximately 1/4" of locking compound to the axle splines before installing in hub. 2) To complete installation, reverse removal procedure. Always replace self-locking axle shaft nut. Tighten all bolts and nuts to specification. See TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS table in this article. Check wheel alignment. See ALIGNMENT SPECS/PROCEDURES article in the WHEEL ALIGNMENT section.
NOTE: When installing hub, be sure that press adapter contacts
ONLY the inner bearing race.
LOWER CONTROL ARM & BALL JOINT R & I
REMOVAL
1) Raise vehicle and support with safety stands. Remove clamp
bolt retaining ball joint at wheel bearing housing. Force ball joint out of housing (ball joint can be replaced while control arm is in vehicle). Leave control arm hanging in mounts at subframe. 2) If control arm is not being removed and ball joint is riveted to control arm, drill out ball joint rivets with a 9/32" (7 mm) drill. After drilling rivets, it still may be necessary to chisel off rivet heads. Remove ball joint. See Fig. 3. 3) If control arm is being removed, remove stabilizer bar link rod nut, washers and bushings. Remove pivot bolt and "U" bracket housing inner pivot pin. Slide out control arm.
NOTE: On vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions, engine
may have to be lifted slightly to gain access to pivot bolts.
INSPECTION
Check lower control arm bushings. Replace bushings if
necessary. To replace bushings, press out worn bushing. Select new bushing and press into position. Make sure bushing does not twist when seating into place.
Fig. 3: New Ball Joint Installation on Lower Control Arm
Courtesy of Volkswagen United States, Inc.
STRUT ASSEMBLY R & I
REMOVAL
1) Raise vehicle and support with safety stands. Remove
wheel assembly. Remove caliper assembly and support out of the way. Remove bolts retaining suspension strut to wheel bearing housing. Note that top bolt is used to adjust front wheel camber. 2) Support front suspension arm and related components. Pry or force suspension strut off wheel bearing housing. Working inside engine compartment, remove upper strut retaining nuts. Remove strut assembly.
DISASSEMBLY
Using spring compressor, slghtly collapse coil spring. Remove
shock absorber piston rod nut. Slowly release spring pressure. Remove upper retaining hardware and coil spring.
REASSEMBLY
1) Install protective sleeve and buffer over piston rod. Both
To install, reverse removal procedure. Tighten all bolts and
nuts to specification. See TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS table in this article. Check wheel alignment. See ALIGNMENT SPECS/PROCEDURES article in the WHEEL ALIGNMENT section.
FRONT SUSPENSION ASSEMBLY R & I
REMOVAL
1) Raise vehicle and support at center with saftey stands.
Disconnect brake line and plug openings. Leave flex line in place. Remove stabilizer link rod nut, bushings and washers. 2) Remove tie rod nut. Separate tie rod from wheel bearing housing. Remove bolts retaining inner portion of constant velocity joint to transaxle drive flange. 3) Remove lower control arm front pivot bolt. Remove bolts retaining "U" shaped bracket holding control arm rear pivot.
NOTE: On vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions, engine
may have to be lifted slightly to gain access to pivot bolts.
4) Support suspension assembly being removed. Remove upper
strut retaining nuts (located in engine compartment). Remove suspension assembly from vehicle.
INSTALLATION
To install, reverse removal procedure. Make sure convex side
of thrust washer faces pivot bolt head. Tighten all bolts and nuts to specification. See TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS table at the end of this paragraph. Check wheel alignment. See ALIGNMENT SPECS/PROCEDURES article in the WHEEL ALIGNMENT section.
TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS
TIGHTENING SPECIFICATIONS TABLE
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Application Ft. Lbs. (N.m)
