Strut bearing replacement

[raveracer77 at yahoo.ca (raveracer77)]

    Along the same lines I just went and spent the $8 bought a cheapo 22mm open ended / boxed wrench and walked into a local shop that I knew had a torch and had them heat it up and bend the boxed end up so that I had my own offset wrench.  This way it didn't cost ma a fortune from a VW vender for the specialty tool.

      Rave Racer
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___________________________________________

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Brian Haygood 
  To: haygood@myway.com ; roccit_53@scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca ; hartsiga@msu.edu 
  Cc: scirocco-l@scirocco.org 
  Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2006 10:19 PM
  Subject: Re: Strut bearing replacement



  ...forgot to mention...



  Turning the big nut on the top center of the strut bearing will turn the shaft of the strut and not loosen the nut.  With a special wrench, you can still access the allen head socket in the top of the strut to keep it from rotating while you loosen the nut.  Without it, you need an impact wrench.  If you don't have an impact wrench, here's how to "borrow one".



  Get the strut out and the spring compressors on so the nut is ready to come off.  Now take the strut to a local auto shop or lube or tire place.  Walk in one of the bays and get someone's attention.  Hand them a 22mm socket and your strut and ask them if they wouldn't mind using their impact wrench to get that bolt off.  They won't mind - unless you came at a bad time of day, in which case you snag someone else from some other shop.  Have them blast the nut off, then throw the new bearing on and have them blast the nut back on.  Kindly say, " Wow, thanks.  I'da never gotten that off of there.  What do I owe 'ya?"  Unless they are assholes, they will say, "Oh, don't worry about it".  If they are assholes, they might ask for some money.  Tell them, "well, all I've got is a couple of bucks on me right now..." and be glad you didn't have to buy expensive tools for that one nut.  



  The next day/hour you will take the other strut to some other place and do the act again, unless you really hit it off with your first guy and he doesn't mind helping out again.  I never had any trouble getting help like this anywhere when I was in college with no air tools.  Works for getting pulleys on and off alternators, too.



  BH









   --- On Fri 11/24, Brian Haygood < haygood@myway.com > wrote:

  From: Brian Haygood [mailto: haygood@myway.com]

  To: roccit_53@scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca, hartsiga@msu.edu

       Cc: scirocco-l@scirocco.org

  Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 00:03:34 -0500 (EST)

  Subject: Re: Strut bearing replacement



  <br>Andy,<br><br>  If you unscrew the strut bearing's center bolt, the spring will blow everything apart, so you need strut spring compressors to get the bearing off without killing yourself.  The exception is that if you have crappy lowering springs that don't touch the top of the strut when the strut is extended.  Spring compressors are free, fortunately.  Go to Autozone or advanced auto (or maybe some others) and get their "loaner tool" set of compressors.  You are allowed to use their loaner tools by paying a deposit up front.  You get the entire deposit back when you return the tool within 90 days.  If you don't return it, they keep the money and you keep the tool.  Usually the price is quite reasonable anyway, but if you return it, it's free.  Later cars often have strut bearings that don't require you to release the spring, as some have described, but on Sciroccos, you will likely kill or injure yourself if you remove the bearing from the strut and the spring goes 
  flying.<br><br><br><br>  I'm pretty sure it isn't practical to do this without removing the whole strut.  To do so, you would have to remove the lower A-arm form the car, or remove the steering knuckle from the A-arm and take the wholee assembly out with the strut bolts still attached.  I can't spell "attached", I think.<br><br> <br><br>  It is easier to do the alignment yourself.  Actually, it is quite easy.  I'll elaborate ad nausium, so go grab a piece of pecan pie to eat while you read.  <br><br><br><br>The first thing to know is that all you will be messing with is camber.  Toe-in and toe-out won't change, and caster isn't adjustable in our cars without special parts.  Camber is the angle of the wheel relative to the ground.  Positive camber is when the top of the wheel leans toward the center of the car.  Original camber spec on our cars is probably +1/4? or something (someone will correct me, I'm sure), but for better turn in and more aggressive driving, you will 
  want/need 1? of camber or more.  The exact amount to use could be a whole 'nother topic, but the important thing to do is to get them the same on either side.<br><br><br><br>Without tools:<br><br>    When reassembling the strut onto the steering knuckle, the lower of the two bolts (17mm head) goes in a round hole in the strut, while the upper bolt goes in a slot in the strut.  Turning this top bolt sets the position of the bolt in the slot.  You might already know this.  If you don't, it will be really clear when you disassemble the top bolt.  When putting the car back together, rotate the top bolt on either side to the same position - I usually use full positive camber.  That means the bolt is moved toward the center of the car in that slot it moves along in the strut, and the top of the steering knuckle is leaning toward the center of the car as much as possible.  <br><br><br><br>   Now put the wheels on and drive the car.  If it pulls to the left, adjust the right-hand 
  bolt for less positive camber (i.e. move the bolt in the slot away from the center of the car).  If it pulls to the right, do the oppositte.  In the last two cars I did this on, the cars tracked perfectly straight the first time around.  You can adjust the strut without removing the wheel, but use a jackstand before you crawl under the car to do so.  <br><br><br><br>With tools:<br><br>   To really be slick about it you need something with which to measure an angle.  The most basic solution is to put the car on flat ground, or park the front wheels on a straight 2x4 that extends about 2' past each front wheel.  Use a carpenter's square standing upright to give you a vertical line (none of this has to be level, actually, just perpendicular to the ground).  Measure from the carpenter's level to the rim at the top and bottom.  Note the exact height on the level at which the measurements are taken.  A little basic math will give you the camber angle of the wheel.  If you need math 
  tips here, feel free to ask.  This is probably the most accurate way to do it, but you really don't need that much accuracy.<br><br>    The next option is to get an "angle finder".  This is usually a 4" diameter gauge with a needle that points to the top of it.  Harbor Freight has them for like $2.99 or so.  This will get you to within a half degree of your target because the resolution on the gauge is a bit rough.  Level ground is required here, or measure the angle of the ground (or the base of your windshield) and do some math to correct for being not-level.  <br><br>   The third option is to use a "smart level".  This is a digital level that reads in 0.1? increments.  Again - level ground or correct for un-level by measuring the angle of the car.  <br><br><br><br>   Any of these methods involve putting the car on its wheels, measuring or testing, then adjusting again.  Finally, you will do a test drive, see which way it pulls, and correct a bit based on that.  Assuming 
  your car was in good alignment before you started, there should be no need to adjust the steering or anything else.  I DIY that stuff, too when lowering the car or so.  <br><br><br><br>Fortunately, it rarely takes more than one adjustment to get this right.   The amount of total camber you want basically is whatever amount that will make your tires wear evenly.  If the outsides of your tires wear faster than the insides, then you need more camber.  The way many enthusiasts drive, you will want as much camber as you can get, which is why I start there and take out a little from either side to get the car to drive straight.  <br><br><br><br>Contact me off-list or on-list if this sounds daunting.  It is pretty simple once you have done it.<br><br><br><br>I'm on dial-up at the in-laws, so typing long posts is easier than reading many posts, so pardon me for being verbose.<br><br><br><br>Brian<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>No banners. No pop-ups. No 
  kidding.<br>Make My Way  your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com<br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Scirocco-l mailing list<br>Scirocco-l@scirocco.org<br>http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l<br>

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