'01 GTI front strut top mount replacement

[Sirocco20348]

Hey everyone,

I reached boiling point today trying to replace these mofo's. Keep in mind that my strut top mounts are BEYOND stuffed... SO unbelievably compressed.. so I think that is my problem... but anyway.

I followed this tutorial on the net: VWVortex.com - How to replace front strut mount rubber without a spring compressor.....long

Its the trick where you replace the 21mm bolt with a shoulder to one without, jack up your car, take off the strut mount and lower back down... EASY RIGHT! wrong.. well for me. Pics are not from my car.






When I jack up the car, the new 21mm bolt (without a shoulder) wedges on something (i am assuming the compressed mount?) and lifts the whole front wheel off the ground?????

What the hell... I tested this new bolt on my new top mount and its goes through the middle of the mount perfectly.

Anyone come across a similar situation in regards to highly compressed front top mounts? What's another way to get them out?

[Sirocco20348]

Is there any chance that the mount could be fused to the chassis and strut plate?

Anyway I have access to a set of spring compressors now.

Do I simply jack up the car, compress the spring, take off the mount and replace? Is this an option?

[dylan8]

once that first bolt is undone and the top hat is off (as per your first and second photo) the whole thing should drop out, maybe it is just 'stuck' there. put the second bolt back on (flat back one) and push the strut down.

I dont understand in the final pic why the other nut is going back on...?

[Sirocco20348]

once that first bolt is undone and the top hat is off (as per your first and second photo) the whole thing should drop out

It wont drop out because that second bolt is flared and designed to hold the strut mount to the strut top plate.

You have to put the unflared bolt on to make sure the spring doesn't fly out when you jack up the car and so that it fits through the middle of the strut mount when you jack up the car.

But my strut mount is So compressed that not even the unflared nut goes through the middle of it.

[dylan8]

i dont know why your undoing the flared bolt though...
undo the first bolt, and the whole suspension should drop down in one piece, thats how i have done it plenty of times before.
the second bolt (the flared one) holds the bearing, spring hat and spring, all down tight on the strut, removing that just means everything uncompressed while in the car...

[Sirocco20348]

the second bolt (the flared one) holds the bearing, spring hat and spring,

Are you sure it doesn't hold down the strut mount as well? When I put the flared nut on my new strut mount, it would not go through the hole.

Ok well with the first nut removed, I jack up the car and the strut just goes up with the car (wheel is in the air)... I tried bashing the nut on the top with a hammer, but it didn't do anything.

How should I loosen it up... spray it with wd40? let it soak in?

[dylan8]

That is what you want to be removing from the car... see how the bush is attached?

try loosening it with something. cant push down on the wheel/hub? i do recall mine being a bit stuck the first time, but it did just pop out after a push

[Sirocco20348]

Thanks Dylan, I replaced them this morning. I used some wd40 to loosen the mounts.

The passenger side was SO EASY... Just did the nut trick at the top, and then removed the sway bar bolt, and the whole strut dropped down with heaps of clearance to change it over.

The driver side was a really annoying. Even thou I removed the sway bar bolt, I STILL did not have clearance to change the mount. So I used the spring compressors to compress the spring to allow for clearance. Wasn't too much extra effort, but had me guessing there for 30 mins what I should do.

All in all , I think next time I could snap it out in an hours work. Thanks for your help.

[Bug_racer]

Use the original nuts .
The one that holds the bearing on is a special design . The ones you have new are just to hold the top cap on , they are usually a pain to break the nyloc seal so I tend to use the old ones .

[Sirocco20348]

I would like to report back on my install.

I have stock suspension and I actually ordered 2 front mounts from the SEAT CUPRA R... these mounts are a direct fit to the mk4 golf and have harder rubber than the stock VW part.

These mounts are SO good, it has completely transformed my car. The difference is night and day between my old ones and the CUPRA R mounts.

In saying that, my old bushes were 1cm smaller in height than the new ones, so were very worn.

My car corners great now, and my tyres actually feel like they are on the road.

Highly Recommended.

I ordered them through the user JMAC, he has contacts in the UK... they were delivered to my door for $132 for 2.