Golf GTI 16v 1987 Mk2 Whilst replacing a cv boot I noticed my wishbone bushes look like they need replacing. VW want 40ish for a wishbone with bushes fitted. I've been doing a bit of reading and have some questions... Removal of the existing wishbone - read some scary stuff about a captured nut and cutting holes in the floor to remove/replace?!!?? Have I misread? If not is there anything I can do to try and prevent this nightmare of a situation? As mentioned I'm happy enough to go with VW bones and bushes, I can't afford to do polys, others have mentioned TT or R32 bushes, I've been skimming posts so might have this wrong, assuming you can use these other bushes are they poly expensive or similar price to the mk2 vw ones? Should I replace any other bushes whilst doing the bones? Looking under the car, where the anti-rollbar attaches to the bone has a bush I believe, I guess this should be replaced, any others? Any other tips on removing/replacing wishbones will be greatly appreciated.
Before you start work give all the threads a good soaking with penetrating fluid and leave it for a while. I didn't have any problems when i did mine. Are the wishbones in good nic? If so it may be worth rubbing them down and repainting them and replacing all the bushes with Bugpack items with the money you save. If you buy the kit then you'll have all the wishbone bushes and the arb mount bushes as well
trouble is you cant get at the threads easily to soak them id give the bolt head a quick belt with a hammer with the hopes that it would loosen anything rusted solid consider replacing the ball joints and track rod ends while your there as the tracking needs doing anyway
Man this captive nut stuff is scary, at least for an amature mechanic like myself. I do have a neighbour who welds and has all the necessary welding gear at home if it does come to this. I'm going to attempt to remove the drivers side wishbone one evening this week if the snow/cold clears up a bit, would it make any difference if I tackle the rear wishbone bolt with the captive nut first, before removing any of the other wishbone bolts? Is the passenger side wishbone exactly the same as the drivers? i.e. with a captive nut, if so is the access point for removing and welding in a new one in the same place, just in the passenger foot well? Out of curiosity, is welding a difficult thing to learn? Is it particularly expensive to get setup as a 'home' welder? I guess I could potentially ask my neighbour to teach me, and if I ever need to do any I could always borrow his gear and chuck him some beers Thanks again for all your input guys.
what if you gun them off? does the shock not reduce the captive nut issue? i had the subframe off a 87 mk2 last summer, gunned the bolts and there was no issue at all
I've had the captive nut in the footwell that the vertical wishbone bolt go's in to shear off twice now and the first time I welded it up I set the car on fire! dont let it wory you though... basically the threads are contained and I havent seen a rusted one yet after removing about a dozen wishbones so dont worry about them. what causes the captive nuts to shear is poor allignment when you replace the bolt and/or over tightening of the bolt. both wishbone bolts are listed as replacement items for this job - only a couple of quid for the four though so no excuses. use new bolts use threadlock use the correct torque settings allign bolts properly do that lot and you'll be fine
dont forget those tin metal slieves these are essential for lining up the wishbone properly. They can be a sod to slip throguht, my tip is to get a jack under the wishbone and lift it up till the bone sits level, the slive slips in easy as pie then
Thanks for the info guys - I hope my wishbone bolts have never been touched and come out nice and easily, I recently treated myself to a couple of torque wrenches from Halfords to go from very low up to about 300, so I'll be doing all the correct torque settings from now on Went to order the parts from VW today only to discover they don't stock ball joints any more which is a pain, so I guess GSF will have to do for them, also I asked about other bushes to replace whilst doing the bones and the guy wasn't overly helpful, I said I think there's some bushes on the ends of the anti-roll bar where they attach to the bones, which he said where 26 each WTF?!?! Anyway I'll take a look at GSF for these bushes I think...
id get vw to order the ball joints , theyre nicer quality than gsf you can get poly bushes for the arb ends
Ordered the parts from VW, picking them up Friday, hope to replace the wishbones over the weekend. Gonna make a start at removing the old wishbones tonight, I just hope I don't make a post tonight saying I'm having fun with these captive nuts...
haha you should be fine. do you have an impact gun? youll need a torque wrench putting them on properly after to avoid grief too
That's what I like to hear, obviously I'd like to avoid any nut problems No gun but I've got my torque wrenches at the ready
Started on the drivers side wishbone. I didn't have much luck removing the bolt that holds the ARB to the wishbone, it just kept spinning round. By the looks of things the ARB is just attached to the wishbone by simply being poked through the bush on the 'eye bolt' therefore if I'm able to get the wishbone detached from the car I should be able to just pull the ARB out of the 'eye bolt', does this sound reasonable? Meanwhile, I've removed both the big bolts holding the wishbone in place, but now a bit confused by the next step in the Haynes manual. What's the strut? I just got a big bolt out, and need to 'withdraw the split sleeve'... 5 Undo and remove the track control arm rear mounting bolt and remove the bolt, together with the strut. Withdraw the split sleeve from the bolt hole using suitable pliers. Thanks in advance.
The strut is the bit wi the spring on, no need to take that off. Just take out the ball joint pinch bolt at the bottom of the hub carrier, then stand on the wishbone to pop the balljoint out of the hub carrier
I wish I knew more about cars :/ I think I've undone that bolt, as the wishbone is detached at the ball joint, but the arb is still attached to the wishbone. Any advice on how to get the split sleeves out? Thanks in advance.
