i'm trying to replace the front shocks on my nk2f and the calliper allen key bolts are being a nightmare "surprise surprise right" has anyone got any ideas that may help, i've got new bolts to go on but i'm needing to have the front suspension and brakes done tommorrow.

i use a spline bit or a torx and just bang it in to it..

Take the two 15?mm bolts out that hold the caliper carrier onto the strut, then if you want to do anything with the slide bolts, you can have it on the bench and work on it more easily.

I think your trying to undo the wrong bolts. As above, they should be a 15mm Hex headed bolt, not Allen type

i always thought you were supposed to remove the calliper with the slider bolts but if there is an easier way i'll do it as i think the allen heads are knackered, need the get the front shocks, springs, discs and callipers changed tomorrow so i can get the system bled and car cleaned thursday, ready for it's toad trip friday

Hope it all goes smoothly for you then. That's a bitnof work for a few days, having had experience of the front suspension myself. You could just take the flexi pipes off the caliper and get them off on the bench if your struggling.

F A I L ! ! ! !

couldn't change the callipers because the flexi pipe wouldn't bundge and couldn't change the front suspension because the bolt for the steering arms wouldn't come off or retighten so i'm afraid it's off to the mechanics tomorrow, not sure if they are just doing the suspension or the brakes aswell, depends on the cost, still it'll be good to get her back with the loooow suspension so i can put my newly acquired slightly scruffy 13's on.

I never undo the ball joints on the steering arms unless that's what I want to replace. Just take the arm off at the rack.

If you have to undo the ball joint, pinch it well in plae before you start undoing it.

I cut the rubber seal thing off, and then got vice grips as tight as I could get them around the head.

Be sure to replace them with hexagonal headed bolts, allen bolts are useless!

Yeah, well done, think I've owned some of your previous cars.

The rubber boots that are best cut off and useless allen bolts are your caliper slide bolts and their protection from the elements.

If you must cut them off, a rebuild kit's about £8 a side from VW.

Never cut corners on brakes.

@ yeti.. so if your takeing out a strut, you take the track rod end off the track rod? rather than taking the track rod off the strut? (as pictured above)

and if you always take the track rod end off at the rack, how sure can you be that you haven't affected your tracking???

Yeah, well done, think I've owned some of your previous cars.

The rubber boots that are best cut off and useless allen bolts are your caliper slide bolts and their protection from the elements.

If you must cut them off, a rebuild kit's about £8 a side from VW.

Never cut corners on brakes.

Yet even with them on, the bolts were still caked in brake dust, rust and completely seized to the metal sheath. yeah...they protect them well. I cut mine off, I'm certainly not worried that an exposed head on a bolt is going to be sheered off by road debris.

Just an off topic note, I got laughed out of my local parts shop for asking for a rebuild kit. "they ain't been made in a long time mate. har har har". If they are still available, where from?

@ yeti.. so if your takeing out a strut, you take the track rod end off the track rod? rather than taking the track rod off the strut? (as pictured above)

and if you always take the track rod end off at the rack, how sure can you be that you haven't affected your tracking???

I take the whole rod off the rack. I know it's right because nothing else changes length... and I'm a dab hand at using a ball of string as a tracking guage.

Yeah, well done, think I've owned some of your previous cars.

The rubber boots that are best cut off and useless allen bolts are your caliper slide bolts and their protection from the elements.

If you must cut them off, a rebuild kit's about £8 a side from VW.

Never cut corners on brakes.

Yet even with them on, the bolts were still caked in brake dust, rust and completely seized to the metal sheath. yeah...they protect them well. I cut mine off, I'm certainly not worried that an exposed head on a bolt is going to be sheered off by road debris.

Just an off topic note, I got laughed out of my local parts shop for asking for a rebuild kit. "they ain't been made in a long time mate. har har har". If they are still available, where from?

VW parts counter. I'd look you a part number up but I don't know which caliper your car would have fitted.

You're missing the key issue, and thats that the caliper slide bolts are specified to deal with the environment they work in, whereas your average shiny bolt probably isn't. There's a lot of factors, tensile strength is just one, thermal expansion's another (brake caliper gets hot so the bolt hole expands slightly... does the bolt expand in the same way?), likewise, you might have noticed (or discarded) a little white plastic sleeve in the rubber sleeve. This stops the bolt thread eating the rubber boot, which stops the caliper sitting slack on the slide, and prevents metal-on-metal contact.

Don't get me wrong, your brakes will probably be alright, but I don't like probably and brakes in the same sentance, so I use the right parts and do the job right.

@ yeti.. so if your takeing out a strut, you take the track rod end off the track rod? rather than taking the track rod off the strut? (as pictured above)

and if you always take the track rod end off at the rack, how sure can you be that you haven't affected your tracking???

I take the whole rod off the rack. I know it's right because nothing else changes length... and I'm a dab hand at using a ball of string as a tracking guage.

fair enough, but from my experiance getting into and opening the inner rack end can be pretty dificult on most cars, mk2 polos may be an ecception tho, i dont know what there like.

but why not just open the track rod end, if its tight, give the stub where its held in a little shot with a decent hammer and bobs your aunti? thats just how i always do it and iv never had any trouble.

but as for measusing the lenght of you track rod with a piese of string, half a thread on your rod can put your tracking out. but you may be very good with a piece of string.

just different people have different ways of doing things i supose.

Don't get me wrong, you're right for most cars, but Mk1-3 Polos are very much of a different era to pretty much everything else on the road, they're pretty much straight from VW's first go at putting the engine in the front, and using water to keep it cool, so strange ways of building mean strange ways of working to me. They have a very simple arrangement at the rack, open the bonnet and stick it in a full right hand lock and you'll see what I mean.

My reason for avoiding taking the ball joints out is that on a car this age, they generally don't survive it, and unless pinched really tight (that's what the dodgy looking arrangement with the lump of wood above is for), they normally end up spinning. It's not a massive issue on the nearside where the rod end is £8, but on the offside, you have to replace the rod as a unit, which is £20-odd quid, not huge money, but I avoid spending when I don't have to.

I don't disassemble the tie rod, I just unbolt it as a whole from the rack.

The bit of string is used after the job, wrapped across the face of all the road wheels and tied to something behind the car, as a makeshift tracking guage (this works because early Polos don't run any toe), granted, there's more elegant ways of doing it, but if I'm working on a decent surface, I can get to within 2 degrees pretty reliably, which is within tolerance, and at worst, certainly good enough for a drive to the local tyre place to get it checked and adjusted.

Don't get me wrong, you're right for most cars, but Mk1-3 Polos are very much of a different era to pretty much everything else on the road, they're pretty much straight from VW's first go at putting the engine in the front, and using water to keep it cool, so strange ways of building mean strange ways of working to me. They have a very simple arrangement at the rack, open the bonnet and stick it in a full right hand lock and you'll see what I mean.

My reason for avoiding taking the ball joints out is that on a car this age, they generally don't survive it, and unless pinched really tight (that's what the dodgy looking arrangement with the lump of wood above is for), they normally end up spinning. It's not a massive issue on the nearside where the rod end is £8, but on the offside, you have to replace the rod as a unit, which is £20-odd quid, not huge money, but I avoid spending when I don't have to.

I don't disassemble the tie rod, I just unbolt it as a whole from the rack.

The bit of string is used after the job, wrapped across the face of all the road wheels and tied to something behind the car, as a makeshift tracking guage (this works because early Polos don't run any toe), granted, there's more elegant ways of doing it, but if I'm working on a decent surface, I can get to within 2 degrees pretty reliably, which is within tolerance, and at worst, certainly good enough for a drive to the local tyre place to get it checked and adjusted.

you i get you, iv never worked on any of the earlyr polos but i can imagen theyd be pretty basic, the steering set up looks simulare to that of a saxo, as aposed to most modern cars with the sreeting rack snugly wedged between the subfame and chasis in a most awkward place to get at lol

ended up not changing the brakes anyway as i had to take the car to mechanics to get the suspension finished, the brakes can wait for a few week but for now she's sitting nice and low and i've got my 13's on too.