So I want to check out my nearside top mount and bottom ball joint.

Compressed the front nearside spring with cars weight and a jack and one spring compressor.

Second spring compressor when tight protudes so far it presses against the top mount so gave up with that and using just one.

Got the strut top nuts undone and have put one back on.

Tried to lower it. Not moving very far.

Removed ARB end nut, and ball joint nut and got it off the ball joint.

Next step is remove TCA or the ARB front mount

Will that let me lower the strut to get acces to the top mount, or do I have to remove the hub nut?

(and I'm not attempting the driveshaft spline bolts)

I've read this three times now, and I can't understand why you're doing what youre doing to check the bit a you want but he ho.

Answer to your question, yes you can, but not very far, be careful not to put a lot of strain on the brake pipe, and also the driveshaft at the gear box end so you dont pull it out.

But yea very long long way of doing it fella

Best, safest and quickest way is to undo your hub nut

You might be able to do the offside that way, but you're making life hard for yourself.

Big breaker bar with on optional bit if steel pipe every time.

yeh, sorry, background is car pulls to the left.It has done since my gargae replaced worn drive hub. I've got bonrath camber adjustable top mounts, and I think the garage put them back slightly odd.Top of offside strut sticks out less than near side.

I think the camber's off or the strut bearing has collapsed or a ball joint in TCA is worn.

If I undo hubnut do I need to replace it?

Ideally, they cost next to naff all, so there's no reason not to.

Take arb off at both front mounts and the strut will drop down enough to get the top mount off.

May also need to take track rod off, we took it off at the rack end as usual as it's much easier.

We did it tonight on my mate's GT.

Yes you can.

No need to remove arb or steering rod arm - just the ball joint from strut.

There's no way the nearside hub nut was coming off - with wheel in the air. It was turning the engine with 3ft breaker bar despite offside wheel on the floor! I'm still a bit mystified by that (diff?).

And the bonrath top mount and bearing is in amazingly good shape - 4 years on?.

Edited 21 June, 201511 yr by dvderlm

Yea open dif on these mate :p also you don't need to use spring compressors, the unit drops as a whole without shooting the spring off.

Open diff - that makes sense. As the Beach Boys didn't sing about a Polo mk2 "She's got the big slip, daddy".

No compressor - okay, but I have no slotted nut on the lowering shock/spring assembly to hold the whole unit together - it feels safer with a spring compressor.

So no detectable issues with top mount bearing or ball-joint. but two things.

1. a spacer missing on nearside (I fitted a spacer to protect the supposedly chocolate bonrath bearing)
2. I noticed the nearside tyre has some outer edge wear.

- refitted the spacer - a bearing from an old top mount.

- I rotated the top mount to correct the camber (back to negative 0.5 unweighted?) and keep almost same castor.With strut back in and a camber gauge on the disk and TCA balljoint and ARB nut back in place I lowered the car to level. I think I now have camber equal left and right but I checked offside on wheel rim and made no special reference correction for any driveway sloping.

Both strut tops now look the same.

Certainly feels more balanced on a short test drive.

Oh right! Well spend the 4quid and get some castle nuts? Lol

I have had fun with hub nuts before - hence my reluctance.

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=267509

Castle nuts is a good call, Couldn't find m12x1.5metric all those years ago ansd used metric fine halfnuts. Only could source m14, but it appears that I need VW part N 0112122.

Ta.

Might find you need a buzz gun for the hub nuts, I've had a similar situation, swinging off a 3ft breaker and the wheel just spinning despite being on the ground.

Impact wrench got it off no bother.

A 600cm breaker bar and the tube from my trolley jack and an axle stand pivot and a wedge for the wheel has worked before. It gave enough leverage.

A buzz gun needs a compressor yeah?

I've seem a 12v impact wrench somewhere (Conrad?)

Anyway - I once tried with an SDSplus to 1/2inch socket adaptor on a massive Hilti?/Erbauer? destruction drill with hammer function turned off.

It nearly broke my wrist as it flipped my upper body like a professional wrestler. Think the gearing was wrong for the task. Quicker for doing wheel bolts up before torqueing though...

Yea I've got an 18v battery impact, it travels in the car for pitstop time tyre changes in the event of a puncture :p

The 12v buzz guns that go in the fag lighter are a bit gay. Get a decent 18+V one with a Lithium battery and they're alright so long as they're the ones with a half inch drive on the end. If you're only working at home, the mains ones are cheap.

I use my work impact driver on cars now and then, great for what I bought it for (mostly whacking tek screws into shop shelving) but it's more like a ballsy screwdriver, it won't take a wheel bolt off.

And SDS's are nasty peices of work. They're never happy until they've destroyed something, even if it is the operator!

for the odd bit of diy work id just invest in a quality breaker bar and use a pole over it of need be

a cordless impact will be wanting new batteries before youve had much use out of it , got one here and i feel it was wasted money