[vesuccio]

First time posting on the forum.....long time user.

I drive a 1996 VW Passat TDI and have recently replaced the front struts....following the excellent directions on the "1000q: How to" section of this site. I have noticed something that I am not sure was there before I did the strut replacement. When the front of the car is on jack stands and no weight is on the wheels, I can grab the top of the front strut mount and move it up and down roughly 1-2 inches! I do not remember if I could do this to the old struts.....is this normal? I did use a torque wrench to apply the proper torque to all nuts and bolts. I assume this will likely prevent the front end from being aligned. Any help/explanation on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Vesuccio

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Pictures of what is moving? Normally the weight of the strut pulls the top strut "plate" down when car is jacked up.

When the car is at rest, weight on wheels, there should be some room between the plate and the body. From the factory there's about 1 cm of play. If there was no play, the strut could not move. As the springs sag there's more play.

 

[vesuccio]

That is exactly what happens. When I jack the car up the gap between the top strut plate and the strut housing on the body disappears. Thought this was a problem.....did not remember that happening before I replaced the struts. Thanks for the reassurances.

My car now has 200,000 miles and I was going to replace the ball joints, control arm bushings, sway bar bushings, tie rod ends, and front wheel bearings. I was hoping to find a local shop to press out the front wheel bearings and control arm bushings. Any sections in the FAQ section that might be able to provide some guidance....did not see anything for my specific model of VW. Thanks again for the help.

Vesuccio

 

[grn04]

This is for a mk4, I think your car is similar. http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/a4/LCA-bushing-Jetta.htm It's because VW and Audi uses the same bushing in a bunch of cars. The gap is the same on the mk4 too. It's because as the springs sag the gap opens up.

 

[Visha]

Why the bearings?

 

[vesuccio]

I was going to change them both because I thought one was going bad and had decided to go ahead and change both. But, I just had someone check them tonight and they both appear to be fine. The noise I am hearing is apparently caused by the tires being way far out of alignment. Thus, I will be changing the other parts before I go through the trouble of getting an alignment. Thanks.