Front strut top mount replacement

stew

Member
We've just got our A2 and I've found that the near side front top mount appears to be shot, there is a knocking and there's definitely room there. The car is under warranty but its a two hour round trip to take it back plus waiting around for the repair. I'm thinking about getting the guy to send be the part and I'll do it.

How difficult is it to do? It looks straight forward, but does the driveshaft need to be removed from the hub to get the strut out? That looks like the only potential difficult part.

Thanks in advance.
 
You are fairly lucky Stew as the nearside top tends to be the easiest without having to remove the brake fluid reservoir as on the drivers side... not sure about the bottom though so I will let others advise.......
 
you certainly are lucky, I can do the N/S top mount in about 1 hour if all goes well, the O/S is more like 3 hours
No need to remove the driveshaft, undo the pinch bolt on the hub assy, splay the hub a little (large flat blade screwdriver tapped into the slot works OK)
push the hub down and the strut is removed
The strut /sprint / top mount then comes out of the inner wing and out of the car through the wheel arch

You need spring compressors and a 7mm allan key to stop the shocker rod turning whilst you undo the nut at the top mount, I had to grind a ring spanner down (thin the side wall) in order to get the nut undone a normal socket which fits the nut is no good because you can't stop the shaft turning (this is what the 7mm allen key is for) BTW 7mm allen keys are not a std size is a set pf allen keys

Only fit the myler HD top mounts (I may of spelt that wrong)
Cheers,
 
Thanks, any need to disconnect the anti roll bar or track rod end to allow for downward movement of the hub to clear the strut?

As for the nut at the top, I'm sure I've got a modified socket with a hex machined into it to get a spanner on that I knocked up for an old VW a few years ago, hopefully that will fit and allow for a hex bit to be used..
 
You have the remove the drop link anyway as one end connects to the ARB and the other end to the strut, no need to remove the lower wishbone ball joint or TRE, but you do have to push down hard on the hub.
If it still will not come out then you can always compress the spring a little as this makes the strut shorter and therefore you need to push the wishbone down less to un-mate the strut from the hub

Cheers,
 
I've taken it back for the garage to do, so hopefully it will all be sorted early next week.
 
I'm contemplating this. There's a knock/rattle from the driver's side suspension, particularly over cobbles feels like the wheel is rattling about and also some noise when turning the steering wheel while stationary. I've had the car up on a lift and checked all the lower bushes and joints and they were fine. My questions are:

1. How can you verify the topmount is gone, if i pull the rubber cap off will it be obvious?

2. Is it worth replacing the dampers and or springs at the same time? Is there any way to tell if the dampers are on their way out?
 
struts are cheap enough so I would replace whilst doing the top mount, however this means that you must replace BOTH sides
 
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