Problems with suspension replacement

Having decided to revitalise my '83 GTis tired suspension and after reading  several threads on this forum I decided to order standard springs, top mounts and a mk1 poly bush kit from GSF and standard Bilstein inserts from Motorsport World. Being a bit short of time (and not a particularly good mecahnic!) I asked my local garage to fit the parts. They report:

i) With the GSF front upper strut bushes fitted "the struts do not rotate in the top mount bearings as intended and the steering wheel is very difficult to turn" so they had to take them off again! Does the GSF poly kit fit the GTi??

ii) "The rear strut bushes don't fit." Apparently there is play with the GSF parts fitetd.

I also noticed:

iii) The ride height is noticably higher than before particularly at the front. Do the springs take a while to settle? GSF assure me that the springs were GTi specific but it looks too high.

iv) The steering wheel is now about 60deg off centre and the steering is VERY skittish (car keen to exit the road). Should a straight top mount swap  affect the steering or has the garage made a mistake?

Obviously I'm pretty disappointed as I'd hoped to get my Golf back handling like new and instead it's worse than before.

Thanks for your help,
Duncan

 

My advice would be to ask the garage to put in writing the problems with the fitted parts. Then ask them to redo the job, but supplying their own parts. Then send the GSF ones back for a refund. Unfortunately, you will be paying for the labour twice, but that's not the garage's fault because you supplied your own parts for them to fit (which garages don't like!)

Thanks for the advice.

The plot thickens. The front is defnitely too high (looks more like a landrover) hence the skittish steering as the camber must be well and truly negative.

I double checked with GSF that the part number printed on the sticker on the front springs (45426A) is correct and they assured me it is. Also on this site the same part is listed specifically for the GTi:

http://www.gti-bits.co.uk/mk1-golf-gti-parts.htm

The EuroCarParts springs listed on their website are generic mk1 so are also probably wrong?

Anyone know where I can get some standard springs that are really for an '82 1.8 GTi  :dontknow:

Thanks.

OK - To change the front struts, you have to re-set the camber (Tracking is physically untouched, though is affected by camber). If the steering wheel is out by that much, then either the garage has put it back together and it is miles out, or they have put it back together correctly and it was out before. When you adjust the camber, it does affect the tracking, so this all needs to be re-checked and aligned properly. This is why your steering wheel is out and the car seems twitchy.

As for the front strut top mount, there is a little collar which should be supplied with the kit. It goes over the shaft before the fixing nut. If this is left off, then the the steering will become tight. Check they put it together properly…

Cheers for the info AL_Mk1.

I mentioned the collar to the garage and they are adamant that they put them together properly. Maybe the GSF bush was out of tolerance - I guess the only way I'll find out is to do it myself.

Still looking for some standard GTi specific springs. The closest I can find are Jamex which are 25mm shorter.

Growers said

Cheers for the info AL_Mk1.

I mentioned the collar to the garage and they are adamant that they put them together properly. Maybe the GSF bush was out of tolerance - I guess the only way I'll find out is to do it myself.

I think it is possible to do them up too tight, squashing the collar… I seem to remember having a problem with this when I was younger and took my struts off to cut the springs  ops: .

Hi Growers,

I'm in the same boat as you are, one of my front springs were found to be cracked when doing my MOT last month.

I replaced them with GSF ones and the car has been skittish ever since, fine on humps but bangs, crashes & crabs sideways when I hit a bump / manhole.

The front looks higher too, as a result I am looking to replace them and all the bushes.

Will keep you posted.

Hi amokwa,

In the end I decided to go for Jamex springs. They are only 25mm shorter than standard so I should still be able to get in the drive!

I'm still not convinced that the garage put the struts & top mounts together properly. Sometimes when I hit a sharp bump at >20mph there is a clunk from the front suspension and a wobble through the steering. And there's the mystery as to why the GSF bushes didn't fit…

Will report more on the new springs whne they are fitted tomorrow..

Cheers,
Growers