Standard rear springs.

Been thinking I should get my rear suspension done to go with my new fronts.

GPC do rear GTI springs for ?12.50 each, so that's appealing, ?25 as opposed to ?100 from VW (assuming rears are same cost as fronts.)

Anyone know much are original VW shocks and top mounts cost?

Anyone experienced GPC springs? I assume they are German and reasonable quality.

Peter.

I replaced mine last year when one was found to be broken at the MOT. I used GSF ones as couldn?t justify the VW prices. I can?t remember but I don?t think they were German. The replacements appeared to use the same diameter thickness bar all the way to the end whereas the originals seemed to taper towards each end.

A slight problem I had was that they didn?t want to sit on the shocker (BOGE gas) spring seating as well as the originals,  :? but they haven?t slipped off!! This was more to do with the shocker I think as it?s just a flat-ish disk rather than the cupped arrangement like some others I have seen.

There some springs on evilbay with two purple dots. Any one know what two purple dots means? :dontknow:  Are your springs broken or non-standard to start with?

When I rebuilt the car 3-4 years ago I greased all the fitting so this time it only took about ? hour each side. If its not been touched for years be prepared to struggle with the lower bolts, ie get two replacements as you?ll end up sawing the originals.

Think my springs have been knackered by years of having two different size springs on the front!

I have changed the ones on the front now which has improved the situation but it's still not settled quite level.

And I can feel the back of the car squishing about round corners, feels like it's sliding out!

Peter.

not sure about purple dots.

The ones I bought for the front have blue dots.

Anyone check no. 161 511 105A please.

Should start 171 for a golf I think.

Peter.

Have a new pair of vw rear shocks if you havent bought them yet, ?30 for the pair posted

PM Sent!

Been looking at the manuals and it looks like the rear mount is in two parts. Like a rubber sandwich.

Do I need both parts?

Peter.

Ow, just checked with VW and I'm looking at ?60 for all the rear top mounts. The are in two parts, top and bottom.

Anyone tried GSF ones?

Peter.

is that upper and lower spring plates as well? the rubber mounts are about ?4 each

Have you got any rear springs left storm?

Not sure if my old vw springs are faulty, the rear springs seems to sit lower. :dontknow:

Lhasa, Storm81 was selling shocks to me, Rear springs are ?30 pair from GSF.

Storm 81, got a nasty feeling ?60 was just for the 4 rubber bits.


What's the ride height (center of wheel to bottom of wheel arch) supposed to be at the back?

I am about 340mm at the front which I know is supposed to be right.

about 310mm at the back.

Peter.

Boo hoo!  :cry: My cabrio just failed its MOT.

BOTH rear springs have snapped!

The tester thinks I must have hit some bumps hard at some point. Most of the lanes in Devon are bumpy so it could have happened anytime! I hadn't noticed any change in ride height (if there is any) as both had gone and also they've snapped near the top so most of the spring is still doing its job.

New VAG ones are ?58 +VAT each  :roll: so I've just ordered some of the GSF ones for ?18.50 +VAT each (they're slightly dearer than ones for the hard tops). They'll be either BOGE or Lesjofors!

The car also failed on emissions but the good man adjusted the mixture on the spot. Its not the first time its failed on emissions either.

Ross

Snapped? harsh.

I picked up mine the other day from GSF, Lesjofours, very German sounding.

At about ?100+ cheaper than VW can't really argue, and they come boxed, VW ones came in a carrier bag.

Ross, What about top mounts? found a cheaper way of doing that or you gonna reuse?

Peter.

Yep, there?s an epidemic of broken rear springs. Mine failed MOT last summer when one broke near the top so I hadn?t noticed. Replaced with GSF ones also. Just previously my bros Driver had failed in the top spring mount corroding and giving way. 8O

What?s the fuss about the top mounts? At the rear it?s just a metal spring plate (same P/N as MK11 by the way) and two fat rubber cone-ish shaped bushes. Whos got the quote for ?60? I?m sure the metal plate was only @ ?10 and will only need replacing if rotten. I?ve never had to replace the rubbers? :dontknow:

The main pain is always removing the seized lower bolts.
 

I'm gonna reuse. I changed the shocks on the rear a year or 2 ago and all the mounts were ok then so I'm hoping they still are. Its a bit of a different setup to the front and the mounts seem to last longer from what I've seen.

The springs should be delivered tomorrow so I'll let you know how I get on at the end of tomorrow evening. I'll measure ride height before and after too. My car is nose up at the minute, so hopefully changing the springs will help this.

Cheers,

Ross

Just changed a spring on one side and about to start the other.

It went ok, the most time consuming bit was getting the nut back on the top of the shock absorber piston, it took a few goes as you need to keep the spring compressed while you put the nut on. Spring compressors helped a bit but i probably didnt tighten them enough! Mine didnt seem to
fit the spring that well and I didnt fancy tightening them up too much in case they slipped off.

I compared the old and new spring lengths, the old one had compressed a bit and was about an inch shorter than the new.

Ride height though has remained the same, its about 330mm.

Better go n start the other side!

Ross

Got both sides done and its ready for the re-test. 8)

The other point to note when fitting new rear springs is the cut out in the top spring plate. Make sure it faces outwards when you refit the suspension. The cut out is only on the GTI. its to stop the tyre fouling the spring plate. To get mine to face outwards I had to turn the lower spring plate on the shock absorber a bit.

Says in Haynes you don't need spring compressors?

I can't wait!

Peter.

Yeah it is possible without them but a bit more efforts required getting it all back together. It would be easier with 2 people. one to hold the spring in compression while the other screws the nut on the shock absorber piston rod.
The BOGE springs I bought had arrows to show which way up the spring should be, so look out for this too.