[moved] Lower Wishbones

[MrWestwoo 0]

Hi All,

I recently found I need to replace my lower wishbone arms. When I told the guy at the garage it was a VR6 the reply was.....ouch, that's gonna cost ya (true to form). Anyone know how hard it is to do yourself?

[CorradoVR6-n.o.s 0]

same as all the early Vag range mate,easy job,tell him he is full of shit!

[craggsy 91]

Ive moved this to a better section.....not really a south events kind of thing...lol

[finny 0]

I attempted this but the major stumbling block was that I/ we couldn't get the front wishbone bolt off (I stared to round the bolt eventually) on the nearside. So in the end it was remove the entire subframe, so heat could be applied to bolt: still no joy. Might have been able to remove with air tools right at the begining.

Other thing is to consider buy replacement wishbiones with bushes already placed in; I wanted solid TT rear bushes pressed in, so a bit more work there. Also advisable to repalace all the main bolts that came off.

I used a local mobile mechanic to get the bolt off and decided for him to carry on with replacing various bits with the steering. For one & half days work (replacing ties rods, ends, ball joints, wishbones replacement and other work) £150. I got all the parts inc bushes, PAS fluid, bolts etc - might have spent another £150.

I reckon, had I got the bolt off, it would have been quite straight forward job to replace the wishbone but as the subframe was off we replace all the parts in connection with the steering rack.

[ip 0]

I did this last summer and it was a brutal job. Not really because it's a VR6 but simply because the front bolts on my wishbones and the ball joint connections to the hubs had seized. In the end, I actually ripped the head off the passenger side front bolt and had to drive the car to a local garage (very gingerly) where they took a whole day to remove the shaft of the bolt from the subframe using oxy (had to cut the wishbone off and then weld a steel rod to the bolt so it could be turned without it's head). Very disappointing day.

However, if you don't live in bonny Scotland with all the salt on our roads, yours may be easier. And, the only difference between doing this job on a VR and a standard golf/rado is that the lower VR sump blocks the front wishbone bolt on the driver's side. The solution is to remove the rear engine mount bolts (15 min job inc finding, cleaning and loosening bolts) and then jack the engine up out of the way (being careful not to crush the lambda sensor). In all this took me 20 mins. So, your mechanic is indeed full of sh*t.

ip

[Moochalargo 0]

I have some polly bushed bones ive got from a guy on here!

Looking forward to cursing the design crew in the mk3 room of vw lol!!