Steering lighter cold and harder hot

[dm222]

It is because that on that side, the drive shaft starts to make contact with the lower track control arm before you have enough space to remove the damper. The LHS is okay so easier to work on, I forgotten which side has the longer and hollow drive shaft, but I'm guessing it is the RHS and that is why this problem exists.

RUM4MO did you had to remove the drive shaft bolt to replace the dampers?

I ask this because maybe mine were removed as I see grease there.... I am a little afraid because that bolt is one time use...

I really need a garage to do the jobs myself, tired of mechanics...

This is the right side.

 

[RUM4MO]

Yes, it is only the right side that needs that nut removing to move the hub out to get the strut to drop down low enough to remove it.

Now, the general advice is that these nuts can only be used once as they have a large spring tang/clip part underneath that acts as a locking device, or self locking element(device).

Certainly when I replaced the springs on my wife's old 2002 Polo back in 2005/206, that part of the nut broke off when it was being unscrewed - so I could understand why that nut needed to be replaced if removed.

When I replaced the springs on the late 2009 Ibiza earlier this year, when I removed that nut it unscrewed without breaking that locking element - and when comparing the old nut with a new one, it looked like there was not difference, ie the locking element was still intact - but I did replace that nut.

So, take from that what you want, I'm sure that I read about other people just reusing that nut, hopefully only because it was still okay.

Also, the VW Group part number for that nut on a 2002 Polo is still the same as that on a late 2009 Ibiza, though maybe the manufacturer of these nuts has changed/corrected a process?

For my money, if the original parts fitted together well enough on that old 2002 Polo to cause/force that locking part to break when I took it off in 2006,then I think that it was doing its job, ie working as designed - having removed the same design of nut from maybe the same design of hub in a late 2009 Ibiza earlier this year, and finding that the locking part did not break, maybe means that it was not really doing its job?

 

[dm222]

In my prespective that "spring" will not prevent from starting unscrewing but it will stop any further unscrewing giving you time to fix the problem without major damages (I think the first symptom would be ESP problems).

Anyway I think that if the bolt unscrews even if stopped by the spring, the wheel bearing will be damaged as it needs compression to work properly.

But maybe that is the less of my problems if the bolt fully unscrews.

what makes me even more worried is: can you see that golden grease in the middle of the bolt? (Where the bolt screws) why would someone put some grease at a place that is required to stay locked.

 

[RUM4MO]

I understand your concerns but they would have applied grease to the splined end of that drive shaft to make fitting it easier and removing it possible, which is good practise!