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!

 

[dm222]

Thanks again for your help RUM4MO.

This "project" of changing the lower ball joints is cancelled for now and I will have to return them

Edit: and I will never buy on that site again!

I know it has been years, but this thing or lower arms ended up to be the problem.

About 2 years ago I had to change it because due to wear of the silent blocks it failed inspection, and they changed the whole thing as a whole, lower arms + lower ball joints, and the car been driving normal since, or at least what I perceive as normal.

 

[RUM4MO]

I was servicing my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS 6MT last month and I noticed that at least one of these "front control arms rear mounting" bushes, ie silent block's centre metal bush was now not bonded to the "rubber" - one of these mountings was replaced under new car warranty when the car was only just under 3 years old - because it was torn - but not the reason for the warranty work. When I replaced the front suspension a few years ago, I noticed that the mounting on the other side of the car, ie the remaining original one, was looking distorted/distressed, so I bought new Lemforder ones and fitted new ones to both sides. By the way, it looked a lot like Lemforder manufacture this item for VW Group as the VW Group part number was moulded into the "rubber" of the mounting. The distorted/distressed looking mounting that worried me enough to replace it, had its centre bush come unbonded from the "rubber" and the hole through the "rubber" had opened up and was oval - ie egg shaped - that would be due to how the front control arm moves with the suspension. So once again, these silent blocks have not lasted very well! At the moment, there are no annoying suspension noises other than the normal/expected noises that cars used in colder climates experience in winter time!

Lower ball joints:- I had bought new lower ball joints and planned to include replacing them just as part of a "front suspension refresh" along with everything else - but so far I've not got round to doing that. They would have been easier to replace when I had the steering knuckle separated from the struts - but I missed that opportunity. Currently, I have no reason to need to replace them other than the new ones are stealing space on a garage shelving unit - along with genuine VW Group ARB drop links - they cost a lot of money, tip - only buy good aftermarket!

 

[dm222]

@RUM4MO I had to replace the silent blocks due to wear before, this was the second time, the first time made no difference.

But this time they replaced the whole thing as a whole because the garage said they didnt do only silent blocks, I didn't bother because the rubber on the lower ball joints was open for a long time now...