Last Minute Q’s Before Overhaul

[chroniclesofcf]

Evening guys!

as the title says, a little bit of an overhaul is happening over the course of the next week.

- new shocks all round using the Koni FSD kit.

- new rear wheel bearings.

- new calipers, brake rotors, pads and shrouds all round. (Have purchased bigger brand new 312/272mm oem VW TRW in Blue from Germany) one of the rear calipers was stuck and would say the other isn’t far behind.

- new dog mount insert from power flex. Bought the red (diesel) variant for the softest polyurethane for the least NVH increase.

- Fresh full service kit standing by

She’s coming up on 145k miles now. Currently has ST springs and shocks installed for the last 50k ish miles. A fear 2 of them are dead. Hence the new konis.

my questions are:

what springs are you pairing with the konis? I’m looking for minimal to no lowering as I think the FR being slightly lower from factory already looks fine especially with spacers.

The bolt on the dog mount insert, is that a stretch bolt? If so, where could I find one of these? And does it need thread locking?

I'm also looking to replace the stretch bolts on the front subframe that I never replaced (shoot me I know) last time I had them out to do the sway bar bushes. Does anyone have the part number or know where I could find it. That would be appreciated. I think I remember there being 4x bolts? Also should I be thread locking them?

I think that’s everything for now.
Appreciate any help.

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Springs: if you are not chasing any lowering, just buy a good brand OE replacements

Dogbone mount: yes its a stretch bolt. I reused mine without thread locker when I did the Powerflex insert. I have the yellow insert for my Cupra and am experiencing no side effects (fortunately!).

Subframe bolts: contact the dealer/stealer, they can sort you out. Original bolts usually have some thread locker applied to them.

If you want to search for yourself: https://seat.7zap.com/en/e/leon+seat/le/

 

[RUM4MO]

Front subframe bolts, yes, they should get replaced - maybe 5.5 years after VW dealership had investigated "a clunking coming from the front" of my wife's 2015 Polo under warranty - and the job sheet included checking subframe bolts tightness, I opened the garage door to drive that Polo back in one winter's day - and spotted what I immediately knew was the head of a front subframe bolt! Now, that was lucky, I wonder just how long it would have taken me to spot that was missing if it had not dropped off while parked in the garage!

My old S4, I got a proper indie to replace the engine mountings (a huge job on that version of B8 A4) - and they used my supplied bolts for the engine mountings etc, but reused the front subframe and chassis stiffener bolts - I quickly bought in a full set of bolts - cost under £100, but have not yet swopped them over - "shoot me" too!

 

[chroniclesofcf]

Bunch of legends. Last time I dropped the frame and that, I never replaced the bolts. Got a bit of a knock at the moment, hoping it is just that as I’ve not long done Tie rods and ends as well as drop links and sway bar bushes.

 

[SuperV8]

The 4x large subframe bolts are :
N10785401 Hexagon flange screw M12X1,5X95
The genuine bolts don't contain any thread lock.

The bolt for the Dogbone mount is
N91201001 hexagon head bolt M14X1,5X50
Again - no thread lock. It has a serrated washer - to act as a locking mechanism.

Regarding your springs - personally I would only change my springs if the car is riding low/sagging or they have heavy corrosion.
I found both my front and rear springs to be in good condition (130,000 miles) - and my car is not sagging so I re-used my springs when I did my front and rear dampers.
My previous car (audi A4 B6) was sagging a bit at 200+k miles - so I would have changed those springs if I had kept the car.

When you changed your anti-roll bar bushes - what condition were your old ones?
How was the job? straight forward - or tricky?
Thanks,

 

[SuperV8]

Speaking of overhauls - How are your front wheel bearings?
I had to change mine - I forget the millage - but less than 100k! which I thought was a bit rubbish!
I had a feint rhythmic whump/whump at high speed. Feint enough that the misses couldn't hear it! but I could - and new front wheel bearings cured it. I couldn't feel any roughness or play which is the usual test for bearings, but did hear a brake rubbing noise when turning into my road at slow speed.
I don't think the genuine wheel bearings are that durable - like the rear shocks!