front strut problem or not?

[bobmckinney]

2001 1.8 Turbo GLX
Been hearing noises from the front suspension lately, so jacked the car up and took off one of the tires like it says in the book. Grabbed the rotor assembly and lifted up & down. Of course the whole thing moved, but what puzzled me was this:
with the hood raised so you can see the top of the strut, where the top of the strut comes up and ends in a black washer, that entire washer was moving up & down. I'm thinking this is causing the front-end noise when going over bumps. I'm in a town that doesn't have a VW dealership, and am worried about taking it to someone who just can't wait to tell me it's a big problem and write out a big check to fix it. Does anyone know if this is, in fact a problem? I could probably replace the struts myself if I had to, but it looks to be a real pain in the neck, taking apart a bunch of stuff in the engine compartment. Anyone know if this is a problem?

Thanks.

[jackfrost]

i have seen the bearings in the top of the strut towers fail, i dont think they are that expensive to swap, just a weekend and some usual tools and its always good to have a spring compressor around.

[noR]

I'd just replace the strut bearings and bushings (both).

You dont' have to take a single thing off in the engine bay... oops, no you do. The windsheild wiper and the plastic cowling.

that's it. But you might need a special socket to allow you to hold the allen (shaft) while you turn the nut.

I just always used an air compressor and a torque wrench though.

[jc918t]

I two have that problem. I have neuspeed springs and they are pretty stiff so my front end gets beat all to hell... when I creep over speed bumps and out of parking lots it sounds like all sorts of big metal peices are knocking about in my suspension. I called the dealer today and the bearings and bushings should cost around $80 that's two strut mounts and two bearings. You can also replace the end caps for another $12. All that said, new struts are only $134 a piece and rear shocks are only another $117 a piece. Dont forget about the necessary four wheel alignment after you do it though...

Good Luck. I am debating weather or not to shell out the $500+ in labor to just have them do it.

[bobmckinney]

Took the bug to my semi-trusted tire dealer this a.m. and he confirmed that no, it shouldn't be that way and no, he really didn't want to fix it (!). Something about hard getting parts, etc. (like I have a real easy time getting parts. thank God for UPS, 'cause AutoZone just ain't gonna get it done). Anyway, I guess the bushings and whatnot are a for-sure replacement, now just pondering whether to do the struts also. How do you know if a strut is bad? I know John-Travolta-disco-strut, and I know that's bad, and thinking about that now I'm probably going to replace the struts, too, because I'm always going to relate the old ones to Saturday Night Fever. Can't have that going on. So that's how things get done in Bob's house. Anyway, thanks for the replies and does anyone have a good internet connection for suspension parts? btw, this car only has 45000 miles on it. Wouldn't have expected this kind of a wear & tear thing to happen so soon.

[jc918t]

That depends on if you are interested in altering your suspension setup... like going with a comfort sport setup which will drop you 1/2 inch, a moderate sport setup which will drop you 1 1/2 inches, and a full race setup dropping you 2 inches or so...