Author Topic: Rear spring replacement  (Read 598 times)

Offline Pixelmix

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Rear spring replacement
« on: 17 September 2021, 17:58 »
My Mk7 GTI is 7 years old now and apparently one rear spring has cracked so was just replaced at MoT. The MoT tester didn't advise changing both (despite me asking), so now that I've got the car back I looked at the other spring and I want to change it too since it looks like it won't be far behind.

The MoT tester is busy with other work - I could book it in but I'm tempted to do it myself so I can learn how (I asked VW for a price too since it is in for a service under a service pack next week, but they wanted silly money).

I've changed front discs and pads recently and from a look at videos, rear springs (thankfully not fronts!) look quite simple. I've got a decent jack and a couple of axle stands. Some videos seem to show a bit of downward pressure on the control arm / wishbone being required to get the old spring out whereas another shows removing an extra bolt which allows for more movement.

VW also mentioned a price which include spring and bolts. Are some of these stretch bolts that should be replaced or is it overkill? I'd guess that the MoT garage didn't replace the bolts, given how much cheaper they were than VW

Any experience? Simple enough job to just pop in a new spring like-for-like in 30min in my garage?

Offline madstaff

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Re: Rear spring replacement
« Reply #1 on: 18 September 2021, 09:10 »
This is one of those jobs that I would say only attempt if your confident in your abilities, its a simple enough job for someone who knows what they're doing (I do this for a living).

If you aren't so sure I would leave it to someone who is.

Not wanting to seem dramatic but getting something wrong in the brakes or suspension department could prove a costly mistake when it all goes pear shaped at 70mph.
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