The best handling VW ever..... at last?

[bmwcompact 10]

I’ve never been happy with the ride comfort/handling/feel of my 16v since I bought it last year.

 

I’ve replaced the shockers, wishbones, track rod ends, drop links, anti-roll bar bushes, top mounts, rear beam bushes, engine mounts, and changed to 15” wheels in my efforts to bring the cars ride and handling up to par. The car was obviously greatly improved but still somehow not as it should be.

 

Despite having no front wheel bearing noises and finding no detectable play in the front wheels, I decided to replace both front wheel bearings.

 

Removing the knuckles was easy because of the recently fitted parts. The offside bearing felt a bit dry but not rough/noisy when the knuckle was removed from the car. The nearside was worse, there was play both radially and axially: the inboard inner race was loose on the hub. Since this cannot be rectified, a new hub was required.

 

I took the opportunity to clean up the knuckles with an angle grinder flappy disc and painted them. The ABS sensors were seized in place. To prevent problems in the future, new sensors were fitted using stainless steel capscrews.

 

All went back together quickly this morning. Camber was roughly set, and off I went to see whether there was any improvement.

 

It was immediately obvious that the car now feels solid: that loose/light feel to the steering wheel has gone. The transmission noise that’s always been a part of the car has also gone to be replaced with the noise of the engine. Obviously the car still needs to have wheels correctly aligned but its clear that worn bearings/wheel hub were the problem.

 

I think I have just verified what many members have previously said: replace all rubber, ball joints, trackrod ends and if there's still a problem, do the wheel bearings!

 

Photo shows worn hub: shiny bottom half as it should be/interference fit with race; matt top half had loose fit race allowing play in the hub.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73893[/ATTACH]

 

Photo shows knuckle cleaned/painted with new bearing/hub fitted.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73892[/ATTACH]

 

Photo shows new ABS sensor fitted with s/steel capscrew (wheel with old hub retained)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73894[/ATTACH]

 

 

(For those that don't know it: the front wheel bearing has 2 rows of balls, enclosed in a single outer race but has 2 separate back to back inner races)

Edited May 3, 2013 by bmwcompact

[VAG-hag 0]

looking very tidy mate!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Good stuff. I remember Stealth Racing thinking I was bonkers for changing the front bearings on my VR6 years ago because they weren't noisy, but I got the same results you did, so it's worth doing.

[bmwcompact 10]

Kevin

 

I'm sure I've read your post on the subject several times and this was one of the reasons I decided to do it. I suspect the hub was worn by a previous bearing as the one I removed didn't show signs that this was the cause. I reckon someone in the past didn't notice or more likely couldn't be bothered to replace the worn hub.

 

Have you read my earlier post on my new press?

 

I'm about to do a front bearing on my PUG 306. Its currently sounding like a train-it happened very quickly and no one could mistake the cause.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Like you, my car just didn't feel right. I knew everything else was solid, including the rear bearings and I even replaced the rack, so the bearings were the last thing to try. The front wheels felt like they were shimmying a bit over uneven surfaces and the self centering wasn't as strong as it could be. At first I put it down to the tyres being past half worn but it felt more 'mechanical' in nature.

 

Yeah I just saw the thread about the press. Great find and surprisingly cheap too! Something to add to the workshop for sure. Should be able to do bushes etc with it as well.

[James. 7]

I agree Alan. I've just changed my front wheel bearings and now has been tracked/ aligned, it's like a new car. changed all the usual front end stuff and it still had me going mad. Really enjoying the Corrado now. Long may it continue.

[bmwcompact 10]

Hi James, good to hear from you. I went for a spin again this morning and it really does feel like a different car (and its still to be aligned). It now feels solid like I always expected it to be. I wish I'd done this last Summer.

 

Hope the work continues to go well with your VR6.