Anyone done a suspension refresh on a Mk1 Leon?

Muffin`

Muffin`

Muffin`

Caporegime
Joined
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Location
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The car has an MOT coming up and it's suspension bushes are visibly ruined and the car also has the clunky and vague steering to match.

We're looking at changing out the bottom wishbones for new parts and the track rod ends. Am I correct in thinking that it would be prudent to do the ball joints too? As they'll have to come off for the wishbone? Is there anything else which could be worn at this stage of the car's life? It's a 150 Cupra Diesel


Thanks
 
I had the lower control arms replaced on my Cupra 4 150 but a quick Google reveals that it's the same thing as the bottom wishbones..?
 
Mk1 Leona will mostly all be at an age where they will benefit from a suspension overhaul done our lcr as a full lot albeit with poly bushes wasn't cheap but the difference was night and day
 
mjt said:
I had the lower control arms replaced on my Cupra 4 150 but a quick Google reveals that it's the same thing as the bottom wishbones..?
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Sounds right, just difference phrase :p

Did it come with the ball joints attached or did you have to do it seperately?
 
233 said:
Mk1 Leona will mostly all be at an age where they will benefit from a suspension overhaul done our lcr as a full lot albeit with poly bushes wasn't cheap but the difference was night and day
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He bought some poly bits but he's going down the OEM route now as he can just buy whole parts to bolt on instead of messing around with bush pressing.
 
LEMFORDER bushes for the front arms can be had for £10 each, ball joints are about the same. inner and outer track rods were about £30-£40 a side, all of it can be fitted in a few hours

rear beam is a different story, PITA. im going poly on mine because its so much easier

id recommend dampers too, the dampers will be short to death by this point too but the best thing is that none of its dear
 
As above do the whole track rod rather than just the outer ends - should help remove slack from the steering if they're well worn
 
This is the beauty of anything Golf. So friggin cheap to live with

This is the inner AND outer
Lemforder (Front Left) Part No.: 605441125
Lemforder (Front Right) Part No.: 605441135

£22.50, each

And the thing is, these parts last 10 years easily, if you have to replace it once, youll never have to replace it again
 
Make sure you keep the worn out original arms as cheap/pattern ones are thinner where the bushes are recessed so you cannot get VW/Lemforder bushes into them properly and poly bushes cant go in properly without a lot of movement either
 
I did a full suspension refresh on my wifes Octavia last year: Lemforder lower arms and ball joints, new struts and top mounts, heavy duty (Fabia VRS) Lemforder rear beam bushes, new rear dampers and top mounts. It hadn't failed MOT or even had an advisory, but it felt soggy and tired. The difference after changing everything was night and day, it felt better than it did when we bought it many years ago.
 
A guy at work put a 182k mile mk4 Golf through an MOT today, the suspension is all completely original and worn to death and it passed
 
Matt82 said:
A guy at work put a 182k mile mk4 Golf through an MOT today, the suspension is all completely original and worn to death and it passed
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They have to be utterly shagged to fail IME. My mums Corsa got an advisory so changed the struts and rear dampers on it at the weekend and there was virtually no damping left in them.

I hate driving cars that feel so tired though, would much rather spend the money and have it feel nice to drive (as nice as a Mk4 platform car is going to get anyway).
 
Dogbreath said:
They have to be utterly shagged to fail IME.
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Yep, I've passed with advisory on a shock with 'oil misting'. Seriously, if there is oil coming out then it is fully knackered.

It's a dangerous thing IMO, I had one of the rears on the BM fail catastrophically the other week. You only needed to do a rapid swerve at 50mph for it to lose control and have you soil your underwear.
 
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