[gapp100]

So I have looked around and have not really found pin-pointed answers to my questions regarding my 2004 v8 steel suspension.

lately I have noticed that my car makes some noises when going over dips (primarily in the front). I had a guy take a look at it and he seemed to think that it was my font strut mount that was causing the problem. Nevertheless, I think its time to replace my front struts given the cars age and milage (2004, 72k).

First, how can you tell the difference between standard and sport steel suspension? I am assuming both were an option in 2004 because when I look at 1st vw parts and input my vehicle information both options come up.

Second, what is the difference between the strut by itself and strut assembly? When I look for parts online, there is a substantial difference in price between the strut on 1stvwparts $170 or so and other websites that supposedly sell an "assembly" which comes in at over $400 bucks (selling the same bilstein strut). Does the assembly come with the spring? I don't think it does. Maybe the Mount?

Third, I know that you should change all of them at once, but I am going to break the job down a little and do the front and back separately. Iv done this with previous vehicles and it was ok. I plan to replace both mounts in the front and then also the struts? Do I need the assembly or just the strut and mount? Are there any other recommendations of parts I should be replacing along with the struts on the Treg? Springs?

 

[Yeti]

The only question I can for sure answer for you is that you have the sport suspension. For whatever reason that is what we got here in the US up to I believe 08 when we got only the komfort suspension. We never had the option to chose the steel suspensions here. Canada I believe had the option to do so, but they could not get air suspension at all as we could.

 

[gapp100]

Thank you for your reply. Hopefully some of the others with knowledge on this site will fill me in on the rest... This will be beneficial as I'm sure there are many earlier models out there in need of getting this done. People don't realize but, if you go to a dealer for this job or pay the 400 bucks a strut assembly before install costs, your bill will be as pricey as the 80k timing belt service. Nailing these questions down can save a lot of money.

 

[gapp100]

So no one knows huh?

 

[lml999]

So no one knows huh?

70k miles on Bilsteins is not a lot, and shocks don't necessarily make noise when they fail.

There are a lot of parts in the front end that could make noise, and strut assembly is not the first thing that comes to mind. Tie rod ends, control arm bushings, furbulator locators, etc.

Find a good private mechanic and have him diagnose and R&R. Otherwise, you may well spend far more money replacing parts that don't need replacing.

 

[gapp100]

Yeah I had it looked at, he said all of the bushings looked pretty good, tie rod ends etc.. He seemed to think it was coming from the rubber strut mount. He actually sprayed a bunch of wd 40 type lubricant to see if the noise would go away. I think it did for a brief time or at the very least got much better.. He didn't expect it to solve the problem, it was more to see if thats where the noise was coming from.. In any case, I am feeling pretty confident that it is the mount. However, IN order to remove the mount I pretty much have to remove the assembly which means at that point I might as well replace the shock while I'm in there. At least thats what I thought considering the mileage. Are you saying that we can get a lot more mileage out of steal suspension? If its a matter of 10 or 15k, I may as well replace it. If you think its only at 50 % of its life with 70k then I may as well just replace that single mount and keep the current shocks. What do you think?

 

[lml999]

Yeah I had it looked at, he said all of the bushings looked pretty good, tie rod ends etc.. He seemed to think it was coming from the rubber strut mount. He actually sprayed a bunch of wd 40 type lubricant to see if the noise would go away. I think it did for a brief time or at the very least got much better.. He didn't expect it to solve the problem, it was more to see if thats where the noise was coming from.. In any case, I am feeling pretty confident that it is the mount. However, IN order to remove the mount I pretty much have to remove the assembly which means at that point I might as well replace the shock while I'm in there. At least thats what I thought considering the mileage. Are you saying that we can get a lot more mileage out of steal suspension? If its a matter of 10 or 15k, I may as well replace it. If you think its only at 50 % of its life with 70k then I may as well just replace that single mount and keep the current shocks. What do you think?

Do you have any symptoms of worn out shocks? I typically replace non-Bilstein shocks at 40-50k. Bilsteins can last far longer.

Is a spring broken?

If what is making the noise is a worn rubber bushing, well then, I'd probably replace the bushing.

 

[gapp100]

no.. i mean i don't think it handles as good as it could but the shocks are not shot to the point where the car bounces. The spring is fine.

 

[Hammerdog]

If you want to save some money, you can buy a set of BC Racing Coilovers for a lot less than OEM Springs, Shocks and Struts. They include all the things you will be replacing and have adjustable damping and you can lower the height of your vehicle if you desire. Probably not a good option for you if you do a lot of four wheeling on rough terrain.

 

[gapp100]

Right, but do I need to replace all that.. Don't people just replace the shocks? The springs don't need replacing unless they break right? I do some offloading I will take a look. .Pretty cool that they are adjustable. Can you adjust them to the same or higher ride height than OEM..?

 

[Hammerdog]

You only need the replace the suspension parts that are worn, but your SUV is going on eight years old and your initial post said the struts may need replacing. The coilovers come with struts, springs and shocks. You take out your old strut assembly; put the new BC assembly in. You also have to get an alignment after (100) miles to allow the coilover springs to settle. You can adjust the damping to make the ride real firm or soft like the stock suspension.

You can raise the coilovers close to the stock height, but most folks lower the height for better handling and less roll. You can install them yourself, but you need a Touareg Bentley manual, metric socket set, floor jacks, jack stands, torque wrench, vw ball joint puller and extra set of hands. I had all that stuff except for the ball joint puller so I did the install myself; but it would have helped to have extra set of hands to help.

A local automotive shop quoted me (7) hours of labor, $90.00 per hour with total price of $600.00 for an install on coilovers with alignment extra. One other thing, Bentley recommends replacing some of the OEM nuts and bolts when doing a strut install and that is about $20.00 more in parts from VW.

Club Touareg member posted a real nice thread with photos on his coilover install.

http://www.clubtouareg.com/forums/f44/bc-racing-coilover-install-on-2010-tdi-50095.html