After experiencing the dreaded hanger bearing failure, I though I'd post a couple of pictures of the process to replace it. With Dealers charging upwards of $1300 or more to do this repair, I wanted to show how easy it is to do. If you have any mechanical skill at all you can do this!
The symptoms are a vibration and sound that gets louder as you speed up. Putting the transmission into neutral makes no difference in the sound or vibration. The noise and vibration feel like they are centered just under the center armrest. The symptoms can be sudden, especially while pulling away from a stop when you hit 30mph or so. They will not get better if you accelerate.
This is the rear half of the driveshaft and coupler
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This is the part that typically fails. You can see the shredded rubber bushing. The ring to the left should be connected to the bearing.
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The new one looks like this
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Drive Shaft Doctors in Denver, CO makes these. You get an original VW drive shaft that has been rebuilt with the new bearing style and balanced. They send you the part in a box with a return UPS shipping label so you can send them your old shaft. They get a $100 core charge for it.
The part number for the 2004 V10 is 7L6 521 102E. You can see the build date on the old one is Sept 10, 2004 and the date on the new one is June 25, 2004.
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The bolts are an 18mm head. A swivel helps a bit to get the socket on the bolts. The only special tool you need is for the 6 bolts that hold the front joint together. It is a "star" bit or some call it a triple square (12 teeth). NAPA sell them. Here is a look
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This is a picture of all the bolts and bracket that are removed to take the driveshaft out.
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If you have air suspension, put the car in x-tra level. You'll also want to put the car in neutral and jack up one rear corner. This will allow you to turn the rear differential to access all three rear bolts.
Book time for this repair is about 2 hours so expect a repair facility to charge you 2 hours labor plus the driveshaft. You can probably do this in under an hour if you have the tools and space.
Good luck!
Nancy
The symptoms are a vibration and sound that gets louder as you speed up. Putting the transmission into neutral makes no difference in the sound or vibration. The noise and vibration feel like they are centered just under the center armrest. The symptoms can be sudden, especially while pulling away from a stop when you hit 30mph or so. They will not get better if you accelerate.
This is the rear half of the driveshaft and coupler
This is the part that typically fails. You can see the shredded rubber bushing. The ring to the left should be connected to the bearing.
The new one looks like this
Drive Shaft Doctors in Denver, CO makes these. You get an original VW drive shaft that has been rebuilt with the new bearing style and balanced. They send you the part in a box with a return UPS shipping label so you can send them your old shaft. They get a $100 core charge for it.
The part number for the 2004 V10 is 7L6 521 102E. You can see the build date on the old one is Sept 10, 2004 and the date on the new one is June 25, 2004.
The bolts are an 18mm head. A swivel helps a bit to get the socket on the bolts. The only special tool you need is for the 6 bolts that hold the front joint together. It is a "star" bit or some call it a triple square (12 teeth). NAPA sell them. Here is a look
This is a picture of all the bolts and bracket that are removed to take the driveshaft out.
If you have air suspension, put the car in x-tra level. You'll also want to put the car in neutral and jack up one rear corner. This will allow you to turn the rear differential to access all three rear bolts.
Book time for this repair is about 2 hours so expect a repair facility to charge you 2 hours labor plus the driveshaft. You can probably do this in under an hour if you have the tools and space.
Good luck!
Nancy
