Strut Bearings - A necessary upgrade

If you have a Corrado G60, then I can conclude with confidence that you need to replace the strut bearings. The A2 strut bearing from VW is inadequate and will inevitably fail due to material stresses and wear. The degradation is subtle and happens over time. So it often goes unnoticed. But I guarantee you, this part is worn and needs to be replaced.
The strut bearings serve as the interface for the front suspension struts to the chassis of the car. This critical interface must hold the struts firmly in position while insulating the car from road vibrations and bumps--Two very opposing tasks.
The G60 Corrado shared this part with the A2 Golf and Jetta. However, it is one of those parts that was under engineered. It was inadequate on the A2 platform however on the G60 platform, the resulting suspension angles are not quite optimum for the Corrado. What happens is this part stretches and looses its firmness quickly causing wobbly steering and inprecise suspension control. Worse yet, the suspension begins to flop around in the strut towers causing disturbing noises under heavy braking.
The solution comes from the later model Corrados equipped with the VR6 motor. The Plus Suspension on the SLC was designed to manage the heavier weight of the V6 motor. This included improvements to the design of the strut bearing. According to VWs tech bulletins, The VR6 strut bearings were complient in a vertical direction and much more firm in the horizintal direction. This addressed the two very opposing objectives mentioned earlier.
To outfit the VR6 strut bearings requires some parts from the SLC. There is a small adapter, the VR6 strut bearing, Strut nut, strut mount and spring seat. Some aftermarket VW performance shops will assemble this for you in kit form. In my case, I am using Bilstein struts which do not require the adapter but everything else is necessary for this adaptation.
The result is crisp handling without the sacrifice of comfort and reduced steering effort. Cost is about $100 per side and is well worth it for the G60 owner.
This modification works well with A2 and A3 2.0l automobiles as well.

Comments

Unknown said…
That was nicely done. The finished material looks good too. white metal bearings