I recently replaced the control arm and ball joint on my 1989 Jetta GL. Everything went well and I tightened everything down twice. I've noticed some rattling/clunking since then, and I pulled the wheel off to check. Every bolt is super tight, but if I grab the control arm and really pull, I can wiggle it maybe 1mm. The movement comes from the front bolt/bushing area. I triple checked all the bolts and came to the realization that the bolt hole in the front bushing on the control arm itself, where it bolts to the subframe, seems to be a tiny bit larger in diameter than the bolt itself. It seems a sleeve is in order, although I'm not exactly sure where to get an appropriate one. Have any of you, especially VW guys, heard of an issue like this? I'd like to emphasize that I'm not referring to the rear bolt on the front control arm - there's sleeves for that all over the interwebs, yet I can find nothing for the front bolt. Can I safely make a sleeve from thin metal at Lowe's? I'd like the hive mind's wisdom before potentially doing something unsafe.
I might still have one in my "stuff" box.
You're talking about the locating sleeve that VW put inside the vertical bushing's inner sleeve, right? (The one that NO OTHER MANUFACTURER felt was necessary)
edit: If you mean the horizontal bushing, you just need to tighten the bolt more.
It's the bolt that goes into the front of the control arm (faces the rear of the car) and it wiggles? There's no sleeve or bushing there. Perhaps the front hole has gotten beaten up/rounded out, the bolt isn't tight (or the weld broke allowing it to get tight but not tight enough), wrong bolt used in the control arm (should be shouldered and fit tight inside the bushing) or the bushing itself is junk in the ID.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
I might still have one in my "stuff" box.
You're talking about the locating sleeve that VW put inside the vertical bushing's inner sleeve, right? (The one that NO OTHER MANUFACTURER felt was necessary)
edit: If you mean the horizontal bushing, you just need to tighten the bolt more.
The horizontal bushing at the front of the control arm, yes. I had a 2 foot long extension on my breaker bar and put some hefty force on it and it's pretty tight. I guess I'm just afraid of overtorquing and snapping the bolt, but I'll give it a shot and add a bit more torque to it until it stops.
Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:
It's the bolt that goes into the front of the control arm (faces the rear of the car) and it wiggles? There's no sleeve or bushing there. Perhaps the front hole has gotten beaten up/rounded out, the bolt isn't tight (or the weld broke allowing it to get tight but not tight enough), wrong bolt used in the control arm (should be shouldered and fit tight inside the bushing) or the bushing itself is junk in the ID.
Yes, the bolt in the front of the control arm, and it slides in and faces the rear of the car. I don't remember it being shouldered. I might pull it out and take a peek at it. A replacement could be in order. The hole in the bushing should be fine, as that bushing is brand new.
Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I'll take a look at it this week and probably order a replacement bolt to be safe.
The bolt doesn't keep the bushing from moving, the friction between the steel sleeve in the middle of the bushing and the cross member does. Make sure the threads are not galled and full of rust, preventing the nut from bottoming, and crank it tighter.
noddaz
UberDork
6/22/21 5:28 p.m.
Just to be clear, you do mean the bushing in the red circle above?
No additional shim, sleeve or whatever.
Make sure that the inner sleeve is bottomed out against the subframe and that there is nothing interfering that would prevent that. The bushing does not rotate on the stud. The rubber in the bushing twists as the control arm moves through its range of motion. Also before you tighten the lock nut down for that bushing make sure the suspension is at ride height and not hanging free. If you had the suspension hanging free you possibly could have ripped the new bushing as it is forced to twist farther than it is designed for.
Do Not Ask Why I Know This. Ever.
In reply to noddaz :
Fortunately, the presence of the vertical bushing makes that easy. Just swing the knuckle out of the way, let the arm center itself, and zip the bolts down.
