Weekend challenge: How to replace the suspension yourself?

Unfortunately, cars are not % reliable. Even the latest gems of the automotive industry can sometimes be detrimental to health. In the case of older cars, things are a little easier, because we can do many repairs ourselves. In modern cars, everything is much more complicated. Let's say our favorite four wheels need new suspension. Although the prospect of playing mechanics can be intimidating at first, after a while it turns out that this is not so bad.

For obvious reasons, the suspension is one of the most important systems in a car. Its depletion contributes not only to a significant decrease in driving comfort, but also represents a certain danger. Worn shock absorbers reduce bumps much worse and adversely affect other parts of the car. The easiest test for their technical condition is to press hard on the hood or wheel arch of our car. The body should only slightly bend and quickly return to its original position. The suspension that needs to be replaced is like a solid sofa that behaves like a spring and takes longer to stop. It is easy to guess that such overly soft shock absorbers do not help to pick up road irregularities and can cause a temporary loss of traction when driving at higher speeds.

Why it is so important to monitor the condition of the suspension, you can talk for hours. However, this guide aims to make you aware of how easy it is and that it can be done at home. Of course, if someone has never dealt much with auto mechanics, it is better to entrust this replacement to a professional workshop than to experiment on your own. Regardless of who will perform the maintenance, it is worth knowing "what's under the car." The guide below shows the step-by-step process of replacing a traditional suspension with a coilover variant using the fourth generation Volkswagen Golf as an example.

Step 1:

The first thing to do is replace the front suspension because it's a little more difficult than working on the rear of the car. The first step is to raise the axle of the car (in a workshop, all 4 wheels would be raised at the same time, which would greatly facilitate the work). Having fixed it on the brackets, popularly called "goats", remove the wheel and unscrew the stabilizer connectors on both sides.

Step 2:

Assuming that we want to make life as easy as possible for ourselves, we forget about the possibility of getting the entire crossover. Of course you can, but definitely longer. With a suspension system like in the Volkswagen presented, there is no such need. For disassembly, it is enough to unscrew the bolt securing the shock absorber to the steering knuckle, located on the inside of its strut. Suspension does not work in clean and comfortable conditions on a daily basis. In fact, it is constantly exposed to water, road salt, brake dust, dirt, and other street pollutants. Therefore, it is unlikely that all screws will loosen easily. So penetrating spray, long wrenches, a hammer or - horror! - crowbar, they should become companions of our game.

Step 3:

Here we need the help of another person with strong nerves and impeccable accuracy. The first step is to spray a penetrating jet at the switch points where the shock absorber is located to facilitate its escape route. Then one of the people, using a crowbar, a metal pipe, or a "spoon" to change tires, pushes the rocker with all his might to the ground. Meanwhile, the second one hits the switch with a hammer. The larger the vehicle, the faster you can finish the job at the bottom of the vehicle. However, be careful while doing so. A bad hit on a brake disc or any sensor on a caliper can be quite costly.

Step 4:

Once the damper has been released from the lower limit imposed by the derailleur, it's time to release it at the top as well. As a rule, this cannot be done with one tool. Of course, services equipped with professional equipment have the appropriate pullers for this. However, we assume that we only have the basic tools at our disposal, which can be found in most home garages.

The top shock mount is a nut with a hex key inside (or a small hex head bolt, depending on the shock model). If we do not immobilize it, then when unscrewing the entire column will spin around its axis. Therefore, it is necessary to use a ring or socket wrench in a duet with pliers, popularly called "frog". There is not much force in these places of the suspension system, and the bolt is not subject to contamination, so unscrewing it should not be a big problem.

Step 5:

It's almost the end of the one-wheel activity. Before installing a new shock absorber, it’s a good idea to clean the seat in the steering knuckle with fine-grained sandpaper and even grease it a little with oil. This will make it easier to install the new speaker in its place later. Another trick to help bring it all together is to use a jack to press the shock into the swingarm.

Then do all the above steps (including fine tuning) on ​​the other front wheel. Then we can move on to work on the back of the car.

Step 6:

Replacing the rear suspension in a car as simple as the Golf IV takes literally a moment. All you have to do is unscrew the two screws on the lower shock mounts so that the beam engages the rubber bands, allowing the springs to be replaced. The next (and in fact the last) step is unscrewing the upper shock absorber mounts. The pneumatic wrench is invaluable here, as it allows us to do this much faster than if we were doomed to do it manually.

And it's all! It remains to put everything together and replace the suspension. As you can see, the devil is not as scary as he is painted. Of course, in the illustrated situation, we have the relief of the already folded front shock absorbers with springs. If we had these components separately, we would have to use a spring compressor and properly place them in the speakers. However, the exchange itself is not complicated. That is 3 bolts for each wheel. Regardless of whether we decide to replace the car ourselves or give the car to the service, now it will no longer be black magic.