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Date:         Sun, 14 Jul 1996 21:23:12 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         kstanley@cas.org (Kerry G. Stanley)
Subject:      '86 Syncro front shocks/rotors - Replacement Report

Well I finally finished replacing the front shocks on my '86 Syncro. Not the easiest in the world, but doable. Bentley describes the process fairly well. I also replaced my front rotors/pads at the same time although each part can be replaced independently. The only special tool I used was the spring compressor.

1. Removed wheels (duh!)

2. Removed brake calipers (small self locking bolts holding them to the brake carrier. Do not remove brake line. Tie up with wire. Not needed just for shock replacement).

3. Removed brake carrier. This involves removing two large bolts attaching it to the wheel bearing hub. (A little help from the hammer for these bolts).

4. Again for rotor replace only, I next tried to remove the small hex head screw holding the rotor to the wheel hub. No way. The hex head rounded out. I drilled out a 1/4 inch hole in the head of the screw and tapped in a small stud extractor. They came right out. New screws (now with a phillips head instead of a hex head) were available only from the VW dealer (.50 each). One rotor still didn't want to come off. I put some pressure on it with a puller and tapped around its circumference from behind (it was being trashed anyway). It came free; the other one came off with no problem.

5. Placed jack under lower ball jt, and compressed spring as much as possible, then attached spring compressor and compressed spring a little more. It is hard to get spring compressors exactly opposite each other on the spring. Make sure you use safety clamps. I wasn't too comfortable with this step. Get a good compressor.

6. Removed two hex head bolts holding upper ball joint to control arm. Wheel bearing/hub assembly can now tilt out at you.

7. Removed nut at top of shock and push rod done. The nut came off without having to prevent the shock rod from rotating.

8. To get additional room to swing shock out and remove, I removed lower shock bolt, and allowed the shock to drop (may have to push it) into the lower control arm. This gained several inches to let the top of the spring clear the spring tower. With the spring clear of the tower, pull it off the shock, and then remove the shock.

9. To reinstall the shock, without special tools, I placed the new shock into the lower control arm (the lower mounting hole was approximately two inches below it's attachment pt to the lower control arm. Swing the shock with spring mounted as described in Bentley, into the upper spring tower. I placed a nut on the shock rod and using a screw driver pushed it up into the upper spring tower as high as possible, and still be able to remove the nut. I then used a jack to slowly raise the shock from below and guide the shock rod though the hole in the top of the spring tower. In one case I slipped a long socket over the shock rod in this hole to keep the threads from catching the side of the hole and preventing the rod from coming out the top. When the shock was jacked up to the point where the lower mounting hole lined up with the lower control arm I inserted the lower mounting bolt. I then continued jacking up the shock from below until the shock rod was through the upper spring tower enough to place the nut on it. Then I pried the rod up further using a screw driver or vise grips until it was high enough to place the rubber bushing on and attached the washer and nut. This technique worked, but was a pain and had to be tried several times if the rod caught int he spring tower while raising the shock. It would be MUCH EASIER if you had the tool described in Bentley to PULL shock rod up into the spring tower. Anyone with machine shop access/skills want to market this tool to syncro owners.

10. To tighten the top nut I did have to keep the rod from turning using a adjustable wrench on the flat at the top of the rod.

11. Reinstall upper ball joint hex bolts. Torque all nuts.

I never did access the shock rod through the holes under the seats.

The brakes were straight forward replacement once the rotors had been replaced. I use a 6" C clamp across an old pad across the piston and the back of the caliper to retract the piston (all the way for both new rotors and pads you need all the clearance). Watch the brake fluid level in the master resevoir in the dash, I had to remove some.

At 8:53 PM 7-11-96, Mark McCulley wrote: >I recently replaced the rear shocks on my 87 syncro Westfalia. The old, >original ones were just about shot, I could easily move the piston in and >out. The difference in how the van handled was quite noticeable. Now I'm >figuring the front shocks are in similar shape and am considering replacing >them as well. > >Have any of you syncronauts done this before? Bentley calls out several >special tools for the procedure including a spring compressor. I figure I >can rent one of those, but what about the others? I'd appreciate any info >from anyone that has replaced the front shocks on their syncro. > >BTW, non-syncro folks need not respond as the syncro shock installation is >quite different from the normal Vanagons. Cost way more too of course ;) > >Also I've determined from scanning the archives that the front shocks are a >dealer only item. Anyone know differently? > >-Mark McCulley >87 syncro Westfalia >74 bus

------------------------------------------------------- Kerry G. Stanley Technical Services Representative Chemical Abstracts Service kstanley@cas.org 215-362-7280 -------------------------------------------------------


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