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5.1 Front Suspension Struts

Fig. 5-1 is an exploded view of the front strut assembly. The spring and the upper strut bearing are replaceable separately. If the shock absorber is worn-out or the strut itself is damaged, then the entire strut must be replaced. To maintain even side-to-side shock absorber performance, the struts should always be replaced in pairs.

The entire strut assembly is removed from the car as a unit for disassembly. To disassemble the strut, special tools are required. Most importantly, the coil spring must be compressed with a spring compressor before removing the strut's top nut.

WARNING-

If you lack the tools or experience necessary to safely disassemble and reassemble the front suspension struts, we strongly urge that this work be left to an authorized Volkswagen dealer or other qualified repair shop. Attempts to disassemble the struts without proper tools are likely to cause serious injury.

Fig. 5-1. Front strut assembly showing coil spring, strut bearing and related parts removed.

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