GorTT

I kept telling myself this was a waste of time and money, maybe just put it off for a while more...

Here's a shot of a tie rod end - wasn't damaged by removing it, this is just the way it was

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/53277/5_3_08_034.jpg">

Word to the wise on this - this is the rear bush on the front control arm; I've posted some shots before with the control arm out of the car; this is in place, and if you look (sorry, I may lighten the pic later) you can see excessive fatigue/failure, after about a year (defcons in front):

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/53277/5_3_08_026.jpg">

I decided to replace the rears with standard MK1 rear bushings - again, a bit dark, but if you look closely, you can see a significant design difference between it and the standard MK2 - two areas of substantially less rubber at front and back:

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/53277/5_3_08_039.jpg">

All done - tie rod ends, new ball joints, new swaybar endlinks, and new &lt;front&gt; control arm rear bushes (new low-temp track brake pads installed too, btw):

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/53277/5_3_08_045.jpg">

MCPaudiTT - DEFCON 1

I'm not sure I understand what low temp track pads are - can you clarify?

GorTT

<center><img src="http://brakepads.wilwood.com/02-graphs/ahjbc.gif"></center><p>
don't need to heat them way up to get great performance. Track, not race pads, may be a good way to describe; I installed the "B" but also got a set of "A", in addition to two other sets of 'street' pads that I've been running:

From the wilwood site:

"Medium-high friction compound with good cold response and a gently rising friction curve as temperature increases."

"Smooth, predictable engagement with excellent control over a wide range of applications."

"Long wearing pad in the middle temperature ranges with moderate wear in sustained high heat conditions."

"Lightweight sprints and club sport racers using steel plate rotors that require fast response at low temperatures with resistance to fade during periodic or temporary high temperature spikes."

DumpTTruck

Did you have a good source for all the bits?

GorTT

bought a bunch of other stuff too, going to do the strut bushes/bearings soon (ECS) - KW's need some replacement parts - and picked up a few spare control arm bushes and bolts (WI).

joe@vwvortex

going to poly. I had them replaced twice now in 3 years - could poly be worse?

GorTT

pulled the arms but was unable to install the polys without damaging (sheared it off, actually) their perimeter seating flange (which they have on both top and bottom). In hindsight, I'm of the opinion the "flange" is too weak to sustain the constant up-down movement that part is subjected to over time (which is why the MK2's shear apart internally); they'd be fine for the lateral forces (front-back resistance); I'm not sure they're the best way to go.

Here's another fyi - I pulled the MK1 rubber fronts during that exercise and put in polys; imo right now I'm less happy with the front polys than I was with the MK1 rubber, which were just great - even though I refrained from re-installing them this time during the rear bush replacement; definitely not a significant improvement over the rubber in any case - though I admit that was done at the same time I installed new tires, which is why I decided to wait before pulling them out ...

joe@vwvortex

in there for a couple years. All I know is either I got crappy rubber bushes (don't remember where I got the second set - first was from ECS) but damn if they didn't last a year and they are in much worse shape then yours. It's not just the replacement - but then alignment etc. I'm just not sure what the best cure is!

GorTT

<center><img src="http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/images/dis/4877/600/4877.jpg"></center><p>
This is a set for MK2 arms; I was going to just sell or give away the fronts. You can see the 'flanges' on the rears though; as I say, the side being pressed into the control arm just sheared off - not impossible that was my fault, so I was willing to try again, but they were out of stock by that time. I then ordered a set of Powerflex from TT Stuff, but turns out they were *also* out of stock (which they kindly didn't mention anywhere on their site; just found out in a response to my inqury email last Friday...) but fortunately I did order the MK1 OEM rears from World Impex on the same day (as well as the rest of the suspension components separately from ECS), so I had something as a backup that was worth trying out - and I have to say I'm pleased with it so far, but it'll certainly need close monitoring for awhile.

MCPaudiTT - DEFCON 1

the internal stresses in the material and keep them from shearing?

I didn't like the PowerFlex rears at all either. They didn't seem like they would fit well at all. They do have a metal plate integrated in to the top flange, though - does the ECS version have any metal in a horizontal plane?