Sub frame console removal.

[asday101]

Hello,

Long time lurker first time poster.

So today I was doing a lot of front end suspension work and with it I was going to change the console bushes and swap them for poly bushes. However when unwinding the right hand wishbone front mounting bolt it was very tight when unwinding. This leads me to believe that the last person to wind it in has trashed the threads.

My question is can I remove the console (part number 6Q0199293J) without upsetting the positioning of the subframe, I don't really fancy having to get the 4 wheel alignment reset. I'm hoping that I can remove the console mounting bolts and slide it out of the subframe. Once out I can either re-tap or renew complete.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Adam.

[littlepolo]

I did this job several years ago and cannot remember all the details. I hired a special tool to extract the console bushes in situ, but pretty sure that I dropped the subframe to gain clearance. You could mark the subframe position against the bodywork and use to re-align. Not sure why you are so averse to having a correct alignment done though, it is better to have peace of mind that all is correct.

[RUM4MO]

As far as thread destroying there is concerned, I think that VW Group coat any bolts passing through are fastening into aluminium alloy with a green covering to minimum any dissimilar metals issues, so any bolts that was coated when new must always be replaced. So maybe the previous owner has removed that bolt and that removed any coating left on it, and now it has started corroding the aluminium around it - either way I think that most people who take these bolts out of a car this age Fabia/Polo/Ibiza will end up with removing the threads with the bolt.

Removing and replacing a single part on these car's front suspension will always cause misalignment and so you will need to get that done after all your work has been completed.

Using that design of TCA rear mounting bush was just another mess up from VW Group, you will find that they dropped that "improvement" when moving onto the later models of Fabia/Polo/Ibiza/A1.

[asday101]

Cheers for the replies,

I've got the bush press already (borrowed) so I'm happy I can achieve the bush replacement. And it's not that I don't want to have correct wheel alignment, I just didn't want to tamper with the subframe unless really necessary. I need the toe checking anyway because of the parts I've already changed.

However reading the replies it seems best to mark up the subframe position, whip the bolts out, check the threads on the aluminum carrier and repair/replace as necessary. Then look for a decent shop near me that can carry out the alignment check.

Bit of a pain to replace a bush. It's almost like they forgot that bushes are consumable and don't normally last the life of the truck.

[RUM4MO]

My wife's previous Polo, bought new in 2002 ended up needing these rear voided bushes replaced when it was only 4 or 5 years old, I thought about buying a tool to do that, but then considered replacing the standard voided bushes with solid Ibiza Cupra bushes as that car had a 1.4 16V 75PS Petrol engine, and there was good posts being made about using these solid bushes, ie they will outlast the car, so I got a proper localish VW Group Indie to fit the bushes that I had bought! (getting these Cupra bushes fitted it seems takes a lot of effort when compared with the standard voided bushes)

That improved the feel of the steering a lot and these bushes were still doing their job as intended when we traded that car at 13 years and 105K miles.

[asday101]

So I found a video on good old YouTube where a guy removes the alimunium arm for the same reason as I need (stripped threads). Seems it's easy enough to rip out without dropping the subframe completely.

Unfortunately I need to use the car again so this job will probably have to wait to bank Holiday weekend but thanks again for the advice. A bit of a faff but the wishbone bushes shiuld be changed before autumn.

Cheers.