Front lower ball joint help please

[R18VDUBLU]

Hi there,

A friend of mine helped replace all my suspension with coilovers a few days ago, but in the process he managed to snap one of the 3 bolts holding it onto the control arm. Needless to say we heated up every nut after that.

I’m in the process of trying to buy one from AUTODOC (currently 38% off today) or similar, but I see there are different cone sizes. I’m no car expert at all, but not sure which is the right size to get? Any help anyone please?

[Clarkj93]

Got any pictures to show what you need? Not sure if you meant front or rear struts. Front has 3 small bolts holding the topmount to the car body and one bolt holding it in the front hub. Rear has 2 bolts holding the top mount to the body and one bolt holding holding it to the rear hub

Also Autodoc is not well regarded most of the time, cheap but long delivery times and poor service/quality sometimes. I would get the bolts from vw themselves or sometimes I use VAGBOLTS on ebay if I can't be asked to make the trip to VW VW will also clarify exactly what you need for you in the parts department so you're not second guessing which ones you need. They're only bolts so won't be too expensive anyway as long as you don't need loads and loads of them.

[Clarkj93]

Got any pictures to show what you need? Not sure if you meant front or rear struts. Front has 3 small bolts holding the topmount to the car body and one bolt holding it in the front hub. Rear has 2 bolts holding the top mount to the body and one bolt holding holding it to the rear hub

Also Autodoc is not well regarded most of the time, cheap but long delivery times and poor service/quality sometimes. I would get the bolts from vw themselves or sometimes I use VAGBOLTS on ebay if I can't be asked to make the trip to VW VW will also clarify exactly what you need for you in the parts department so you're not second guessing which ones you need. They're only bolts so won't be too expensive anyway as long as you don't need loads and loads of them.

Just realised you meant the ball joints! If it were me I'd probably just get a new ball joint which are pretty cheap from euro car parts anyway and either use the studs and nuts from that or replace it while you are down there, one less thing to go wrong in the near future.

[pudding]

The ball joints are one time use because of the studs, which are the stretch type, so they've either been off before, or someone over torqued the nuts.

Just get them from the dealer if in doubt, they're only about £40 and will last longer than cheap pattern parts.