Reinstalling Suspension Components; Axle is in "very" close proximity to Strut

[arjun90]

I finally made significant progress on the suspension rebuild (which had to go on hold on several occasions over the last several weeks). Feeling confident all will go well.

However, upon reinstalling the strut tower, I attempted to insert the upper control arms into the spindle and noticed how close the axle boot was to the bottom part of the strut (on lower control arm).

Do I need to readjust the outer tie rod? I haven't reinstalled the sway bar link yet.

I've been trying to come up with a order of procedure here and am doing the following in sequence--tie rods --> upper control arms / strut tower placement --> sway bar links --> lower control arms --> sway bar bushings --> torque --> replace tires --> fin

(I didn't want to remove the lower control arms before putting the strut tower back in, because of concerns over the integrity of the axle (resting on the subframe)--its already took account of the weight

This car is going to need a serious re-alignment when everything is set and done. I wasn't able to count the number of resolutions properly because the nut was badly seized on the outer tie rod.

[csosnowski]

Pics will help more, and yes you will need an alignment for certain immediately.

The wheel bearing housing (upright, knuckle, however you want to refer to it lol) wont be in its proper orientation until you bolt the strut/hat to the body and reinsert the UCA ball joints/tre into it.

I would strongly advise against removing the LCA until you have the uppers secured. However when you do remove the lowers, do it one at a time. The front LCA will be tricky to get out without removing the axle but its pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

[AllroadMass]

This is how I did my suspension on my Passat and allroad. I disconnected the sway bar links while installing the strut tower. Gave me a little more wiggle room to move the lower control arm down so i can get the bolt into strut and front lower control arm. Also tighten the bushings while under load.

https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/p.../view/85229573

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