Renewing Anti Roll Bar Links - VW Passat TDI

nogoodnamesleft

Noticed a bit of wander in the steering when turning into corners as of recently. Gave a quick luck under the car and noticed the rubber of the anti -roll bar links was perished and worn looking.

Ordered Anti - Roll Bar Kit for both the left and right sides (VW recommend that you replace the bolts used to secure the links to the lower wishbone arms and the anti roll bar itself - These were inculded in the kit.

Also ordered 2 x bushings (24.8mm) for the anti toll bar itself as I had standard suspension setup I was supposed to have 24.8mm anti roll bar but in VW infinite wisdom they used a stiffer bar in my car (mine is the revised model) so the bar is 27mm. :mad: They ones that were on the car were perfect hardly any wear so they stayed.


All ordered from the UK. Arrived by courier 6days later all parts are febi blisten and was cheaper than what I could source them from in Ireland.

Tools needed:
- Torque Wrench 10 - 80NM
- Selection of ring, open and sockets, particularly 16mm for the bolts
- WD 40
- Pit (i had one available to me), otherwise jack and axel stands and something to SAFELY support the front wheels (wheels have the weight of the vehicle on them be able you to change the links).



Give all neccessary bolts a good spray of WD40 to make your life easlier. There are 2 for the links on either side. Leave it a few mins to soak in. They can be quiet stubborn depending on how much corrosion is present

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nogoodnamesleft

Using a combination of two spanners remove the lower bolt first (the one connecting the link to the anti - roll bar and then the upper bolt. Taking not of which way the bolt is pointing ( both bolts point opposite one another).







Condition of the rubber in the old link:

nogoodnamesleft

New links (all shiny :-))




Note the way the bolts are orientated they to be installed in this fashion also (these are also new bolts supplied with the kit VW recommend that new bolts should be used).

The links also have an arrow printed on the part denoting what way the link should be installed i.e. the arrow should be pointing towards the front of the vehicle.

nogoodnamesleft

Was also going to change the bushings but it turns out VW revised the size of the anti-roll bar on my car its 27mm (had to check with a calipers) as opposed to what the specs said was to be 24.8mm :mad:


Anyways the factory installed bushings were in good condition.

nogoodnamesleft

Refit new links, making sure the are installed in the correct fashion, arrow pointing forward, and bolts positioned correctly.

Torque up all four bolts on the links to 40NM + 90 deg (quarter turn) - VW recommendation.

Take for a test drive...... Job done

Esel

Well done, and thanks for posting it. This thread will be handy for anyone attempting this job.

Tropheus

Good write up. I did the rear lower control arms on my Audi Allroad a few months back, but wasn't as diligent as you were by documenting it.

The control arm/ARB set up on the allroad/A6 is very similar to the Passat.

I found that the balljoints were fine on the control arms, but it's the bushings that tend to go. I also had vagueness in the steering and felt the wheels weren't aligned correctly when the steering was on full lock.

Anyway, it was a difficult job to do with the car on the ground, but got both sides done and had the car aligned. It made a major improvement on the steering.

The upper control arms and front lower along with the ARB drop links were all done about a year ago. The car has 140k miles on it now, so there were due a change.