How have any of you swapped rear shocks yourself? I'd rather not pay someone $100/hour for this otherwise easy job.

I've got some Koni FSD's to install, and the rears should be easy, but access to the lower shock bolt requires the coil spring to be removed (can't get a socket on the bolt head, otherwise).

My threaded rod-type spring compressor won't fit because of the large lower arm dimensions.

My next idea is to remove the upper shock mount bolts, then slowly lower the arm with a floor jack. Will that give enough clearance to get the spring out? Any issues flexing the suspension pivots that far?

As a last resort, I'll shorten the the threaded rods on my cheap spring compressor to fit.

I am open to your ideas and experiences.

 

I solved my problem.

I was able to separate the lower control arm from the hub upright by removing the fore-aft bolt behind the brake disc. I used a couple of large hose clamps to keep the spring from extending, and used my floor jack to slowly lower the arm from the upright. The spring was then easy to remove for access to the lower shock bolt. The job required 16mm, 18mm and 21mm sockets that don't get any other use, and a big breaker bar with extension for those lower shock bolts - Bentley calls for 180 nm (133 ft-lb) of torque on that one!

Here's a DIY website that helped:

http://deviantspeed.com/suspension-i...i-gti-2-0t-fsi

Biggest hassle was that several of the plastic inserts for the wheel well lining screws stripped in their mounts. Be very careful not to put much torque on those screws!