[tofudisan]

My wife bought an '02 Turbo S Beetle. Found out the hard way that the schmuck who owned the car before us had the passenger side control arm mounted to the cross member with a welded in bolt.

Found a replacement cross member part but I'd like to find a how-to on removing and replacing before I decide to tackle this myself vs. taking in to a shop to have done.

I've searched Google/YouTube and this forum but I can't seem to find anything on the R&R. Anyone able to point me to one or give feedback on how difficult it is to replace this crossmember?

Thanks!

 

[red99]

It doesn't look too hard. You remove the ball joints from the control arms and move the struts out of the way:

Volkswagen Workshop Manuals - Golf Mk4 - Removing

 

[wawalker]

...the schmuck who owned the car before us had the passenger side control arm mounted to the cross member with a welded in bolt...!

I just rebuilt the suspension on my 03 GTI and guess what? The captured nut in the crossmember backed out when I went to thread the bolt back in. I cut a hole in my crossmember to put on a regular nut and called it done. I dunno, but I think a new crossmember for my 10+ year old car is a no go. I actually admire the welded bolt solution--no cutting/no weakening. I'd leave it be.