Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I'm just doing a refresh of the front suspension, going through replacing parts as necessary keeping it as standard as possible and have a few questions that I need help with.

There is a difference in diameter of about 0.75mm between the external dia. of the Sachs insert and the internal dia. of the strut tube - is this normal or should it be less? I was thinking of winding some tape round to take up the slack - once the nut is tightened down it shouldn't move?

There is play between the (n.l.a.) sleeve 823 412 365 and the suspension strut mounting bearing - again what is normal?

Does anybody have the correct manufacturing dimensions for this sleeve, seeing it's n.l.a.?

Springs are green stripe which I believe is correct for front & rear anti-roll bars.

Thanks guys

1. "There is play between the (n.l.a.) sleeve 823 412 365 and the suspension strut mounting bearing - again what is normal?"

You can use this, it's a good fit. Used it on my '86 2.5 when I rebuilt front suspension:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK1- ... 1277166691

2. There is a difference in diameter of about 0.75mm between the external dia. of the Sachs insert and the internal dia. of the strut tube - is this normal or should it be less? I was thinking of winding some tape round to take up the slack - once the nut is tightened down it shouldn't move?

Yes, there is supposed to be a gap, the gap is for cooling oil (think it might be ATF thats used), you need to put a small amount in the strut before installing the insert. The insert is clamped top and bottom when the collar is torqued down.

Many thanks for that -

Re 1. your answer tells me that the strut mtg. bearings on my car are worn too much. Did you find that the sleeve was taller than the original? The info on the VW part seems to have the same diameters, inner & outer, but is 14mm high rather than 11mm. I can always machine it down I suppose.

Re 2. The internal dia. of the strut is 44.5mm. The Sachs insert is dia. 41.4mm over most of its length except the top 25mm or so where it is dia. 43.8mm. It was this top part I was checking on as this should centralize the insert in the strut before the nut is tightened down. Yes, I had heard oil could be put in the remainder of the gap - makes sense because there is quite a bit less oil with an insert than in the original strut.

re re 1. IT was a few years back now but so I can't remember exact details. I definitely didn't machine them down, and definitely had no issues.

re re 2. The union nut / collar should help with centralising the insert.

Well in the end I decided to machine down those sleeves, having access to a friend's lathe, but your VW link was helpful - thanks.
Also found that that one top mount bearing/rubber was a different height to the other so have replaced them both.

Just got the struts, springs, top mounts and spring caps back from the blasters/powder coaters and the difference is substantial. I thought you might like to see before and after pics.