New Member

[MK3tdI]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and am looking for guidance for the best place to get parts for my imported 94 Mk3 TDi

I need to replace the worn front struts pretty soon so any help appreciated

I'm in Sydney

Jools

[brackie]

Welcome!

Welcome, Jools Nice to have another diesel owner aboard (there a lot of us here now) and especially a Mk3. I believe the Mk3 struts are the same in both the petrol and diesel models however the diesel is slightly heavier than the petrol but this shouldn't make a hell of a lot of difference. I'm not familiar with the suspension on the Mk3 but I would guess that the shockies are inserts anyway. It'd be a good idea to also post in the Mk3 forum as some of he guys in there will know more than I do

[Bora Sport]

I drove my mates well cared for Australian delivered Mk 3 TDI and found it waaayyy to soft for my liking. He said that he loved it like that. Mind you I had a VR6 at the time with Eibach lowered springs and Koni yellow struts.

I am pretty sure that the struts are the same for the 2.0 and the VR so I would guess that they are the same for the TDI as well. It shouldn't be a problem though because any decent suspension seller will have listings for all Golfs.

I would recommend Konis as I have put them in my Mk1, Mk2 16V, 2 VR6's, my wifes Vento and my Bora 4 Motion. Some were lowered and some had the original springs and they always improve the handling, ride and general enjoyment of driving your VW.

They are a bit more expensive to buy but they last longer and as they wear they can be adjusted to compensate. The Konis in my wife's Vento have done around 180, 000 k's since we put them in and they are still fine. plus they can be rebuilt when they finally die. Make sure you shop around though. I recently priced a set for the Ibiza and the prices varied by up to $400 in total outlay.

[rayray086]

Welcome to the forums! Glad to see another Mk3 on board, and a TDI at that!

Like Bora Sport, I have Koni struts in my Mk3 - I have the Sports/Red version and they have softer dampening properties as they are made to accompany both lowering springs or standard springs. They are adjustable, and at medium setting, I find them much more comfortable than the bouncy, worn factory struts that I had beforehand. They also handle slightly better coupled with Koni lowering springs.

I believe the TDI uses the same struts as the 2.0L GL and 1.8L CL - while searching for Koni struts, they list the 1.9L engine (I'm guessing this was the TDI) with the 2.0L and 1.8L.

Anyway, I had my struts + springs shipped from a Melbourne-based shop as at the time, they were doing discounts on the Koni range + free shipping, so I had mine delivered to my door at a very reasonable price (considering the quality of Koni products).

Also, there's another Mk3 TDI owner on the forums based in western Sydney - his name is Oliver and goes by the name of Oli on these forums. Great bloke!

[MK3tdI]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.
Its my wifes little shopper and she loves it. It has 16" Speedline Alloys fitted with 205/45 tyres. I'm not sure it was a good choice by whoever fitted them as it makes the steering heavy and there is a fair bit of road noise.
It also has some odd jap twin headlamp conversion, which looks good but is somewhat lacking in the illumination stakes.
And as you mention, its very bouncy. Surprised it gets through the pink slip inspection.

I had the Smokeless treatment carried out on it a few weeks back, and after the guy came back from test driving it he said it was downright dangerous with no damping and I needed to get it sorted asap.

So I planned to do it in a couple of weeks when the wife is away.

It seems like Koni's is the way to go by all accounts, so now the search begins.

thanks for all the help.

[BL33SU]

welcome to d forums.. nice cars d tdi.. post some pics up of it.