Bad front strut design???

[mgp240]

Good morning all,
I know that this car is not listed in the GCR, but I'm hoping some of the older cars have the same front strut mount design...
I have a 2001 Jetta street car that I've had some problems with the front upper strut mounts on. There is about a 3/4" gap above the upper mount bracket. This causes a "klunking" sound when going over bumps during the rebound of the spring and strut. There was nothing there when I bought the car, and I couldn't find a VW part that is supposed to be there. Is this how it was designed??? I put some old rubber exhaust hanger donuts from an RX7 in there and it seemed to help a little(see pic). I didn't notice it when I bought the car(car had about 130k mi on it and the struts were bad) I put new Bilstien's on all 4 corners and started hearing it then. Since, I have put new A-arm bushings, new ball joints, new upper strut mount bushings(which are only under the cars metal mount point)
The only mounting point it has is one nut that tightens the cup-shaped aluminum piece down.
Do any of your cars have this same mounting design? If so, how do I make it better?
Thanks,
Mike

[Sandro]

I have a 2000 GTI that I daily drive and used to use on the track. That space is normal, I also had it. I dont remember if it was their with the stock suspension but it now has bilstein coilovers and the gap is present.

I think with the stock suspension it will also be their because that doesnt really have anything to do with the top strut mount. Mine doesnt make a clunking noise at all. When you jack up the car does the strut mount drop down and eliminate the gap? Cause it shouldn't

Also you said you put new bilsteins on, did you put lowering springs also? Cause with those cars when you lower them you have to change the sway bar or extend the links cause it will hit the axle when the suspension compresses a bit.

You said you replaced the strut mount bushings correct? Cause I would think when those go bad it would do what you are hearing. Silly question but did you maybe put them in upside down, if I rememebr correctly you could easily make a mistake because both sides look similar.

[mgp240]

I did not put lowering springs in when I changed the shocks.
The upper mounts seemed like they would only go in one way. The cupped side up to fit into the pocket... (that was the orientation of the ones I took out) and there was a semi-flat side that the top of the spring sets into.
And when I jack the car up that space does disappear... the whole system allows for movement which is only slightly helped by the rubber I put in.

[Sandro]

I didnt think you would put them in upside down but just wanted to double check.

Since they drop when you drop raise the car, then its not right. I'll take a look at my car and hopefully see what could be your problem.

[Conover]

It's normal and not the cause of your clunking sound. The clunking sound comes from the upper mounts being worn or the strut bearing being broken, or the upper mount nut not being tightened down all the way. Those top "hats" are just droop limiters that keep the assembly from coming out under full droop. eliminating that space will cause the upper mounts to bind and wear them out and ruin the bearings.

[mgp240]

Thanks, I didn't know why the space was there.
I'll take off the top, and check if the strut-top nut is tight. I'll also take out the rubber spacers and see how that goes.
Thanks again.

[green golf]

The space is normal. Loose or worn swaybar endlinks can make a clunk too