Noo! I can't believe it snapped

[Ben.lopo]

Well I can , dam I just snapped the bottom bolt that holds the rear shock to the axle any advice or any ideas most welcome/please I've looked at my polo genesis axle but it's not the same at all so swapping it can't be done has anybody had this problem before ?
oh and I was trying to renew pivit bushes and bumpstops etc
Thanks Ben

[hayesey]

that bolt should be exactly the same on any mk3 polo.  I snapped one once, I used a bolt off a mk4 polo.  Unless we are thinking of a different bolt? 

[Ben.lopo]

The head of the bolt has only snapped 10mm off the end so the rest of it is still in holding the shock in place and now have no where to grip because the other end is in the tube end of the axle just behind the drum thanks

[hayesey]

ahh, the same happened to me.  I ended up using a hack saw blade and cutting through the bolt at both ends.  I also cut through the cone shape part on the bottom of the shock which didn't matter to me at the time as I was replacing the shocks anyway.  Bit of a pain in the arse of a job.  The bolt will be well and truely stuck in the bush through the middle of the bottom of the shock though.  No amount of hammering will loosen it!

[Ben.lopo]

Thanks hayesey I'll give iit a go with a hacksaw I couldn't see any other way than taking the axle off i don't want to cut my koni shock but new ones ant that much£ so guess I'll be ordering some from phill soon

Thanks again ben

[PeteG40]

Konis are 80 quid a side! !!

I'd cut it as hayes says... just the bolt tho then get a machine shop to drill it out.

If its fecked then you can get konis serviced!!!

[Ben.lopo]

Hey cheers guys got both off with only cutting the bolt off , yeah nackred I pushed the shock in to see what it's like and it won't come back out am I being stupid or does it need a service? Thanks again guys

[JoeH]

I'm not sure that OIL filled Koni's come back up themselves.
But GAS filled shocks which most manufacturers use - whether cheap PhilJ or expnsive KW do come back up.
Its just Koni are different and often use oil (well my Koni yellows do), which is why in winter / cold weather shocks can still be soft, unlike gas shocks that are noticeably softer in the summer / harder in winter.

I imagine you could tell condition by slower pushing rod down, and pulling up and seeing how smooth it is.

Joe