8P front wishbones?

A19quattro

A19quattro

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I am planning (still) a supension rebuild, soon and have been looking at front wishbones, does anyone know what they are made of and who the OEM manufacturer is?
Was looking at ECP and they do Lemforder listed as "cast metal" and nothing about them being sided, are they? I am sure there's quite a difference on old 8ls between A3 and S3 ones which I think are alluminium, is there an 8p similar upgrade? Also by cast metal do they mean alluminium or would OEM be this and maybe they are using something cheaper (Chocolate metal)?
Any info and advice appreciated.
 
My clueless knowledge is that the A3 has cast steel wishbones and the TTRS etc have aluminium ones. IIRC, TTRS etc wishbones are drop-in on the A3. Not sure what the S3s are made of tho.

Edit: It appears S3s are alloy arms not cast steel.
 
And they are a straight swap, presumably need to get the tracking done but planning to do this anyway, anything else I need to know?
 
TT, S3 and A3 are all straight swap i believe. S3 and TTRS are alloy. TT has adjustable ball joints S3 does not.
 
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Interestingly ECP list S3 ones as the same as standard A3, been reading up though and S3 should be alloy with TTRS being the same/similar but with additional adjustment at the ball-joints ie different ball-joints, not sure if the arms are the same. I like the idea and the weight saving which offsets losses for bigger brakes etc but not sure I will do the modification, track is changed and so wheels will protrude more at the front, probably need to offset the rear with spacers? all a bit complicated/too complicated maybe?
 
Just get some superpro adjustable ball joints..
 
Simple enough. if magnetic sticks they are steel.. But from memory I think they are an alloy casting.
 
I was quoted 120 per arm from a breakers for TT wishbones, but then realised S3 ones were alloy anyway. The difference of a few grams on the arms will be negligable you would certainly notice a jump in camber from -0.5 deg to -1.2deg or more if you are lowered which is what the super pro ball joints can do. £150 approx.
 
S3's as mentioned are definitely alloy and no they aren't sided.
 
Are the TTRS and S3 ones the same length then?
I was thinking about the S3 ones, which I don't think are much more expensive than replacements for my own car and Super-pro joints but £160 for just the joints seems a bit steep.
I will do a wee bit investegation to see if there is anyone else or anywhere that can source them cheaper, anyone any ideas?
 
I think the TT ones may be a tad longer and may effect roll centre - there is a thread on seatcupra and i think hatmeow and jon-tfsi did this mod to an A3 and a leon and had great results, mainly due to the addition of ball joints enabling more camber.

The way i see it - if you have an S3 just get ALK + superpro ball joints and the remaining poly bush for the front inner, if you have steel arms it may be cheaper and easier to by the complete lower arm complete from super pro as it negates the need to press bushes on and its a direct swap.

By adding WALK and removing the rubber bushes, plus an increase in camber should improve turn in and reduce understeer greatly.
 
S3_Mat said:
The way i see it - if you have an S3 just get ALK + superpro ball joints and the remaining poly bush for the front inner, if you have steel arms it may be cheaper and easier to by the complete lower arm complete from super pro as it negates the need to press bushes on and its a direct swap.
Click to expand...

I have the S3 and am still weighing up a straight swap of the super pro arm at 440ish on the drive or ALK + poly bush at 220ish, I'm not sure if the bush is easy to change at home without a press and a garage could charge the difference.
 
SP ALK is 150, ball joint is 150 and bush set (both sides) is about 45. Complete arms are hassle free but 450ish (with ball joints) weight saving over the S3 ones is in grams rather than kilos though..

You would need alignment after its fitted and don't let the garage do stock alignment after, make sure you specify the camber you want because front spec on S3 platform is neg 0.5. Anything up to -1.5 will have drastic positive effects on grip however increased tyre wear should be minimal.
 
Extra 100 quid for the hassle free option doesn't sound so bad, garage would charge more than that to fit.

You say up to -1.5 but what is best setting?
 
Conservative Street Setup
Between 1/16 and 1/32 TOE IN front and 1/32 TOE IN rear
Ride height at 25.875” front and 26.000” rear
(–1.0 camber front)

Aggressive Street Setup
Between 1/32 and 0 TOE IN on all four corners
Ride height at 25.500” front and 25.625” rear
(–1.5 to –1.75 camber front)

Track Setup
Between 0 and 1/16 TOE OUT on all four corners
Ride height at 25.000” front and 25.250” rear
(–2.0 to –3.0 camber front)

This is a good guide.. the more aggressive you get the more instability you will incur in a straight line and in long sweeping bends. Best to stick to the conservative end.
 
audi upgrades
Still debating this in my head, when I get a chance which hasn't been often the last few weeks. Right now I don't fancy paying the money for the Super-pro balljoints but that's not to say I might do it later, so here's my thinking; The weight saving of teh alloy arms would be useful as I am going bigger brakes but I am already feeling I am spending too much (just as well the Wife doesn't know how much!), so I may do S3 arms for teh weight saving and look to do adjustable balljoints later? Would the adjustable jonts be TTRS do or would they only do TTRS arms (TTRS arms are too long IMHO and I could do without the messing with the track hereafter)? If not could the S3 arms be modified to take them, using the locking plates etc?
 
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