help!! - strange banging sound when braking at slow speeds!

[alex-qts]

hi everyone, i am very new to the audi world and have recently bought a 2000 audi a4 quattro TSport (180)

ever since owning the car it has been making a strange banging / nocking sound when braking at slow speeds and somtimes when driving away at slow speeds too.
(cant take car back due to ebay auction and no warranty, risky but lower price!!)

the noise appears to come from the front of the car near to the wheels. it can either be on one side or be two seperate clunks one after the other from both sides!! i thought this could be due to the brakes being loose or worn out so i took the car to the garrage today to find out whats going on! they checked the brakes and got it on the ramp and couldnt find anything wrong!! they said the brakes were fine and that the only thing they could see was the lower sus arms (bomarang shaped ones) looked like they could be causing the issue, as they had alot of play when being moved.

i have been reading alot on the forum about diffrent people with similar sounds refering to the ARB bushes and gearbox engine mounts, but this was all S3 related and not sure if this applies to this type of A4!!

just kinda hoping someone knows what it might be, as the garrage were saying that process of elimination and a costly one at that!!

i have had the car for around 2 months now and have to say its the best car ive ever owned and so glad i went for audi, apart from this problem the car has been perfect!

if anyone has any advice / help it would be greatly appreciated! - also anyone know where to buy cheap VAG-COM cables in the london area, just want to have a play!

thanks, alex

 

[Lee Goodall]

Sounds like you need replacement arms unfortunately mate.. common on our cars.

Cheap VAG.COM cables on ebay too.

 

[g60leigh]

check the retainer for the brake pads mate
mine did the same when coming to a stop or pulling away but went away on the ramp
it was rear brake pad loose because of the retainer, when hand brake applied it did not move only when handbrake off and moving back and forth it slapped

worth a look

 

[Lee Goodall]

Could be ARB bushes also worth a look.

 

[aragorn]

if theres play in the front arms that'll be the problem imo although i'm surprised they're not knocking over bumps and the like too

The official audi arms are quite expensive (£400ish for the 8) however there are other options. Meyle do a kit that contains all 8 arms, both TREs, both ARB droplinks and new bolts and fixings for around £300 delivered (german ebay is your best source for these, search for "meyle a4") and most people seem to think they're good.

Cheap arms will not last 10 minutes, i baught a cheap arm kit from ebay for around £110quid and within 3 months of fitting it they started knocking again, and now, 5 months on, both my front tyres are wrecked as the top balljoints are moving enough to alter the toe settings...

 

[alex-qts]

thanks for all your replies guys, how can i check the retainer for the brake pads? is this an easy thing to do?