Suspension Arms

[aragorn]

I was beating lumps out my nearside front wheel yestarday to try to get it off, it was siezed to the hub and ended up having to drive it gently along the drive with the bolts loose and tapping the brakes to get it to unstick.

In amongst all this i noticed that the two balljoints in the upper control arms were moving quite a lot and grabbed the wheel to give it a wiggle, sure enough the ball joints are knackered...

So ive ordered some new arms from ebay, just wondering if anyone has any tips for doing the swap.

Also when scouring older posts i noticed a few people mentioning a 4 way alignment on the front after changing the arms, can anyone confirm this is required and what exactly it involves?

Cheers

 

[mwarrey]

Good article on Audiworld:-

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel43.shtml

 

[aragorn]

hmm that seems to be a bit of a bigger job than i had presumed?!

does the entire steering knuckle/upright HAVE to come out? i was hoping i'd just be able to unbolt each arm and pop each balljoint and if i did them one by one i wouldnt need to dismantle everything...

 

[Markey]

I did not think it needed to but thast write up has thrown me a bit

 

[aragorn]

i'm thinking perhaps thats just how that guy did it. He mentions changing bearings etc so maybe he decided to do everything at once?

i cant see any reason i'd have to touch the driveshafts for the top two arms certainly, ive not looked very closely at the bottom ones but i recon it should just be the same story there too...

i'm waiting on them arriving and hope its possible to do both sides in an evening or two, my last few weekends have been taken up with visiting relatives and fixing the brakes on the audi and the landrover project i have on the go has been getting abandoned! I really need to stop spending money on the Audi and get stuck into the landrover, but something like these suspension parts really cant be left

Had to buy new tyres for the rear this month too, so i'm hoping that after these are fitted it'll stop costing me money for a while!

 

[Broken Byzan]

The top bolts are difficult to get to, so i undo the three top strut mount bolts to make it movable, there is enough movement in it to move it side to side to access the 16mm headed bolts. It os recomended that you set the 30mm down from the edge of the alloy strut top thentighten the bolts, then put the ball joints in.

Make sure you have plus gas available as those pinch bolts can be a pain, and maybe some heat too, i found patience to be the best thing, heat and wiggling till it was free saved it snapping and having to be drilled. So i would blast it with releaseing oil now while you wait for the bits

 

[Biglockie]

I'm ordering my arms this week, my buhses have arrived from DPM so I get them changed off the car, then fit the arms, I dont think you'll need to take the brakes and bits off, you should be able to do it a coupel of hours especially if the kit contains new bolts and nuts and the like, use a little copper slip on the bolt ends to stop them seizing up in case you need to take the bits off again.

 

[aragorn]

It os recomended that you set the 30mm down from the edge of the alloy strut top thentighten the bolts, then put the ball joints in.

What do you mean by that byzan?

The only worry is i dont have a blowtorch or oxy-acetyline available at home, i might be able to borrow a hand held plumbers style blowtorch though.

 

[Broken Byzan]

once you have the bolted end in the ally strut top, pinch them up so they are not floppy, then pull them down so they are 30mm away from the edge of the alloy strut top, they will be facing down. Then do them up,its to help prevent the bushes being ripped out due to suspension travel.
That help? As i cant get the pics out of elsawin to show you

Mark

Edit, the plumbers torch will be fine, i used a heat gun so as not to melt anything else,lol

 

[aragorn]

got ya, i see what you mean now, if you bolted them up with the arm hard against the mount plate the bush would be permanently twisted with the car sitting on the flat.

Cheers for the help, I'll let you all know how it goes once i get the bits.

Its funny that now I've noticed its got play in it i can hear it knocking all the time over bumps n things, hadn't noticed it at all before and i usually pick up on these things. Maybe too much sound deadening is a bad thing?

 

[livlee1]

I got my 12 piece kit from fleabay yesterday only took 3 days from germany!!, so will be attempting to fit mine on friday,as its been creaking for the last 4 weeks!! i've been spraying the pinch bolt with penetrating fluid for the last 3 weeks so hopefully it wont be a pain, didnt realise the top arms are 16mm bolts tho.. new spanner time!
So i assume its easier just to loosen the top mount plate to gain access to the 2 top arm bolts, rather than take the whole strut out then??!!
I'll let you know how i get on..

 

[Broken Byzan]

You need to loosen the mount plate to remove the strut anyway, however, no need if you have two 16mm spanners to hand

 

[Biglockie]

Just ordered the Meyle set from germany for mine. I'll post the pics of the fitting

 

[Markey]

Just ordered the Meyle set from germany for mine. I'll post the pics of the fitting

Nice you wont be dissapointed with the quality they are top noch worth the extra IMO if you are running different suspension etc and planning on keeping the car long term

 

[Biglockie]

yeah keeping it long term big engine plans for next year trying for the 300bhp area, and its running coilovers.