S3 front wishbones

[1animal1]

Okies, took the car to JBS to have the tracking done today, they ended up doing a half hour diagnostic instead as they couldnt do the tracking due to the front wishbones (one bush has cracked)...

on my old A3, i had to change both as they had eventually perished, I bought those from Euro parts but believe the S3 wishbones are stronger in some way? meaning i have to get the from the dealer? just need confirmation of this and what people have appeared to pay, JBS want £18 per bush and two hours labour...i figure i may aswell buy 2 new arms (as i get 3 new bushes per arm)and fit them myself then get the tracking done again

thoughts?

 

[Westy]

I had the 2 main bushes replaced by 4rings and they use the standard audi bushes. £7 a bush and 1 hours labour (£45) they charged. Car felt loads better with new bushes on.

 

[swatchuk]

I thought the same as you mate. Get new Wishbones. This was about 2 years ago. Went to the dealers and they wanted £126 for each arm. Errr, No chance. I ended up buying poly bushes and doing the work myself. Was a ball ache to be honest, but im glad i did it rather than pay the dealers that sort of money

 

[jonny87]

how much of a ballache is it to do, im wanting to replace all my bushes and dont know whether to attempt it myself or pay someone to do it, if i choose to do it myself more than likely i will be replacing the arbs and shocks/springs

this might sound a bit stupid but is a ramp essential for the above?

 

[swatchuk]

I did everything in one go too. Shocks springs, arb's, downpipe, all the bushes etc. To be honest, i had access to a workshop with a ramp and now ive done it i wouldnt like to do it without a ramp. Well wishbones and shocks you should be ok with. Its just a pain to get the old bushes out. Thats the hardest part. then clean up the surfaces, and press the new bushes in. I had to use a big vice to press them in.

 

[Westy]

4Rings who did mine did it in my work car park and my rear ARB because they are a mobile team of Audi mechs, so it cant be too difficult without a ramp.

 

[jonny87]

hmmmm well i dont have access to a ramp, possibly have access to a hydraulic press though

only problem is that space is very limited in my mates garage so may have to do it outside

really dont wanna take it to a garage, mainly due to money lol

how long did it take you swatchuk to do all that lot?

 

[1animal1]

hmmmm wondering now then if jbs are quoting two hours to replace..... my A3 arms cost about £60 for both from Euro car parts, they were different to the S3's though and im almost certain not as strong.....ill ring Euro on Monday and see

 

[swatchuk]

I changed all the suspension, all the bushes over the whole car. Arb's, turbo back exhaust, tie bars, all discs and pads and complete brake fluid change in a weekend. I'm no mechanic but i just really enjoy doing it myself. I You get alot more satisfaction from doing it yourself. I'm not saying a ramp is essential, but i wouldnt have liked to have done it outside on my drive. I dred to think how much a garage would charge me to do all that.

 

[jonny87]

yer i know what you mean by the satisfaction mate, kinda why i wanna tackle it myself

to do all what i want its got to be at least a full day for garage to do it so minimum £400 labour

 

[1animal1]

swatch which bushes did you use.....my thoughts were to change the wishbones myself as i dont have a press, then do the ARB and replace with originals..... what did you change and at what cost

 

[swatchuk]

The bushes i used were powerflex ones. I bought all the ones they make for the s3 front and rear. Cost about £240 for all of them. But when you think audi wanted that much for the wishbones, i didnt mind so much.

 

[1animal1]

ok ive booked my car in with the ex Audi chap that does all my work..... he's sourced all parts from Audi (trade)

Camcover gasket
CV boot (nearside)
Front wishbone bushes
Front and rear ARB bushes

he's only fitting the CV boot and front wishbone bushes so i can nip round the corner to JBS for the alignment afterwards (the wishbones were a fortune apparently and he didnt recommend aftermarket for the S3)

£175 all in.....

reason for leaving the rest is because im gonna be doing additional work in early summer when i can replace ARB's myself, the cam cover gasket i want to do myself so i can clean everything thoroughly and check out my coil wiring...thats the plan anyway....

 

[RIGZI]

I'm also looking to replace the lower arm bushes, wheel bearing etc.. looking to go polyurethane, i can mind reading something (tried searchin) about just replacin certain one with poly and keep others standard rubber... can anyone advise please
also where sells them separate? i'm having trouble sourcing them, thanks

 

[Welly]

yer i know what you mean by the satisfaction mate, kinda why i wanna tackle it myself

I did my own rear wishbone bushes on my drive with TJ and an axle stand.... No problemo.

Wishbone comes off really easy, only a few bolts to undo and pull out.

Buy these: http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/A...2a391c581399bacb1e64c87ff66da5fb1775f826&FLXM

Hit old rear bushes out with a hammer & chisel. Clean up area with WD40 + 800 wet and dry. Put new rear bushes in the freezer for an hour. Heat area on wishbone where new bushes go it (buy a can of butane for this). Remove first bush from freezer. Tap in. Repeat.

Front bushes are obvious.

NOTE: Rear bushes will only go in one way, i.e. from one side. Don't try and tap in the wrong side - it doesn't fit. Learn from my mistakes! lol

 

[Matt82]

get some fresh air and do it outside on your own driveway

 

[Welly]

I'm also looking to replace the lower arm bushes, wheel bearing etc.. looking to go polyurethane, i can mind reading something (tried searchin) about just replacin certain one with poly and keep others standard rubber... can anyone advise please
also where sells them separate? i'm having trouble sourcing them, thanks

Fronts with Poly, rears with standard. Rears wear quite often and poly will wear as well. Why spend extra dosh for no extra performance/life?

See above ^^ post for link to standard front wishbone rear bushes.

 

[Welly]

so i can clean everything thoroughly and check out my coil wiring...thats the plan anyway....

Oh how fun that will be..... lol

 

[jonny87]

I did my own rear wishbone bushes on my drive with TJ and an axle stand.... No problemo.

Wishbone comes off really easy, only a few bolts to undo and pull out.

Buy these: http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/A...2a391c581399bacb1e64c87ff66da5fb1775f826&FLXM

Hit old rear bushes out with a hammer & chisel. Clean up area with WD40 + 800 wet and dry. Put new rear bushes in the freezer for an hour. Heat area on wishbone where new bushes go it (buy a can of butane for this). Remove first bush from freezer. Tap in. Repeat.

Front bushes are obvious.

NOTE: Rear bushes will only go in one way, i.e. from one side. Don't try and tap in the wrong side - it doesn't fit. Learn from my mistakes! lol

cheers for that matey, its all going to have to be done soon, mot is a looming lol

did you do the fronts too? which were the harder, front or back, backs look easier to me?!

get some fresh air and do it outside on your own driveway

fresh? like 2 or 3 degrees fresh lol if my mate is kind enough he will let me squirrel away in his garage for a day or two

Fronts with Poly, rears with standard. Rears wear quite often and poly will wear as well. Why spend extra dosh for no extra performance/life?

See above ^^ post for link to standard front wishbone rear bushes.

i spent fooking hours trawling through threads about bushes yesterday and came across a post by tuffty who advised replacing front outer bushes with poly, front inner bushes with standard ones, something like the inner poly bushes tend to slip and wear really bad?

and now you're saying to replace front with poly rear with standard, just when i thought i had it all figured out lol

 

[1animal1]

Oh how fun that will be..... lol

yeah the joys haha, just got all my stuff today, heat shrink, tool to remove the wires from the coil plugs and my gaskets....the CV joint and main bushes on the front have been done today and replaced with original items, the reason i didnt go poly is because after using poly for the dogbone mount, im now contemplating going back to standard as poly is ****** harsh in comparison!!!! depends what you want from the car though

anyway just got back from JBS having had the 4 wheel alignment done - top job as usual and it seems to feel a lot more planted than it was around high speed bends ....the plan is to hit the gaskets tomorrow and replace all the ARB bushes that i have gotten today....chap got me original ARB bushes and the modified brackets that accompany them (different from originals somehow)

wish me luck

 

[The Doctor]

I had my front bushes replaced with Powerflex ones by C&R in Nottingham. Lots of other bits & pieces were done at the same time so can't say how much this work was on its own, but the car drives like new now. No knocking/rattling at all. I've heard that standard Audi bushes are prone to a short life, hence why I upgraded to Powerflex.

 

[1animal1]

well my fronts didnt really need doing and my cars on 100k, only...one side had split and would have started knocking within months, that said they wont have been as strong as new, but i think the shelf life is longer than most give credit for.

anyway...gaskets bin put on today, what a b**tard of a job!! good job i didnt do it ....started stripping it down and my neighbour suggested do that he do it whilst i wash his two cars...simple trade taped up all the broken cables, there were about 7 or 8 that were split, was an a**e stripping the old sheathing!! (i had to help a little).

next job is the roll bar bushes.... am i right in saying that these can be done with the car jacked up....seem to remember seeing the bush @ each corner when the wheels were removed previously