fourcircle
nj
I tried to take a couple of pics with my ohone as I did mine at the weekend and thought it's always handy to have a guide to take a look at beforehand. (disclaimer: any advice within this thread is just advice from my experience and shouldn't be taken as the gospel truth)
RS4 RARB - 8E0 511 409 AL - £58.80
two Bushes - 8E0 511 327 D - £2.78 each
two Brackets - 8E0 511 439 - £2.85 each
two rear drop links at £35 each from the dealer or sometimes cheaper on ebay. part numbers 8E0 505 465 AC or 8E0 505 465 AF
I'd also recommend getting new bolts at the same time to make life easier. I didn't think of it at the time and turned out to be a pain in the ****.
Jack the back of your car up and put it on axle stands. Take off one wheel and if you're any way sensible pop it somewhere under the edge of the sill as a back up (I'd actually prefer to have 2 axle stands on each side for super safety). You could take both wheels off if you prefer. personal choice but you'll need at least one off to get the old rarb out.
Take a good look at the old rarb and where it connect to the drop links at each side. use safety glasses to avoid getting crap in your eyes. again, I didn't think of this until I had crap in my eye. Spray the existing bolts/fittings with WD40, wurths ant seize etc and go make a cup of tea.
I'd suggest disconnecting the rarb from the drop links at each side first, while the rarb is held firm by the brackets. You'll need 18mm and 16mm spanners. best is an open 18 and ratchett 16 if you have them.
Then take the brackets off. two 13mm bolts on each. wtahc out for flakes of old rarb.
Now take the old drop links out and replace them with the new ones. note which way round they are as they come out and stick the new ones straight in. Again, it's two 13mm bolts.
Now you need to get the old rarb out. I believe that some cars may be easier than others. I have a twin exhaust system on my quattro so I'm sure a lot of people will be in the same boat. I had to drop both back boxes, which was easy enough by removing the two 13mm bolts on each supporting bracket. if you look at the big rubbers that hold the back boxes up, they attach to hooks/plates behind the rear bumper. They will come off easily enough. Make sure you have something supporting the exhaust when it drops. This should give you enough room to pull the old rarb out to the side.
Slide the new rarb back in the same way and get the exhaust back up into place. wrap the new bushes and brackets around the rarb in the right place and tighten the bolts in a bit.. not the whole way though. Note that I first thought the rubber sleeves on the rarb were going to be too much when used with the new bushes but when you tighten the brackets on fully they will squeeze into place.
The ends of the rarb probably won't align to the new drop links so put your wheel back on and if you have ramps drop the car back down off the axle stands and reverse it up onto the ramps so there is proper pressure pushing the suspension up. Get your wheel chocks in place and leave the car in reverse gear. Slide under and now you should be able to bolt the rarb ends to the drop links. After they're tight you can tighten up the brackets too. The reason for tightening at this point is the bushes should be under as little twisting pressure (there's a proper term for this that I can't think of right now) as possible. If you tighten everything when the wheels are off the ground then when you put the car down again the rarb will move and the bushes will suffer immediate, unneccessary force. I hope that makes sense?
new brackets and bushes
and drop links
Double check everything's tight, get the car back down on the ground and go for a spin. now marvel at the difference, especially if your old parts were worn like mine.
There are probably wiser forum members than me who can add to or correct parts of this so feel free, I won't be offended.
RS4 RARB - 8E0 511 409 AL - £58.80
two Bushes - 8E0 511 327 D - £2.78 each
two Brackets - 8E0 511 439 - £2.85 each
two rear drop links at £35 each from the dealer or sometimes cheaper on ebay. part numbers 8E0 505 465 AC or 8E0 505 465 AF
I'd also recommend getting new bolts at the same time to make life easier. I didn't think of it at the time and turned out to be a pain in the ****.
Jack the back of your car up and put it on axle stands. Take off one wheel and if you're any way sensible pop it somewhere under the edge of the sill as a back up (I'd actually prefer to have 2 axle stands on each side for super safety). You could take both wheels off if you prefer. personal choice but you'll need at least one off to get the old rarb out.
Take a good look at the old rarb and where it connect to the drop links at each side. use safety glasses to avoid getting crap in your eyes. again, I didn't think of this until I had crap in my eye. Spray the existing bolts/fittings with WD40, wurths ant seize etc and go make a cup of tea.
I'd suggest disconnecting the rarb from the drop links at each side first, while the rarb is held firm by the brackets. You'll need 18mm and 16mm spanners. best is an open 18 and ratchett 16 if you have them.
Then take the brackets off. two 13mm bolts on each. wtahc out for flakes of old rarb.
Now take the old drop links out and replace them with the new ones. note which way round they are as they come out and stick the new ones straight in. Again, it's two 13mm bolts.
Now you need to get the old rarb out. I believe that some cars may be easier than others. I have a twin exhaust system on my quattro so I'm sure a lot of people will be in the same boat. I had to drop both back boxes, which was easy enough by removing the two 13mm bolts on each supporting bracket. if you look at the big rubbers that hold the back boxes up, they attach to hooks/plates behind the rear bumper. They will come off easily enough. Make sure you have something supporting the exhaust when it drops. This should give you enough room to pull the old rarb out to the side.
Slide the new rarb back in the same way and get the exhaust back up into place. wrap the new bushes and brackets around the rarb in the right place and tighten the bolts in a bit.. not the whole way though. Note that I first thought the rubber sleeves on the rarb were going to be too much when used with the new bushes but when you tighten the brackets on fully they will squeeze into place.
The ends of the rarb probably won't align to the new drop links so put your wheel back on and if you have ramps drop the car back down off the axle stands and reverse it up onto the ramps so there is proper pressure pushing the suspension up. Get your wheel chocks in place and leave the car in reverse gear. Slide under and now you should be able to bolt the rarb ends to the drop links. After they're tight you can tighten up the brackets too. The reason for tightening at this point is the bushes should be under as little twisting pressure (there's a proper term for this that I can't think of right now) as possible. If you tighten everything when the wheels are off the ground then when you put the car down again the rarb will move and the bushes will suffer immediate, unneccessary force. I hope that makes sense?
new brackets and bushes
and drop links
Double check everything's tight, get the car back down on the ground and go for a spin. now marvel at the difference, especially if your old parts were worn like mine.
There are probably wiser forum members than me who can add to or correct parts of this so feel free, I won't be offended.
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