Upper Control Arms

[Astrosquirrel]

Hey all, been out of commission these last few months due to health issues, both myself and the missus. Thankfully I'm also back to working on my RS6 which has been waiting patiently on Jack Stands for the past few months. Hope you're all well. Got a lot of catching up to do with you wonderful peeps

Quick one. First timer replacing upper control arms. Do I rrreeeeeaaaally need to remove the whole strut assembly? seems to me I can fit the 16mm pretty easily in between the steel housing. I don't want to have to remove the struts because, well, DRC.

Lots of conflicting info around and the workshop manual doesn't seem to mention it, except for a small section indicating to use a special tool to remove the upper links in case the hexagon bolt can't be removed.

Thanks a bunch for any guidance.

[gaz pat]

i think, if i remember correctly, you'll need to unbolt the strut at the top to get the control arm bolts out. No need to disconnect the drc though as you can move the strut around as much as you need on the flexi drc hose.

[Astrosquirrel]

Hey thanks!. I'm stubborn so I will give it a go sans removing the strut - when that fails (not if) then I'll try your suggestion. Thank you!

Been having fun these past three days with pinch bolts, stuck control arms and more. Reason?, well:

The other shaft is actually ok but I will replace both in any case.

Here are the pinch bolts... what's left of them.

I will also replace the upper control arms. Found TRW ones at Autodoc. Any recommendations if I should go with something else?

Thank you!

[Shoppinit]

Lemforder are the best. TRW should be OK.

[Astrosquirrel]

Cheers Ben.

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