RS4 shock absorber replacements

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Steve123
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RS4 shock absorber replacements

Post by Steve123 » Wed Oct 23, 2019 11:51 am

My five year old RS4 Avant V8 requires two new shock absorbers. This surprises me on a car that had done less than 70,000 miles.Does it surprise anyone else ?
I bought it a year ago with about 63,000 miles on it and it was faultless in every way. The car, in my ownership, rarely ever carries more than one person and no weight in the boot.

Two solutions have been suggested to me by a local Audi independent.

A. Is to replace the OSF and NSR with genuine Audi parts, bleed the DRC system, undertake the wheel alignment.
This would cost £2101.20 inc. VAT. The car would need to be taken to a specialist about sixty miles away for this.

B. Is to replace the whole DRC system with a coil over set up. H&R Monotube Coilover kit would be used.
This would cost £1895.46 inc. VAT. The local Audi independent could do this at his premises.

Has anyone got any comments re the above ?

Cheers.

HarpreetSingh
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Re: RS4 shock absorber replacements

Post by HarpreetSingh » Fri Oct 25, 2019 11:52 am

Im not at all surprised that this has happened. A brief search through the forum will highlight the achilleas heel of the B7 RS4 which is infact the DRC. A very good system that works well (when its faultless) but is prone to failing in multiple points- either the strut, lines, or the actuator. The purists would say that DRC is the best set up for this platform and you should look to spend the £000's required to ensure its running tip top. The sad truth of it is, once one element of it needs replacing, others will (sooner if not later, its not so much an "if" but more a "when").


I was in the same situation as you last month. The line feeding the rear drivers and front passenger shocks had burst and leaked everywhere. As much as I wanted to keep the car stock, it wasn't financially viable for me to carry out the work so I went for the H&R Monotubes. Mechanics identified failed upper and lower control arm bushes so had them replaced at the same time. The bill isn't worth thinking about for me, the main thing is the cars done and I don't have any headache as far as the suspension side of things is concerned.


Depends where you're going with it, personally I'd replace the stock system with something more sustainable. I've heard a lot of people just replacing the shocks with Koni's and keeping the stock springs? Maybe that's an option for you to look into?


Either way, best of luck.

Steve123
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Re: RS4 shock absorber replacements

Post by Steve123 » Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:13 pm

Thank you so much, Harpreet. Your response is what makes joining a Forum well worth while.
In my case the quotes for original equipment and H&R Monotubes is only about £200 different. Do you think that the prices I indicated in my original posts are what one might expect ?

I see that you chose Monotubes. My garage say that these give better handling and ride comfort. Do you agree ?

Cheers,
Steve.

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dhali
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Re: RS4 shock absorber replacements

Post by dhali » Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:15 am

I was in same situation as you last year . 70k miles DRC shocks replaced with version 3( I think ) under warranty by previous owner . My lines went aswell near the fuel tank . I just replaced the shocks with Koni items and H&R springs ( which I previously fitted ) . I will be honest I had my doubts before purchasing the Koni shocks but Steve at CRS performance was very knowledgeable and put to bed any of those doubts .I think they are great . The ride is just as good as the DRC and the handling when pushed is not too far off as far as I can tell .
I have KW V3s on my B5 rs4 and I find them too harsh even though I have them set at the recommended settings .

marc1
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Re: RS4 shock absorber replacements

Post by marc1 » Sat Oct 26, 2019 3:01 pm

I think Steve’s car is a B8 rather than B7, but same principle. Not sure if Bilstein, KW or Koni do kits for the B8, but if they do I’d go for those over H&R personally.

Steve123
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Re: RS4 shock absorber replacements

Post by Steve123 » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:34 am

Your feed back is very much appreciated, guys ; many thanks. What puzzles me, though, is that my car, with less than 70,000 miles on it ( it had about 60,000 when I bought it a year ago ), should need new shock absorbers now. It's already had new discs,pads and two calipers replaced whilst under the three months warranty ( although I'm having to sue the dealer to get settlement ). Is this amount of work at under 70,000 miles not surprising ?

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