Fitting suspension arms

[jimbo]

Has anyone any experience of changing their suspension arms?
One or more of mine have started knocking and the full kit from VAG Parts
seems the most cost effective in the long term.
The arms look a straight forward swap if the bolts come off ok but any tips would be helpful.

Cheers

[philipwalker]

If you have a Audi service history I would try your local dealer. lay it on about this being a common fault subject to recalls etc. I have known some to get the lot changed under "goodwill"

The job is a bit of a fiddle. The long bolt holding the top arms in at the top of the hub is very tight. Plenty of heat if needed. The rest is easy. Parts from the dealer or German and Swedish etc

[S4INT]

I have just had my lower suspension bearing arms changed under a "Product Improvement Recall". There is a separate thread on here somewhere about this, but give Audi Customer Services a call to see whether yours has been done and if not get it booked in to a stealer.

They will only change them if there is play in the mountings, but it's worth getting it checked out for free anyway.

I had to have the other lower "banana" arms done at the same time, but it was still worthwhile.

You don't need full Audi History - mine has done 120k now with Audi history up to 100k. It's also got the H&R suspension!

Hope that helps,

Paul.

[Morpheous]

I changed my W reg car front links with the kit, the worst part will be removing the pinch bolt which secures the two top arms. This bolt gives centres hassle too. Make sure you have these nuts and bolts to hand as you will need to replace them.

The kit comes with all the nuts and bolts required, when fitting to an S4 be aware the four top arms and the track rod ends are different to a normal A4.
I just sold these on ebay and bought the correct ones, it was still cheaper for me to do it that way.

Not sure if the kit is still available from the network but I think VAG Parts still do it.

[tartan_rob]

All can be done at home, but it is fiddly and will take about a day if you know what you are doing and have no issues, I'd book a Thursday and Friday, that ensures you can get spare bolts etc the next day if required. The trackrod ends have changed design and the newer one needs to be fiddled with to swap it over (I got Audi to do mine). Then straight in for a 4wheel alignment

On another note - and Morpheous touched on it. DO NOT get cheap parts, get them from VAG-Parts, Audi or better. I fitted a eurocarparts OEM part (lower rear N/S wishbone), within two weeks the car had destroyed the rubber bush and actually torn it clean from the housing. It was in a worse state than the one I replaced. Audi informed me that all the suspension parts for the S4/RS4 have been uprated to cope with the extra power/torque/cornering stresses/quattro differances, Although they are the same shape and similiar size to std A4's (but not exactly the same), std ones will not take the pounding. The correct parts also mean that your camber can be adjusted correctly.

[jimbo]

Thanks for the help, the car went in last year for the arm recall and everything was ok, its just this last month that its started knocking.

The local stealer wants £134 for the lower front arm, which made the kit from VAG-Parts look better value at £330+VAT for the lot, however i was not aware there was a differance between the A4 and S4 arms so i'll have to re-check the price of the kit.

Thanks again i'll let you know how tight the top bolt was

Jim

[Morpheous]

Hi, its only the top arms and track rod ends which are wrong. This is due to 1BD running gear. I always use either genuine stuff of VAG parts only. I would never buy the aftermarket ones, this is serious stuff, if one of these let go on the motorway . My family mean too much to save money in the wrong places.
The best value way is to get the Vag parts kit, sell the top arms and track rod ends on ebay to an A4 owner for top money (remember they are brand new genuine arms) , then either see if Vag parts can get the S4 arms and ends, or try and blag some discount from your parts department.
Remember when you undo the 10mm bolt on the top of the track rod, the S curve needs to be set up. I was surprised how much difference its makes to the cars handling when this is set incorrectly.
Hope this helps.
Oh and for anyone who doubts the arms being incorrect I found out the long winded way. You can't get the correct camber if you use the kit arms.

[jimbo]

Cheers Morpheous, i misunderstood your first post but all became clear as i ordered mine today from VAG-Parts.
As you say above, there is not a kit for the S4, the A4 kit has to be used plus the additional upper arms and trackrod ends for the S4. Seems i'm also going to have a set of A4 upper arms to e-bay.

I wasn't going to change the track rod ends as mine have been done recently but what do you mean by the "S curve", is this on the tr end or where it fits the suspension arm?

Thanks again