Control arm replacement question

Good evening everyone. I have a quick question about the front control arms on my b5. I've ordered a control arm kit because I figured if one goes, the rest are soon to follow. The kit comes with hardware, so I have all the parts covered. I was just wondering if anyone has done this and has any pointers for me. I have never done any suspension work but I have the Haynes manual and I am pretty mechanically inclined. If there are any tricks I should know or any things I should look out for I would really appreciate it. I live in MI and will be doing this outside, it's about 10 degrees here, any time saved is a godsend.

Thanks,
proud German car owner in the middle of GM country

youre going to have to drop your subframe FYI. its a long process, but not really too bad... also you need a size 17 hex i think... its big.. gl

Jeeeze a 17 Hex. What controll arm is that for. I know not the upper.

The manual says to watch for shims when I drop the subframe. Is this something that could be easily lost no the driveway or do they stay in place pretty well? Any ideas how long this might take?

shims? no idea but when i did mine, i took the top ones off first. make sure you buy a couple cans of pb blaster and spray all the bolts a couple days before you even start working. an impact gun will make your life 10x easier. the 17mm is for the bolt in the center of the spindle. it's to separate the axle from the hub. make sure you have something to hang the axle when you take it off or you might damage it. things to watch out for are the bolt the holds the top 2 control arm to the spindle, it might be rusted on there, i think your control arm kit comes with tie rods because most kits do, make sure you get the adjustment nut as close to what it was before as possible and then get an alignment done after you're all done. you also might have to unbolt this huge black piece of metal under the car for a sec so you can take one of the botls out for the control arm. also, get some grease and put it around all the bolts so they dont' get rusted as easily. i think that's about it. o and it'll take you about 6 hours if you don't know what you're doing but it only takes 3 hours if you got all the good tools and know waht you're doing. having a second part of hands if good too because the threads for the lower control arms are pretty long. o you'll also need to unbolt the strut

Will a fork style ball joint tool work for the lower arm or is there something else I need to get while I'm at the store for the 17 hex wrench? I'll be doing it old school with hand tools (just graduated college and the loan repayments are coming due).

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel43.shtml

Do it in a garage, you have no idea what you will be getting into by doing it out on the driveway in 10 degree weather. It will be one or two bolts, the pinch bolt, or a tierod that will not budge, and you'll spend an extra 3 hours on it while freezing. I did mine in my garage this winter, and it took at least 8 hours of actual work time - between drinking beer and taking breaks. Also, some A4s have an axle bolt that requires a 14mm hex to remove it. Make sure that you jack up the hub to "ride height" before tightening/torqing the bolts that clamp down on the control arm bushings - otherwise the bushings will wear out in no time. Just do a search in the A4 section (this B5 sub-section is new) for control arms, etc... and read all can find about it. And follow the DIY akielb posted above.  

If you're seriously doing it outside, do the uppers that you think are bad. Save the lowers until it warms up a little.  This is not a simple job.  I did mine recently, I have no idea where a 17mm hex will come into play.  The proper tool for popping the lower ball joint on the spindle isn't the pickle fork type.  It's more like a clamp that pinches it together. I think the VAG number is something like 4367.

^ talking about this, to get out the axle bolt. But like I said, I think mine was a 14mm when I did my cv boots. I don't think that I took my hubs out for the control arms, I just remember doing the uppers, reconnecting them to the hub, and then doing the lowers, so I never had to take that bolt out. But then again, that was a long weekend of drinking and staying up till 4 am, so I don't remember 100%.

Why were you taking the axle bolt out?  It's totally unneccessary.

it's definately necessary to do the lower control arms....

if I was in your shoes I would do all four upper control arms and call it a day...should take about 2.5 hours

a friend and some beer are always good to keep around...shouldn't be difficult at all

if a bolt wont turn out...spray it with pb plaster and drink a beer while you wait

gl!

quote:

ORIGINAL: qUaTtRoA4

it's definately necessary to do the lower control arms....

if I was in your shoes I would do all four upper control arms and call it a day...should take about 2.5 hours

a friend and some beer are always good to keep around...shouldn't be difficult at all

if a bolt wont turn out...spray it with pb plaster and drink a beer while you wait

gl!

 
I would like for someone to explain to me why you have to take the axle bolt out to change the lower control arms.  I most certainly changed mine and did not take the axle bolt out.

Well, after reading all the stuff you have posted and reading several other articles feel comfortable doing this repair. I called around just to see how much I would save on labor. Everybody is quoting about 8 hrs for $600. I also can't find a ball joint tool like everyone is suggesting. I've tried all the shops for several miles and no one knows wheres to get one. I think I'll just go with the fork since all the parts will be scrap when I'm done anyhow. I also have access to a lift and pneumatic tools, so that should speed things along. Hopefully the parts will show up before the weekend so I can get it done before too much longer. Wish me luck.

you don't need a ball joint tool if you're doing the control arms. the ball joint is in the control arm and you'll be changing out the whole contorl arm, not the ball joint

quote:

ORIGINAL: manufan

quote:

ORIGINAL: qUaTtRoA4

it's definately necessary to do the lower control arms....

if I was in your shoes I would do all four upper control arms and call it a day...should take about 2.5 hours

a friend and some beer are always good to keep around...shouldn't be difficult at all

if a bolt wont turn out...spray it with pb plaster and drink a beer while you wait

gl!

I would like for someone to explain to me why you have to take the axle bolt out to change the lower control arms.  I most certainly changed mine and did not take the axle bolt out.

it's alot easier if you have the steering knucke out of your way....It's easier in the scheme of things...


good luck on the install, you shouldn't have any problems...

well, 130,000 miles in this crappy MI weather did what it would do to my car. The head of the pinch bolt on top twisted off with know warning. It just fell off in my hand. I tried to use an air hammer on the end after a good long soak from the pb (since days before even starting and every night until starting), this got me nowhere. I've got a local guy who said he can get it done for 300 bucks. Are there any other things I should try or should I just shell out the cash and let him figure it out. I really want to get it done on my own and not just throw in the towel.