I went to the audi dealership not too long ago. They are nice people dont get me wrong but, what they talk about sometimes just doesnt make sense. I realize that I do have a lot of suspension play. The description goes like this: Whenever I drive, it feels as if a bar(s) is somewhere loose down where the tires are. If I drive on a rough road, and I have my windows down, I can hear like a few pieces of metals clinking together. When I hit a small small bump in the road, it feels as if a bar in the middle would snap and my two front tires would come rolling out. Whenever I try to make a turn or press the brakes, there is this loud one knock noise. Everytime. For my Audi A6, they say it's a lot of suspension play and the cause of it is my control arms which singlely looks like a bone, and theres 4 of them. I really dont know if thats the cause of it because I looked at mine and looked it up online and each one looks like a metal wrench. Could this be the fault they were talking about? How can something like that have a fault unless, it like cracks which I know mine didnt.? Help
You have worn control arm bushings, ball joints, tie rods or any combo of them. The control arm itself is pretty indestructable (under normal conditions) but the rubber bushing in it wears out. Now unfortunetly you drive an Audi and they don't allow you to just replace the bushings. So you need to buy the whole arm (a waste...yes). The same with your ball joints, normally you could just unbolt, pop the old one out and put a new one in. But Audi and others have integrated it into the control arm. So you need a whole new control arm.
If you have bad ball joints, and they are making that much noise, you are at risk of loosing control when the wheel(s) practically fall off. They don't fall off but what until it brakes and then you will see what I mean.
Spec Stage II Clutch and Aluminum Flywheel, APR Software, APR Snub Mount, APR Downpipes and Test Pipes with Milltek Cat Back, Hyperboost Diverter Valves, K&N Drop In (Temp).
Not too long ago, I wrote a post about my suspension play. You replied that I have worn control arm bushings, ball joints, and tie rods. This is just great. But obviously I found a good website that gave me a good deal for the whole thing and sway bars for under $500.00 but the fact of the matter is this, can I do it myself? It really doesnt look that hard, and the company actually gave me a pamphlet of what the audi technicians do step by step. It looks pretty simple but takes a long time. about 3-4 hours for one side. Will it be alright if I and a mechanic work on it? Also is theres anyone near south carolina that does it for cheap, besides an audi dealership. Or one of those bays that you can work on a car yourself for only 5 dollars an hour? Thanks really appreciate it.
Doing it yourself should not be that hard. If this is your first time it would be a good idea to have a friend or mechanic on standby to answer any questions or help show you the ropes in a sense. Go here: http://sonolithics.com/files/a6_links.html and here: http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel.html You will find some directions about doing the job. With your directions and this website you should have all the info you need. The job istelf is not that hard, but very time consuming, if they say it takes 3-4 hours, allow yourself the first time 4-6 hours a side. Best of luck,
Jeff
edit: I think avant802.6 is onto something with the anti roll bar.
< Message edited by Jeffla -- 6/23/2007 7:42:00 AM >
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