Is it possible to change the lower control arms without taking off the top ones. Did some searching and found that most information shows the complete change of tops and bottoms. I have recently had the top ones changed and now i'm changing to bottoms. Any comments are greatly appreciated.
KBuff 97 A4 Quattro 2.8 132K

 

lower arms can be changed without the tops

 

yes u can, just don't touch the top ones and unbolt the bottom ones. no trying to be a smartass but that's how u do it. if u have an impact gun ur life will be 100 times easier

 

Easy enough to do the lowers without doing the uppers. I can think of no place that an impact will be a big help except to get the wheels off. You might need a tool to pop the ball-jointed ends loose. Be sure to either tighten the inners with the suspension loaded or align the bushing with the flats on the subframe.

 

I have a related question, sorry for the hijack.

Last weekend I took control arms off a wrecked A4 and it was necessary to unbolt the sub-frame from the body in order to remove the bolts holding the lower rear control arm. Is that right? I haven't looked at mine yet to see how close it looks...

 

On my 2.8, I needed to take the holder off the fuel lines on the passenger side and gently wedge a pry bar under them to make a space for the bolt to go into. Idid get the bolts out without taking the sub down, but it was time consuming to do.

 

ive done this whole job before using much bettter parts from Meyle. I didnt want to mess with the sub frame so i ended up using an impact to dent in the underbody for some room to get the bolts in and out.

 

That thought crossed my mind as I struggled to get the passenger side bolt out. I have every air tool except a hammer. I concidered a ball peen, but not enough space to get a good swing at it.

 

Replaced the Lower arms yesterday, took about 3.5 hours. It went better than expected. Had to rent a front end tool kit which helped out greatly with the ball joints and the suspention part that looks like a C that is connected to the sway bar. I did lower or loosen the subframe bolts and the fuel line brackets. Thanks for the information, it gave me confidence to do this job. No more squeaking.
Peace, KBZ