Yola

My 98 A4 quattro is wicked scary on rutted roads. Thanks to a bit of troubleshooting and another post on this board, I'm going to replace my tie rod ends to fix the problem. I have a service manual and don't expect to hit any snags, but I'm a rookie when it comes to car repair. If anyone has any advice on the replacement (potential problems, common mistakes, etc.) please let me know. Thanks!

 

Have you seen this?

 

this is probley the only good thing about Audi world is the tech articles

 

yea, their tech section is pretty amazing....we need to make ours bigger!

 

Well hop to it then!

 

haha, i'm workin on it! i try to get people to make a write-up whenever i see someone doing their own mods/repairs...someday we'll take over aw....someday..

 

I haven't seen that. Mine look about as damaged as the one in the pic. Thanks for the link, it's exactly what I need.

 

So I replaced the tie rod ends over the weekend. First one took about an hour. Second one took about 20 min. Thanks for pointing me to the procedure Jest; it was much better than the Haynes manual procedures.

This took care of my splashy steering problem. I forgot how much fun this car is to drive.

 

Did you take her for an Alignment ?

 

The procedure link in this post and the Haynes manual procedure both gave the heads-up to carefully measure the distance between the lock nut and the tie rod end. I did this with a good degree of accuracy. I've driven a couple of hundred miles (long commute) since the replacement and haven't noticed any alignment problems. I figured I would check for abnormal tire wear the next time I rotate them. Is there anything else I should look for to verify my alignment is ok? I would like to skip paying for an alignment if possible. Is there anything I could F up if the alignment is slightly off and I don't realize it? Thanks.