today somebody cut me off when i was driving, and to avoid hitting the car i swerved to the right and got on a curb driving at about 35-40mph.


now my car is obviously not normal
it need a really bad alignment (going to the left) and when i brake it make a horrible grinding noise.

i took the wheels off to inspect. here are some pictures:












the front wheel is touching the back part of the fender(?)

i took it to NTB (National Tires and Battery) to see if they can fix it with an alignment, they said all this is broken:

1. Upper Control Arm bushing (so need to replace the complete control arm)
2. tie rod inner and outer.

i personally see the bushings but i dont think that i have to replace the complete arm, just the bushings. Am i right or wrong?




so here is the question:
from the pictures can u guys see anything wrong? like broken pieces etc?
is is something i can do at home, and get an alignment later
where can i get good cheap(ish) parts?

how much money should i be expecting to pay for this?



car history: 2001 Audi A6 Quattro 2.7T
147418 miles

we had the car when it had about 70K miles, so far we have done/replaced:

brake pad with rotors (X2)
CV axles
tires (X2)
oil change (mostly on time)
alternator replaced

everything else is either stock original or replaced by the previous owner. we have done nothing else.


thanks in advance. and please if there are any link to diy or how-to's of this please share

 

I'm sure the tire place is correct as to which parts are bad and there may be some that they don't realize are bent just yet. You need to replace the arm not the bushing. I would say $400.00-$600.00 parts and labor would be my guess to get it back 100%. Don't forget your wheel looks bent and probably needs replacing. Are you able to do any of the work yourself? If so you could save a ton of money on labor.

A local shop in MN charges (parts & labor)
100.00 outer tierod (15.00 part only)
???.?? innter tierod (15.00 part only)
100.00 for 1 control arm (30.00...)
100.00 alignment
50.00-300.00 to fix or replace wheel

Seeing that you have 140k on your current set of control arms, it might be a good time to file an insurance claim to cover the damage and also pay out of pocket to get all the control arms replaced as they probably are bad anyways. With 140k on them I'm confident they are bad. Do both sides.

FWIW, sorry to see your 1st post has to be one where you will receive shitty news.

 

thank you for ur reply.
but parts wise its not really much? im not so worried about the rim/tire since i have a spare for temp. use.

but other the tires, the other parts like control arm and tie rods etc. aren't that expensive? where can i get good decent parts. autozone/o'riellys fine correct?

any experience with ebay on this?

 

See my project for this:
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/aud...roject-169788/

If you really love you car and would like it to be feeling and steering like new get the entire control arm kit + 2 inner tie rods to be completely happy again. I got my set from this place: Performance Parts & Repair Specialists for Audi, Porsche and VW - PURE Motorsport
I have to tell you though this is a job that requires a lot of time if you decide to do a DIY job. This was harder then a timing belt replacement in my opinion. TB was "only" 10h for me while this job took like 2-3 full days.

An indy shop would take the parts you ordered and will install it for a lower price then any Audi dealer so probably the best way to go. You don't want to get some shitty aftermarket controls arms so that you have to go through all this BS again within 20k-40k miles.

 

thank you sheldon, ur link doesnt have any pictures. but it mentions u took some, can u send them or share a link?


also, looking at this picture, 2001 Audi A6 Parts - AudiUSAParts.com

i see that there are seperate bushings for part labeled number 8.
is it possible to replace JUST THE BUSHINGS?

to me i only think that this is wrong, just the bushings, everything else looks fine.

 

Sure you can replace just the bushings.

However you should be 100% sure that the arm is in perfect condition otherwise - no cracks and not bend (not even a degree).
Most Drivers will have to replace all bushings between 100k and 120k anyway which is why we recommended to you to get the entire control arm kit replaced since it might be hard to tell if there is hidden damage. If you don't plan on driving this car very long (like if you want to sell) then I guess just the 2 bushings will do fine.

 

replacing just the bushing is a waste of your time and money. The arm (s) are clearly bent and can not be straightened. A broken bushing would not relocate your wheel 4" back in the wheel well, but a bent arm would. This will not be a cheap fix and you need to accept that.

 

I totally forgot about the wheel touching the plastic in the wheel well. I was just looking at the control arm pictures but couldn't see them clearly bent.
So yeah just the bushings will do you no good at all. Jeffla is 100% right don't waste your time and money on a few bushings.

 

so would u guys say buy a new control arm, the lower one and start from there?
is there a possibility that that may fix the problem?


thanks for the help guys i was on my way to go buy bushings rite now but u guys saved me some money right there.
thanks

 

Personally I wouldn't take any risk and just get them all replaced. While you you are at it get the passenger side done too. Entire kit will run you around 550 bucks for the upgraded version (better then OEM) or get a FCPgroton kit for around 275 (probably slightly below OEM quality) @ Audi A6 (98-02) Control Arm Suspension Kit

However you seem to be wanting to spend as little as possible right now (which rarely works good when driving a German luxury car). Play the dice game by replacing just the bare minimum and hope it turns out OK. Don't forget every time you add 1 control arm to the equation you have to add labor again which makes you wish after the 2nd or 3rd time you had done all at once.

Since you would need an alignment specialist or good Indy shop to determine what exactly is bent/broken/busted, make sure you have all the details before you go shopping for parts or you'll regret it faster then you spend money.
I'm no specialist and the pictures don't really tell me what needs to be replaced, so hope a local mechanic gives you the right advise.