Well, you definitely need a good manual (bentley CD is fine, not too $).

-you don't need a spring compressor, as the shocks will top-out and hold the springs to the strut.
-my definition of pickle fork is the 'sharp' tuning-fork attachment to my air hammer. No, you don't need this.
-you will need parts of a 'front end kit'. The main issue is the outer ball joints which have conical seats into the wheel hub. Depending on age, whether they were properly torqued to begin with, and whether anti-sieze was used, they can be VERY tight to pop out. I had to modify a ball joint remover on the grinder to get it to fit (the space in between the control arm you're trying to pop and the wheel hub is rather short.)
-you'll definitely need a torque wrench. Getting in there with the wrench was tough, my offset crowfoots (see below) helped.

a few caveats:
-when tightening up the new setup, you are supposed to do so at a neutral ride height (eg sitting on its own weight). There are two ways to do this. 1) put it down (or jack up the one wheel) and get under it to tighten, or 2) tighten each piece *IN* its neutral pos. and then pull it down by hand to insert the ball joint into the hub.

Think carefully about how you are going to do this, and the ORDER so you know if you have the correct tool. I have a set of "offset crowfoots" that made this easier. These are similar to crowfoots, but they give more length between the bolt you are driving and the 3/8" hole for your wrench then a standard crowfoot (like ~3" instead of ~1.5"). They are usually box end instead of open end as well. I just googled but couldn't find what I have. When I make it over to my shop I'll re-post. As a note, if I remember correctly I didn't quite follow bentley's ordering for the job - I thought I 'saw a better way' , and this made it harder for me. I would follow the order to the 'T'

Hope that helps!

 

Good advice thanks. I have the kit, I;m just waiting for a day that I have some time free to start. You say you don;t need a pickle fork? Did you just air hammer them out or what? I'm getting an air hammer soon I hope so that will make things easier but when I did the suspension on my a4 I just used a pickle fork and mallet. As far as a manual, I have found a few DIYs that I like which followed a good logical order. And I plan to use a jack to prop the assembly up. When I finish I'll let everyone know my impressions on the "heavy duty rs6" fcp groton set.

 

@jhuffman - id be interested to see some pics of your 'fcp' kit... close ups next to the stock would be great.

Imho, it'd be well worth the ~$30 for you to pick up a good official manual...

As far as an air hammer / pickle fork. That's always an important thing to have around if you really get stuck... but really you should use a propper separator.

Most of the parts in there (save the actual ball joint surfaces) are aluminum and you run the risk of damaging thins.

You should be able to pick up a 'front end kit' which includes several separators on ebay / harbor freight for cheap. I have a similar but little higher quality OTC kit.

Good luck!

 

After getting my hands dirty a few times and assesing the situation behind the wheels I found that nothing in there has been touched since the factory. I don't know how I am going to get the pinch bolt out, its stuck beyond my strength (after torching and several days of continuous PB treatment). I might be drilling that one out and replacing it. Also, The caliper carrier bolts and WAYYY over torqued. The top one eventually came free but the bottom is a biatch since I can't find a good angle to torque on it from.

 

oh, and I will definetly get some pics of the bits and pieces side by side when I get everything out. From my initial inspection they should work just fine. I know people say watch out for them, but they have some good reviews on the forums and I'm just looking to replace the suspension on my DD. I don't drive it hard so they should handle city roads just fine.

 

I hear ya - while removing the transmission to replace the clutch, I had one bolt (steel) that was completely welded / frozen to the (aluminum) tranny housing. (just galvanic-corrosion i'd guess)

It took me a full hour and a 6 FOOT breaker bar to get the bolt out... when I finally got it all the way out, the bolt was almost cylindrical - it had sheered out all the aluminum threads...

As I mentioned, I was (with difficulty) able to pop the conical ball joint seats out with just the front end kit... good luck with yours

 

A 6 foot breaker... jeeze. Did you have a lift to get all that under there or what? My new plan is to drill out the bolt. I'm sick of trying different things in this colorado crappy weather where I'm at work and its beautiful out and I think hmm tomorrow I dont work, I'll take car of that bolt then. I wake up the next morning and there is 6 inchs new snow and it doesn't stop for 2 more days.

During my replacement though I did trigger my ABS and ESP lights. Some reading told me my module could be going out, oh no! Didn't seem right so I eventually found a thread from I think a vw forum that said to just back the thing out a few mm. Worked like a charm.

 

Good info on that kit and purems. I bought a TB kit from them and it was also top-notch. Now I know where to go when I need to redo the front end. Thanks.

 

I finally got the pinch bolt out. I'm posting it here in case anyone else wants to know. When I first PBed and torqued on the nut, it sheered clean off. (in the future, torching each nut and bolt solves this problem entirely). The bolt was galvanically rusted inside the arm. After it sheered I couldn't get the bolt to turn ever with a 4 ft breaker. The head of the bolt just stripped. What do I do now? Sears has a stripped bolt socket set which bites into the steel removing the need for the allen shape. These eventually allowed me to break it loose. These kits are awesome and I recommend them to any DIYer.

 

Dear Mboard182,

I am in desperate need of some talk time. I just had my front end done by what I thought to be a reputable shop. Turns out, NO. They delivered the car without taking on the highway and at 50 MPH or higher, I have a severe shake. I also had new wheels put on, and the balancing work was horrible. After an additional two returns to the shop, the basically screwed me. I have taken the care to a larger company with several locations, but we are getting too focused on the wheels and balancing but I am convinced the front end parts were not put on correctly and we will chase many dead ends without focusing on the reassembly. I will be happy to pay for some advice. Thanks in advance.