OK- I searched the archive and believe I know the culprit to my newly realized front end clunking noise. I was driving down a rough section of road and heard aloose sounding clunking noise coming from what sounded like the left front suspension. After utilizing the search function, I believe that my A6 is suffering from a crappy control arm bushing, most likely the lower one (right?). Now, what to do to fix it...
[ol][*]My car is under certified warranty. Has anyone gotten the CA replaced under warranty?[*]If I can't get it fixed under warranty it seems like a doable DIY project. Are there upgraded control arms that are longer lasting than OEM?[*]Any other advice before I proceeed to deal with this annoying clunk?[*]Finally, how long can I procrastinate fixing this before it becomes an even bigger issue?[/ol]
Thanks!!!

 

The noise may be from any one or moreof the 8 control arms (2 upper and 2 lower oneach side) or the tie rod ends. Always a good idea to have it checked at a good Audi indie shop or dealer to find the extent of the problem before shopping for parts. With that said, ...
1. Audi CPO warranty excludes control arms. They must have known...
2. Vendors such as Pure Motorsports, ECS, Blauparts, etc. sell complete kits (8 arms & tie rod ends) for around $450 - $500. I replaced mine with Meyle upgraded ones.
3. When installing new control arms ALWAYS load the suspension (set the car down on it's wheels) prior to tightening the control arm bushing bolts. Failing to do this preloads (twists) the bushings and is the main cause of early bushing failure.
4. Bushings are not a problem. If the noise is tie rod or ball joint, fix ASAP.

 

complicated answer really, there are many things which cause this and the first it the anti rool bar bushings and link arm ( they are the cheapest fix and most common ) next is the ball joints which make more noise at lower speeds when turning, then there is the C/V joint which only makes a noise when turning a sort of crunching noise

 

It's all an easy fix, just buy the whole kit, do it all at the same time.

 

Yep... it looks like this may be one of my first projects. I am going to have an audi mechanic diagnose what is wrong and will most likely be getting a Febi/Bilstein kit. It seems the Ocap kit has received very limited feedback from Audi owners and the Meile kit has failed several Audi owners and has been flagged as a crappy kit. As I drive my car an extremely limited amount, I probably won't get to this for a few months. I find it pretty lame the Audi suspensions crap out so damn early, and am pissed off this is not covered by CPO warranty. Oh well. With all the bells and whistles these cars have, something is bound to go kapoot. I hope this car does not turn into the piggy bank my former car (Mitsu 3000GT VR-4) was... high maintenance bitches[:'(].

 

Audi= $$$$$$$$$ pit $$$$$$