So, for any of you who are thinking about undertaking the control arm job on your B5 (in my case an avant) here are some impressions i have having started the job tonight. To note my car is an Ohio car with 88,000 miles, i am using a 12 peice control arm replacement kit that includes every nut, bolt, tie rod end, sway link and etc.. and while doing this job i am replacing all four struts with brand new 2010 ksport coilovers. I have swapped many honda motors in my time, maybe between 8 and 9 complete swaps. i have done full suspension on honda's and ive done probably 15 brake jobs on various makes and models of cars. Having said that;

This is not an easy job, i would rate this as a highly advanced and patience testing job for acouple of reasons. Working on this car reminds me of trying to play the video game Shadowgate for Nintendo NES. For those of you who don't know what i am talking about Shadowgate is the kind of game where you can die around any corner, for any reason, at any time.

the first reason i think this job is nearly impossible is because once you start working on this job the first thing you realize is that the upper ball joint through bolt is utterly seized, and same with the through bolt for the tie rod. Ok im thinking to myself im going to pull the whole spindle assembly off and remove the balljoints from there.

So the next logical thing is to pull the LCA's off. Well, let me tell you. this job would be a whole lot ******* easier if audi didnt build the suspension BEFORE the ******* subframe was mounted to the body. i am not kidding you literally have to pull of 95% rusted and seized lca bolts (i spent over 45 mins on removing one nut from the furthest back and also largest LCA) and THEN once you get the but off the bolt, you cannot slide the bolt out because it runs into the ******* frame.

THANKS AUDI! now i see why you dont want to recall this issue, it would be an absolute nightmare for every single audi tech in the world of audi's

so for anyone who has ever done this job i have TWO questions. did you cut off the lca bolt and thread it in the opposite direction apon reassembly? or did you drop the subframe to get the bolt out? i am most definatly NOT going to drop the subframe so i am cutting it and reverse replacing it regardless.

and how do you remove the wheel bearing wheel sensor? thanks in advance and any and all comments are wholly appreciated.

thanks for listening to my rant.

 

i would agree with you but ive dont eh control arms on so many audi its just second nature, i by cheap upper arms and replace them every year or two so when a buddy shows up to head out i literally do and upper CA job in 20 minutes. and yes for thos eof you that say i replace thte upper too much yes but im saving up to get a nice set of stern adjustable upper CA's.

 

ok well i got out in the garage and did the other side. MUCH easier im surprised how much more troublesome the curbside of the car was.

i was always told that the curbside sees more wear rust and seized bolts, i saw that empirically tonight.

 

oh and another thing is how i cannot believe how bad i needed this done.

on both sides, both uppers had slop. both lowers had slop (on both sides) both tie rod ends were so fucked. and BOTH front wheel bearings were bad.

dude i imagine this thing is going to handle like an f1 car once its done this weekend lol

 

The suspension on Audi's is def not for the faint of heart. Air tools are a mans best friend when it comes to those bolts. Once I got the spindle off I just took it to a truck shop to have the bearing pressed out and a new one pressed in.

 

oh ya for sure i have a machine shop doing them tomorrow morning. anti seize is going on EVERY bolt lol incase i ever need to do this again.

 

Good move on antiseize but it won't save you on the pinch bolts. Jiggleo came to my house for his CA job, and the passenger pinch bolt finally came out after 2 1/2 hours of soaking in Kroil, using hand tools, impact tools, an air hammer with a chisel bit, an air ratchet (none of which worked), and finally burning it out with a Mapp gas torch. It was an unholy sonofabitch. The rest was a little aggravating but not too bad, but we had three guys on it which helped tremendously - one guy levering down on the rear LCA up front, one guy pulling/threading the bolt out, and one guy tapping the other end with a hammer and drift pin. Anyone doing CAs should have at least one helper - doing it as a one-man job is masochism pure and simple.

 

anti seize is a mans best friends. i literally coat the whole damn bolt with that stuff. wheel bearings are a bitch to say the least. helpers are also a mans best friend. i had to a do lower CA and with no help i had use the steps in my garage as a leverage point and with one hand push the spindle back and then get the rear CA into the hole. i have to do the right side on my dads A4 soon, i really need to get a mapgas torch.

 

haha great post you've articulated my impressions perfectly.

im doing it as a one man job, the spindles are off, and the hardest part is over.im hoping that reassembly is easier (which im sure it will be) and i will be able to enjoy the feeling of my car as if it were new.

but yeah.. could you guys imagine doing this if you were an audi tech? youd kill yourself. its such a **** job!

 

YEAH im taking the spindles to the machine shop and im going to pay them to deal with the "through" bolts and the wheel bearings.

if.... actually. WHEN im loaded with money i will pay to have this job done if i ever need to.

FO SHO!