The head of the bolt also needs to have a wrench on it while the nut is tightened. There's nothing to prevent it from spinning otherwise.

 

there is no head to the bolt. the head is inside of the busshing. i am talking about down by the wheel bearing where the ball joint is, not where it attatches to the frame. there is no way to keep that bolt from spinning unless i take the rubber off of the joint, which i would think makes it useless

 

[IMG]C:\Users\Rob\Pictures\nut and bolt.jpg[/IMG]

 

I put a pair of vise grips on the bench grinder and ground them down very narrow. Then I clamped the shaft and tightened the nuts down. Once I had to remove the pliers, channellock pliers clamped from back of ball joint head to end of shaft held it the rest of the way.

 

i have a picture but cant figure out how to put it on here

 

Good to hear that you got everything done.

The pinch bolt can be drilled out. I know because this was the only option I had left in the arsenal. To tell the truth, drilling the bolt out wasn't so much of a pain in the ***. It was the time wasted trying all mybother options that pissed me off.

 

you have to upload it to a photo hosting website before you embed it in the post. you could use photobucket, flikr, or AF if you'd like, but trying to host a pic from your C:\ drive won't get you very far

 

Oooohhhh I thought you meant the subframe-end of the control arm.

That joint should have a hex for an allen wrench to fit in the threaded end. So you can hold it steady with the allen wrench, then use an open-end wrench to tighten the nut. That joint is tapered so as it goes into the knuckle further and further it will get tighter and you will be able to put a socket on it to torque it to spec.

This is, of course, assuming there is a hex in the end of the threaded part for an allen wrench to fit into.

 

no there is no hex on the bottom of it. i already ordered a new kit from fc groton because this one seems cheap and is making me mad. i would rather know i have quality parts because of how important the suspension is, and i dont have to do this again next year. the kit i ordered claims it is an S4 upgrade from groton, does anyone know what that means? maybe stiffer bushings? and does it matter if i tighten the bolts down with the suspension hanging or do they have to be tightened at ride height?
Audi A4 A6 VW Passat Control Arms Kit (1997-2003)