Looking to buy a control arm kit for my 1998 A4 Quttro. It's about to turn 99K miles and having front suspension rattles when driving slow over a bumpy road so it's time to replace the control arms and other front-end wear items while I'll have it apart.

I've read all kinds of reports, good and bad, about the various brands of control arm kits such as Vaico, Febi, Meyle, etc, but cannot find any reviews on the RTS brand. They're reportedly made in Spain. Specifically, I'm looking at this kit from GermanAutoParts.com which has the S4 style solid tie rod ends for $379

GermanAutoParts.com :

Anybody familiar with this brand and are they pretty decent?

I do not want to install any of the cheap ones from China, Turkey, etc.... too many bad reviews on those not lasting very long, but I really don't have the money to buy OEM, or even the $600 Meyle HD kit.

 

I just spoke with a buddy who works as a mechanic at a local German auto repair shop and he said that while he's never used this particular kit on an Audi A4, they've used plenty of other RTS suspension parts on customers vehicles and consider them a good brand so I guess I'm going to pull the trigger and order this kit.

 

If you haven't done so already, FCP Euro has a complete B5 kit for under $300. I had a pair on my old B5 and had no issues for the 2 years I had them before I sold the car. Many other B5ers here use and attest to their quality from back in the day when FCP Euro was an eBay only company.

 

The RTS kit has harder compound rubber on the upper control arms bushings similar to the S4 arms, and solid rubber bushings instead of the "hydraulic" softer bushings on the lower control arms. My mechanic buddy says these are more desirable so I think I'll spend the extra money on this RTS kit.

 

The parts arrived yesterday and they look solidly made. Two of the large lower control arms supplied were not RTS brand but were Febi (made in Germany) instead . The RTS parts look every bit as beefy as the Febis.