Hows it going Audi forums. Just looking for some input here. About 2 months ago I lowered my 2001 a4 2.8 to the point where I have about a cm of wheel gap. Got it aligned as best as my local shop could do, still had a bit of toe and camber. Just yesterday I noticed something has got much worse and the front end seems very unstable on the highway making lane changes and the car seems to have a harder time driving. Feels like its more so pushing the front end around. Jacked the front end up and the passenger side feels all nice and tight, no movement at all. The driver side has a bit of play in the bushings for the upper control arms. Not a whole lot, but I can flex the control arms a bit. I was curious if that alone would cause what I'm experiencing, or if the car has gone more toe out of alignment. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinkin about doing a full control arm and stabilizer set. Would it be worthwhile to bring it back to the shop that aligned it just two weeks ago and see if they can check its alignment. Thanks in advance.

 

If you're going to be dropping your car that low, I'd make sure you have good/new control arms, tie rods and perfect alignment (you might need a kit for that).

Otherwise you're going to tear all kinds of **** up.

 

I"ll order some adjustable upper control arms and see if I can get it aligned to stock spec. Thanks for your input sir. In the meantime I might just replace my uppers with some used ones off the parts car.

 

My pleasure!

Check on eBay for tie rods. There's a guy on there (eseller956 ) that sells both sides (brand new, heavy duty inners and outters - all 4) really cheap ($45 or so). I bought them and they made a huge difference in my front end alignment. They play a big part in your front end and there's an awesome DIY w/pics lying around here somewhere. Actually, here:

https://www.audiforums.com/forum/diy...ration-173191/

I can also help you if you decide to do it yourself and have any questions.

Good luck w/everything!

 

Thanks again for the reply. I went ahead and ordered a entire control arm set. Upon further review it seems like whats really wearing out in my inner tie rod end on the one side. Of course the set I ordered has everything but the inner tie rod ends. And the absolute only thing I left on my shell i scrapped was the steering box with tie rods haha. Of well. I'm going to look into that seller and grab those heavy duty ones.

 

Just ordered though, thanks for giving that user name. I'll be sure to post back once its all back together.

 

Good to hear!

Like I said: Just give me a shout if I can help further.

And G/L with everything.

 

Does it sound like the front end is rattling at all when going over bumps? If the control arms do not resolve the issue, you might take a look at the strut mounts. Here is an example Audi B5 A4 Quattro 1.8T Suspension Shocks - 4D0412377F - Front Upper Strut Mount - Priced Each - ES#376120

Mine were really worn when I did my suspension upgrades and the hole that the shock went through had become enlarged somehow and was allowing the shock to actually move around slightly...

 

Did the arms yesterday and the car feels so much better. Tie rods will be here tomorrow and I would imagine once that is done it will be 100%. Thanks again for the help. I checked out that diy but decided to do mine a bit different, didn't remove the brakes, saw no need too. No rattling in the front end over bumps, thanks for the suggestion though. Now I know where to look if i start experiencing such a problem.