I always thought it'd be easier to take it to a shop too. 1) They've got the tools. 2) They know what they're doing lol. But in all honesty, my Audi dealership charges 150.00usd/hr. That's WAYYYY too much for me. I took it to a local shop, I've done some stuff there in the past, on my old mercedes and on my current A4, and he charges me 75.00usd/hr. That's still way too much money if you ask me. So... what did I do? I said f*^k it, and started reading and reading and reading, on how to do things. Trial and error my friend. Get a family member or a friend to tote you around for a few weeks. Offer gas money or something. Gas is a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for a dealer to do some bullsh!t work you can do yourself for 75% cheaper. You want to be safe. You want to have a car that is fun, and reliable. Trust me, store the car. Save up cash, take out a loan if you have to. I understand right now is probably not the BEST time to do that, but if you're set on having the dealership do it, you can always consider that. If not, start saving your pennies. Cut on small stuff, going out, candy bars, pops, etc. You'll be amazed at how fast it all adds up. I'm going to be paying my entire exhaust repair in change that I've saved up lol. If you're still unsure about how to DIY, you can always ask someone to come help you. They'd be glad to go on a road trip to come out and help a fellow AF guy for a few rounds of beer and a burger or something. Please, be safe, and be smart, and get this done ASAP.

 

you could always rob a bank... but i wouldnt use your A4 as the getaway car lol

 

^lol...nice.

...looks like I'll probably take it easy on the car and let it sit for a bit while I save up. Then, I'll probably attempt to tackle the DIY for both the repair job and the COs install. I already have the bentley manual but would feel A LOT more confident with comprehensive DIY write up that takes you through the steps more. I guess, I'll check the sites for one.

 

yeaa bro learn from me, I was in a very similar situation last year. Had 5 bad control arms, tierods needed replacing and I had to repair my axels. I was so naive about how seriously dangerous the issue was that I drove the car around for 6 months because I didn't have the money to save. I could have killed someone or myself for the matter...Not acknowledging your problems will not make them go away. Take out a loan, start hustling, do whatever to get the work done. I'm sure you could find a member on the site to help you out, good luck man and be safe! Keep grinding school, it will pay off sooner than later.

 

Two quick DIY questions:
Does installing the COs require disassembling the arms and TREs? and, Does adjusting them require this too, or any special tools to be able to compress the spring?

 

You will need to detach the 2 upper and lower control arms from the knuckle assembly in order to get the shock tower out. While it can be done with the control arms still attached to the car, you might be better of removing the front lower control arm to give you more space to work and to make the removal of the shock tower easier. You won't need to remove you TREs.

Here is a little write-up i did when i replaced my control arms. It's not really a DIY, but should give you an idea:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...y+control+arms

 

ok...so regardless of whether I DIY (-likely-) or take it to a shop, I will wait to do both jobs at once.
Do you need any special tools to adjust the ride height?

 

Assuming you're going coilovers, yes, there are spanner wrenches that should come with them. They're included if you buy a new set, but if you buy used, make sure they come with the wrenches. Mine didn't and i can't adjust mine without paying a shop to do it, or borrowing someone's wrenches.

 

Get them fixed don't risk it. Trust me it's not fun when a wheel fall's off and damages the body.... I know from experience though not my Audi it was still a 99.5 2.8l A4qm lol. I just finsished doing my lower's and did my upper's when I put my springs on also did the TRE's when I got the car... Now I am just waiting for a front wheel bearing to go out. Both rear's already did haha.

 

Hmmmm....well I have 140k KM on my car and I think the wheel bearings are like ~$80 a piece. I'm thinking this would be a good time to do those as well, since they seem to wear on these vehicles around this time. It's just one thing after another maintainning these cars when they get to that mid-life stage! lol. Do the wheel bearings usually become a problem? Does it make sense to do them now?