Car: 1998 Audi A4 1.8t Quattro 5spd


Last week i clipped a curb pretty hard and basically ruined my whole rear driver side assembly, and im having trouble finding replacement parts and mechanics to install them... does anyone have any suggestions or any ideas of what i should do?? here is some pictures of the damage...


(Sorry For The Crappy Pictures)

 

Sign up at www.vagcat.com for your car (it's free). You can compare the exploded diagrams there and see which parts are damaged and need replacement. VagCat gives you the OEM part numbers for every part, so you'll know what to order. From there, order your parts (upgrading if you can afford to, original if you can't or aren't inclined to). For control arms, FCP Groton sells on eBay and has individual pieces as well as a full-car set of them for less than the dealership, and they've gotten good reviews from other owners. If you need to swap out your strut, you can easily find people selling the OEM gear when they upgrade. I wouldn't do this for control arms though, since the ball joints are integral and not replaceable - the arm itself has to be swapped. You don't want to buy the arm from someone and have the ball joint fail a month later, and have to replace it again. For the sway bar, if you broke an end link, PureMS or ECS Tuning sells steel ones to replace the OEM plastic - might want those anyway.

Once your parts are in your possession, see about meeting up with a local AFer or two who will pitch in labor in exchange for beer and pizza (that's our currency in NY), and have at it. The suspension work on these cars is actually surprisingly easy to do and I know that with tools and a couple guys you can do it in a driveway. You'll have to align the car afterward of course, but that's to be expected. There are DIYs out there for various suspension procedures that will help you with doing the work as well.

Word of advice - if you remove the hub, don't try and pull the ABS sensor out. Unplug it from under the seat, feed the wire out the bottom of the car, and once it's completely off the car, look inside the back side of the hub, where the CV axle fits. You'll see the "face" of the sensor there. Put a socket extension against it and lightly tap it out of the hub. It'll come out easily that way. Try pulling it out and you'll probably destroy it (ask me how I know that). Oh, and at least the day before, start soaking everything with penetrating fluid (get Deep Creep or something like that - PB Blaster is good but it can't compare to the true penetrating fluids). You will be glad you did - the elements, heat cycling, and environmental torque (bolts seizing up from exposure) can make the job a real pain, but lubing it for a day or two prior to work will help you a lot. And if you can arrange for air tools, they're a big help (although not crucial) - you can even rent electric impact tools from Taylor Rental and that'll help a lot.

 

Alright thanks, im going to register for that right now. Any thing else you think would help?

Edit [update] : Ive been looking for the exploded diagrams and i cant seem to find one...
Do you know the link to the post where the diagrams are at?