control arm replacement

[BuffysRS4]

Has anyone tackled replacing the lower front control arms themselves? I am going to attempt the drivers side lower front but would like to get some feedback from the Audi demiGODS. Should anything else be replaced other than the arm itself (nuts & bolts) and do I need to have an alignment done afterwards?

Thanks

[risc427]

Personally I would recommend replacing all nuts and bolts you remove. I know when I did mine a lot of bolts were pretty chewed up when I finally got them out.

As for the alignment, I don't really think you'll need one if you're just replacing the driver's side lower. I replaced all of mine and didn't notice *much* pull to either side. However, I did end up putting it on the rack just to make sure everything was right. (I'm picky when it comes to this stuff)

There are a few other guys that can probably give you better advice about the alignment, turbo90awd and cj-s4 are probably the two most knowledgable in the area of control arms and alignments.

[Daft]

The front lower arms are the easiest ones to change of them all. The one thing that might be a problem is the balljoint end of the arm. One of my front lower arms was so stuck on there that I needed to put a balljoint press on it and then use my air hammer on it too. After a few seconds of that it popped apart. You can't really hit it with a regular hammer because the balljoint is attached to a confined area of the wheel bearing housing.

As risc posted, no alignment is required after this arm is replaced. If you haven't had an alignment in a long time, you should consider getting one done. Settings will shift on their own over time.

I'm not sure how much you're paying for these two front arms but, the whole control arm kit is about $450 from ECStuning and I believe it also includes all new hardware that is OEM spec (anti-rust coated). If you're paying $100 per arm, you might want to just get the kit and do all 8 arms and be done with it.