My DIY Weekend - Control Arm Install (Picture Intensive)

[A4 Effort]

After having severe issues with an annoying rattle coming from my passenger side control arms, (video: http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...t=MOV00663.flv) i broke down and bought a set of these from Blauparts: http://www.blauparts.com/proddetail....1101%2D02%2D1A

I got a couple quotes on the install, and they were all around the $500 range. I could have easily have paid to have the work done, but after reading a couple DIY's on the install, i decided to tackle it myself.

I was apprehensive about doing it, but thought it would be a good learning experience. I did one side a day as to not rush the job and possibly eff something up. The first side took me about 8 hours; i took my time and learned along the way. The second side took me right around 4 1/2 hours as by then i knew what i was doing and it obviously made the second time around much easier.

So i just thought i'd share some......okay, a lot of pics of my experience - enjoy!

Breaking loose the CV joint/axle nut (sexy legs FTW!!):


TRE removed (decided not to change these out as they were just replaced recently)


I'm coming for you, beotch!!


Pinch-bolt out (slid right out) and upper arms detached:


Disconnecting coilover from lower arm:


Pushing out the CV joint from the knuckle:


Disconnecting lower arms from the knuckle:



Don't forget the swaybar link, check

[A4 Effort]

Shocktower out and ready for new arms:



Removing lower arms:


Lower arms installed:


Upper arms installed:


Good ridence:


Everything back together:


My garage:

[A4 Effort]

I also bought a used RS4 grille for $75 bucks this week:



Gave her a bath too, so she's ready for the streets:

[Bic-Ball]

nicely done, love the white car...75 dollars for a used rs4 grill is a complete rip off though

[Mike@PureMS]

Nice job!
Hopefully you tightened all those bolts with the suspension loaded, otherwise you're gonna be doing this again real soon!

[A4 Effort]

Nice job!
Hopefully you tightened all those bolts with the suspension loaded, otherwise you're gonna be doing this again real soon!

Yes sir i did - that was the one thing i focused on the most Actually, you can see the suspension jacked up in the "My garage" pic

[Squarrl]

did you drop the tranny bar / subframe to get the rear lower control arm bolt out.

[P3RryaudiA4]

let me ask you a question what was the easiest way to put the new uppers in the car? you obviously put them on the shock tower but did you put them in the axle housing first? i got mine out right now waiting for the parts but im only doing the uppers so i only took out the shock tower connected to the control arms..

[A4 Effort]

did you drop the tranny bar / subframe to get the rear lower control arm bolt out.

I loosened the plate that attaches to the sub-frame, but didn't remove it. Loosening the bolts and dropping that plate down gave me just enough clearance to get the bolt out. The one thing that i ran into is that on the passenger side of the car, by the lower-rear bolt is a clamp that holds the brake lines. I had to unclamp those lines and move them out of the way to get that bolt out.

[A4 Effort]

let me ask you a question what was the easiest way to put the new uppers in the car? you obviously put them on the shock tower but did you put them in the axle housing first? i got mine out right now waiting for the parts but im only doing the uppers so i only took out the shock tower connected to the control arms..

I completely removed the shocktower and installed the upper arms with the tower out. I would imagine they could be installed with the tower still in with the tower mounting bolts loosened, but i wouldn't want to try it. They are much easier to install with the tower completely out.

[P3RryaudiA4]

so i should just put the control arms (uppers) in the housing and tighten the new pinch bolt and then put the shock tower back in and connect the bushing end to the tower after? would that be tight to get the bolt in that amount of space?

[Mawhitey]

Nice work, you will be much quicker next time. I did a turbo swap, all the arms on both sides and a timing belt kit in one day on my mates 1996 A4 1.8t in one day (9 hrs)

[A4 Effort]

so i should just put the control arms (uppers) in the housing and tighten the new pinch bolt and then put the shock tower back in and connect the bushing end to the tower after? would that be tight to get the bolt in that amount of space?

Correct - install the upper arms in the housing, but only snug down the pinch bolt. You don't want to torque these down until you have everything back together and you have a load on the suspension. Getting that bolt back in on the lower control arm when you're reconnecting the lower shocktower is a beotch. But keep messing with it, you'll get it in eventually.

Nice work, you will be much quicker next time. I did a turbo swap, all the arms on both sides and a timing belt kit in one day on my mates 1996 A4 1.8t in one day (9 hrs)

Wow - dude, come to my house!! That's impressive

[Mawhitey]

Cost you a few $ for the plane fare,lol

[P3RryaudiA4]

ok thanks man

[P3RryaudiA4]

ok nmv lol i think i;m confused? in the pic it shows the upper arms installed. so you put the control arms on the shock tower first then connect then other end of the arms into the axle housing and then the bolt for the shock? sry for all the questions just wnan do this the easiest way ther is.

[rocky.ca]

why do you have to tighten everything with the suspension loaded? I just did a rear wheel bearing and tightened everything with the tire off and suspension unloaded, should i redo it, if so what is the reason for this?

[A4 Effort]

why do you have to tighten everything with the suspension loaded? I just did a rear wheel bearing and tightened everything with the tire off and suspension unloaded, should i redo it, if so what is the reason for this?

I'm not familiar with the rear suspension, or whether you need to torque it down with a load on or not. However, the reason you want to torque the control arms with a load on the suspension is due to the control arm bushings. If you torqued them down without any type of load on the suspension, it will wear through those bushings very quickly, or may cause complete failure of the bushing altogether, and you'll be reinstalling new control arms.....or new bushings at the very least.

[endlesswinterco]

easy enough! nice job. love the front plate

[A4 Effort]

Thanks Ben - missed you guys at H20 this year. Def need to get another gtg going for later this year or early Spring

[dougyfresh]

Good job. My friend and I were pulling his suspension apart to put in S4 spindles but can't get that bolt out up top that holds the two upper control arms in. Looks like a ton of PB Blaster this week and we'll try it again after its soaked in.

For the record.. You have to remove that bolt in order to pull the two control arms up out of the spindle?

[P3RryaudiA4]

just noticed the lowers, look very nice did you have them done or did you duplicolor that?

[burner799]

woah your axles are way fatter than mine. where's the cv boot from? nobody is responding to my other thread so maybe i'll ask here...

My left upper rear control arm didn't go all the way back in no matter what after reinstalling from doing the cv boot. it sticks up about a quarter of an inch and everything is torqued down. how bad is this to drive on? I know it might be because that control arm is a bit bent. suggestions?

[A4 Effort]

For the record.. You have to remove that bolt in order to pull the two control arms up out of the spindle?

Which bolt are you referring to?

just noticed the lowers, look very nice did you have them done or did you duplicolor that?

Thanks - i had them sprayed the same time i had my roof done

woah your axles are way fatter than mine. where's the cv boot from? nobody is responding to my other thread so maybe i'll ask here...

My left upper rear control arm didn't go all the way back in no matter what after reinstalling from doing the cv boot. it sticks up about a quarter of an inch and everything is torqued down. how bad is this to drive on? I know it might be because that control arm is a bit bent. suggestions?

Well, a bent arm is bad to begin with As for driving, you can't drive on it without that rear arm. Well you could, but that would be bad, mm'kay.

Not 100%, but are you saying you can't get the arm down far enough to insert the ball-joint end into the upper part of the knuckle assembly? Try loosening the pivot bolt on the other end of the arm to free up some play and then retorque the bolts once you have a load on it

[speedydragon]

did you have any problem getting the bolts off?

[A4 Effort]

did you have any problem getting the bolts off?

I didn't have any problems with removing any of my bolts; i was fortunate. Of course, a lot of PB Blaster helped

[audiness]

GREAT WRITEUP!!!

leave this up as a resource to others, becuase this job comes up a lot, and people always have questions!

[burner799]

Which bolt are you referring to?



Thanks - i had them sprayed the same time i had my roof done



Well, a bent arm is bad to begin with As for driving, you can't drive on it without that rear arm. Well you could, but that would be bad, mm'kay.

Not 100%, but are you saying you can't get the arm down far enough to insert the ball-joint end into the upper part of the knuckle assembly? Try loosening the pivot bolt on the other end of the arm to free up some play and then retorque the bolts once you have a load on it

I got the ball joint end into the upper part of the knuckle, but when i tightened everything down the rear upper control arm ball joint end slid out of its knuckle by about 1/4 of an inch. Everything is torqued down now just the arm is sitting slightly higher in the knuckle than it should be....? does that make sense or should i just go take a picture?

That is just the start. the boot slipping off the hub, large clamp and all is a whole other problem....

appreciate the input guys, thanks.

[urban96]

I got the ball joint end into the upper part of the knuckle, but when i tightened everything down the rear upper control arm ball joint end slid out of its knuckle by about 1/4 of an inch. Everything is torqued down now just the arm is sitting slightly higher in the knuckle than it should be....? does that make sense or should i just go take a picture?

That is just the start. the boot slipping off the hub, large clamp and all is a whole other problem....

appreciate the input guys, thanks.

def order a new onr to be safe

[burner799]

def order a new onr to be safe

order a new what? control arm?

can't afford a full kit and paying 100 bucks for one seems like a rip off....

[urban96]

damn didnt realize they were so expensive, i thought i seen them somewhere for $40 each

[burner799]

just found control arms for way cheap on ebay and free shipping!

anybody know about the quality of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audi-...17#ht_3743wt_0

[Squarrl]

I installed them... they dont seem to be doing so well... the rubber in the ball joints has cracked. I will not be buying them again.

[A4 Effort]

I got the ball joint end into the upper part of the knuckle, but when i tightened everything down the rear upper control arm ball joint end slid out of its knuckle by about 1/4 of an inch. Everything is torqued down now just the arm is sitting slightly higher in the knuckle than it should be....? does that make sense or should i just go take a picture?

That is just the start. the boot slipping off the hub, large clamp and all is a whole other problem....

appreciate the input guys, thanks.

The ball-joint shouldn't be sliding out of the knuckle if you have the pinch-bolt installed. But of course, that ball-joint does have that small indentation in it for the pinch-bolt, so if your arm is bent upwards, then i can see why it might be lifting up a bit, even with the bolt installed. You're only solution is to get a new arm. But if you replace one arm, you might as well do them all.

I'm not a fan of purchasing major automotive components from e-bay as quality on those items can be suspect at times. You get what you pay for. I'd rather spend the extra $$ for piece of mind and quality.

[P3RryaudiA4]

hey do you guys know if ill need an alignment if i only replace my uppers and dont take out the axle housing? all iv taken out is the strut mount i dont see why i would need an alignment as long as i dont touch the lower control arms?

[fred2ka4]

Good job and nice write up, and the car looks good as well.

[burner799]

I installed them... they dont seem to be doing so well... the rubber in the ball joints has cracked. I will not be buying them again.

did you torque down with load or w/out? I have read good reviews about them. it's a toss up.

[Squarrl]

yup torqued down with load... the climate here is very harsh and the roads are bad

[A4 Effort]

hey do you guys know if ill need an alignment if i only replace my uppers and dont take out the axle housing? all iv taken out is the strut mount i dont see why i would need an alignment as long as i dont touch the lower control arms?

If you didn't disconnect the TRE, then you should be okay. However, it's not a bad idea to get an alignment anytime you replace a suspension component.

[P3RryaudiA4]

hey need help realy quick does anyone know how to torque the bushings on the upper control arms? i just put everything back together and i need the specs for the pinch bolt and the lower strut bolt as well as the 2 uppers on the bushings. i know you supose to do it with a load, (car on ground) but how do you get a torque wrench in there at all? just wanan get this right so the bushings dont get all messed up...