she got towed today... sad sad day

**smashed s4** · 10-30-2011 10:07 PM

past few weeks its been looking like my control arms/tie rods have been going out on my front drivers side.
on the way home from the gym tonight, i flipped a U-turn (nice and easy) and i shifted into 2nd, then at around 15 MPH i felt a CLUNK and weight shifted towards the front drivers side wheel and heard a scraping and something fly off into the road.

as quickly as it happened, i pulled into the nearest shopping center and parked.
i looked at the damage, i saw that the caliper had fallen onto the wheel well and scraped off all the weights for balancing (what flew off onto the street). and it was resting on the wheel.

when i got it towed, the wheel locked up and wouldnt budge.

all in all, its looking like control arms and tie rods.. maybe hub or cv boot?

what do you guys think? i havent gotten it looked at by a shop yet for anything. diagnosing has come from me and a few b5 owners.

**bgzs4** · 10-30-2011 10:14 PM

Uhhh.......

**coolgraymemo** · 10-30-2011 10:28 PM

FCPGroton FTW.

That's what you get for posting it for sale [is it the one on CL?].

**smashed s4** · 10-30-2011 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by coolgraymemo

FCPGroton FTW.

That's what you get for posting it for sale [is it the one on CL?].

wait what does posting it for sale have anything to do with this? i say it needs new control arms and tires in my post! i have it on CL and here

**coolgraymemo** · 10-30-2011 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by smashed s4

wait what does posting it for sale have anything to do with this? i say it needs new control arms and tires in my post! i have it on CL and here

The car is getting pay-back.

[I'm joking.]

**smashed s4** · 10-30-2011 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by coolgraymemo

The car is getting pay-back.

[I'm joking.]

oh lololol. sorry im too heart broken for jokes. the tow truck driver wasn't a help at all. i asked him "hey what does this look like to you?" he responds with "german engineering"

**wannabeS4** · 10-30-2011 10:48 PM

can we get some pics to help in the diagnosis.

**smashed s4** · 10-30-2011 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by wannabeS4

can we get some pics to help in the diagnosis.

its almost 11 here, but i will post some tomorrow in the day. check here tomorrow!

**papag1234** · 10-30-2011 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by smashed s4

he responds with "german engineering"

HA!!!!

**8520** · 10-30-2011 11:57 PM

I'd love to buy that tow truck driver a beer for an awesome response.

**Danza** · 10-31-2011 05:23 AM

snapped a lower control arm ball joint?

**BITURBOB5** · 10-31-2011 06:07 AM

I got a a whole set of controls arms I just took off cause I did mine if you need any pm me

**AudiTechS4** · 10-31-2011 06:50 AM

well the wheel is attached to the hub and the hub is pressed into a wheel bearing thats pressed into the knuckle. the axle nut holds all this together. there is no way any control arm could cause this.
you either broke a brake caliper bolt or axle bolt broke/loose

**Scotty@Advanced** · 10-31-2011 07:01 AM

Originally Posted by AudiTechS4

well the wheel is attached to the hub and the hub is pressed into a wheel bearing thats pressed into the knuckle. the axle nut holds all this together. there is no way any control arm could cause this.
you either broke a brake caliper bolt or axle bolt broke/loose

Uh yeah what he said. Calipers falling off have nothing to do with control arms and vice versa. the only control arm damage I've seen is in accidents where ball joints get ripped out of the arm. I've never seen one fail out of the blue.

**Danza** · 10-31-2011 07:18 AM

I was assuming the caliper was still attached to the upright.

If one of the lower control arm balljoints fail, the upright will tilt to that side potentially causing caliper to wheel interference.

**Oompous** · 10-31-2011 07:46 AM

from what he told me is that the caliper was not attached to the rotor and that the caliper was completely dislodged and rest on the wheel

**Scotty@Advanced** · 10-31-2011 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Danza

I was assuming the caliper was still attached to the upright.

If one of the lower control arm balljoints fail, the upright will tilt to that side potentially causing caliper to wheel interference.

Impossible, the caliper and wheel are fixed in their orientation by the upright. Control arms do not change that orientation. The only thing that could result in the caliper touching the wheel is:

Broken/loose caliper bolts.
Severely bent wheel
Wheel bearing destroyed
Upright bent/broken

Originally Posted by Oompous

from what he told me is that the caliper was not attached to the rotor and that the caliper was completely dislodged and rest on the wheel

So the caliper came loose? That would explain it.

**RocketSurgeon** · 10-31-2011 09:23 AM

Nice to know I'm not the only one whose S4 decided to fuck with them one last time before selling!

Almost had mine sold a couple weeks ago when the shift linkage broke on the test drive (!!!). Also found a big coolant leak while trying to figure out what busted on the shift fork. Always something new with these cars

**fshowcars** · 10-31-2011 10:05 AM

what if dudes wheel simply fell off and teh weight of the car is gouged and resting on it? otherwise, has to be caliper bolt / unreal broken axle?

**smashed s4** · 10-31-2011 10:32 AM

to everyone: i have been hearing a clanking noise in first gear for the past 4 weeks. and also shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. definitely coming from that wheel base. like when i push a little gas then take my foot off and just rock back and forth. its weird. taken it to a few guys and they dont know...

**VT-TT** · 10-31-2011 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by coolgraymemo

The car is getting pay-back.

[I'm joking.]

I'm not one to believe in weird shit, but when I was about to sell my last car. Shit hit the fan, and it was as if it knew I was selling it.

**Rdp616** · 10-31-2011 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by VT-TT

I'm not one to believe in weird shit, but when I was about to sell my last car. Shit hit the fan, and it was as if it knew I was selling it.

Lmao.

**niicknac** · 10-31-2011 01:44 PM

glad it didnt happen at speed erfan.

**Oompous** · 10-31-2011 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by niicknac

glad it didnt happen at speed erfan.

this is true. Pat whatchyou doin on AZ?!

**smashed s4** · 10-31-2011 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by niicknac

glad it didnt happen at speed erfan.

for real...

WE HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM. THANKS TO OOMPOUS! missing caliper screw that connects to the uprights. forcing it to dislodge when braking and scrape against my wheel.

**tekazgtr1984** · 10-31-2011 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by smashed s4

oh lololol. sorry im too heart broken for jokes. the tow truck driver wasn't a help at all. i asked him "hey what does this look like to you?" he responds with "german engineering"

What a jerk.

**NishadJoshi** · 10-31-2011 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by smashed s4

oh lololol. sorry im too heart broken for jokes. the tow truck driver wasn't a help at all. i asked him "hey what does this look like to you?" he responds with "german engineering"

LOL.

**S4 00 2.7** · 10-31-2011 06:28 PM

When will it be running again?

**Oompous** · 10-31-2011 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by S4 00 2.7

When will it be running again?

i will be ordering the bolt and everything that it needs tomorrow. it should be all set tomorrow

**Fungeneer** · 11-01-2011 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by smashed s4

missing caliper screw that connects to the uprights. forcing it to dislodge when braking and scrape against my wheel.

I'm going outside right now to check my carrier bolts! #torque paranoia

Originally Posted by Oompous

i will be ordering the bolt and everything that it needs tomorrow. it should be all set tomorrow

So what was the carnage like? With the carrier essentially not connected and the brakes still clamped down, I'd expect the caliper to get a quick piggy-back on the rotor and slam into the upright/lower ca/brake lines/strut mount/what-have-you. It must have been like Mr. Toad's Wild Rotor in there for about a half a second

**smashed s4** · 11-02-2011 10:51 AM

So what was the carnage like?

haha it had been loose for a few weeks now and i didnt think to check it. BUT GO CHECK IT.

the only carnage was the balancing weights were stripped off and a 1/2 cm deep scratch all the around the inside of my wheel. and some paint off my caliper.

**fshowcars** · 11-02-2011 12:53 PM

so wait... your brake carrier bolts were loose and you knew that... then fast forward to your brake caliper falling off, you made a thread to get suggestions on the failure and never mentioned your brakes were about to fall off?

btw, tighten those bolts before driving

**Oompous** · 11-02-2011 02:25 PM

he didnt know his brakes were about to fall off. the only way i was able to find it was my foot accidentally got caught on the bottom of the caliper and lifted the bottom portion up a tad. then i realized there was no bolt and it was moving freely under pressure

**bgzs4** · 11-02-2011 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by fshowcars

so wait... your brake carrier bolts were loose and you knew that... then fast forward to your brake caliper falling off, you made a thread to get suggestions on the failure and never mentioned your brakes were about to fall off?

btw, tighten those bolts before driving

+1

**S4 00 2.7** · 11-02-2011 06:01 PM

Back on the road again.

**Fungeneer** · 11-03-2011 08:30 PM

Originally Posted by S4 00 2.7

Back on the road again.

Good luck, and always check your torque! We better not see you posting a new thread about how the front fell off...

**ChrisEsco1** · 11-04-2011 03:50 PM

Same exact thing happened to me (minus the carnage). Changed the brakes, didn't torque one of the bolts good enough, BAM! loose caliper in the wheel. Lucky for me, I was pulling up to a stop sign and was going pretty slow. I was 3 blocks away from "the shop" when it happened and they gave me a replacement bolt for free.

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