Help with noise after control arm change

[BA4IN775]

Hello Audizine. I need some help figuring out what to look at. I started to change out my control arms last night. Changing them out on a 03 A4. I ran out of time after doing the drivers side and had to hold off on doing the passenger side for a couple days. I needed the car today. Now when I hit a pot hole or large bump I'm getting a clanking/squeaking noise from the drivers side front, and turning left doesn't feel right. I never touched the tie rod end. When I got all the new control arms on I snugged them down, jacked up the hub until it sat at the normal ride height. Then I went through and torqued everything. Looking for advise as to what this could be. I ran through everything in my head and am sure I torqued down all the bolts from the stut/ body bolts to the sway bar links. Any advise is appreciated. Thanks!!

[KHARDa4]

Running through your head and actually checking to see if anything is loose is two different things. Go back and check your work.

[hightime80]

Running through your head and actually checking to see if anything is loose is two different things. Go back and check your work.

Lol. Ruthless but true. Probably just a loose nut somewhere.

[hightime80]

Perhaps the control arm(s) isn't seated correctly. The groove should line up with the hole the god foresaken pinchbolt goes through.

[KHARDa4]

I wasn't being ruthless in anyway. I know if I just replaced my control arms and I had noise on that side I wouldn't post about what it could be. I would raise the car and check for anything loose.

[BA4IN775]

The first thing I'm going to do when I get home is double check all my work with a torque wrench to make sure everything is torqued and seated correct. I was looking to see if anybody has experienced anything like this before and what they found. Just looking for some past experiences incase I find everything ok. Thanks for the responses.

[Furly]

Torque wrench on control arms ? I just tightened them down as much as possible. Are there even torque numbers for them? Did you remove the struts at all? Sway bar links ? Check everything.

[BA4IN775]

Here's the link to the torque specs i used. http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ion-components. I did remove the complete strut assembly to do the upper control arms. I also removed the sway bar bracket, and changed the sway bar link.

[Furly]

Check the strut mounts and the rubber where the springs sit against on both ends. Mine was torn on my old audi and made the noises you describe.

Also double check the end links and everything. Forget torque just hit it with a regular wrench and see how tight it is.

[BA4IN775]

Thanks Furly. I'll be sure to check those areas tonight when I'm looking at everything else.

[BA4IN775]

Update on the issue I was having. Turns out when I changed out the upper control arms I put them in backwards. Front arm at rear, rear arm at front. The front control arm was hitting the inside of the fender well when I hit a large bump in the road, and was hitting the fender well when turning left. I found a couple other posts from members on here that did the same thing, they pointed me into the direction to look at the upper arms being backwards. Just a heads up to anyone who may experience this. Also when you rush a job sometimes you make bonehead mistakes.

[ElectroVeeDub]

Update on the issue I was having. Turns out when I changed out the upper control arms I put them in backwards. Front arm at rear, rear arm at front. The front control arm was hitting the inside of the fender well when I hit a large bump in the road, and was hitting the fender well when turning left. I found a couple other posts from members on here that did the same thing, they pointed me into the direction to look at the upper arms being backwards. Just a heads up to anyone who may experience this. Also when you rush a job sometimes you make bonehead mistakes.

I'm amazed its even possible to install the upper control arms reversed.

Mind you, I'm a new owner to the B6 A4... but I've owned alot of VW's. Thank you for learning the hard way for me! I'll be sure to remember what you've taught me about my car.

[KHARDa4]

See and in your mind everything was good! Never hurts to go back and look. Glad you found the problem. Good luck in the future.