Control Arm brand question/bushing replacement

[caldy315]

Looking for advice on which of the kits out there are worth a damn. But I don't need it to last another 100k.

My 05 USP has around 175k on it and to my knowledge, hasn't ever had any control arm service done to it. Just looking at the bushings from doing a recent wheel bearing service, they are torn up and need to be replaced. Obviously the car is on it's way down with this many miles, but it runs good and want to keep it going as long as I can (or until B8.5 S4's come down).

You see so many things, "this brand sucks" "oem or bust" bu then others say it's all in how you've completed the repair and tightening down with the appropriate loads on them and such.

What's worked for you guys?

[MacFady]

FCP is what I went with, that was about 80K km's ago. I agree that some people jump to conclusions about quality yet didn't install them themselves and have no idea on the method that was used.

[Natolob]

I went with the FCP option 3 kit, very nice kit, comes with everything and a great warranty to boot. Only problem was a few bolts were too long so we reused the old ones. Install is everything, the parts in the kit are great quality though.

[tHatOne guY]

I went with the FCP option 3 kit, very nice kit, comes with everything and a great warranty to boot. Only problem was a few bolts were too long so we reused the old ones. Install is everything, the parts in the kit are great quality though.

Exact same kit used and bolt issues here.

[G-Ride]

I'd shy away from the Febi/Bilstein kits. I replaced my front end with one of the kits from ECS about 3.5 years ago and its just starting to exhibit all the same creaking from the front drivers side uppers (your passenger side). Another user over on the ozAudi forum mentioned he experienced the same thing on his S4, 3-3.5 years longevity and dead again. Both of us had torqued all the fasteners down with the suspension correctly under load. I'll be going through the same exercise again in the next 6 months and will be using the Lemforder replacements this time round.

[caldy315]

Ok, so FCP doesn't sound like a terrible option. I thought I was hearing Febi was good, but maybe I was thinking of Meyle.

I'm not exactly sure what other arms/bushing are bad, but for sure the top ones. Has anyone just replaced the bushings? I mean the arms can't really go "bad", they're cast aluminum and are rigid...

[linust]

In addition to the bushings, the ball joints are wear items, though what usually prompts them to wear is a tear in the boot sealing in the grease (and the dirt out). If the boots are all intact, you can probably get away with just replacing the bushings. But for the amount of work involved and the cost of the FCP kit (option 3), it's probably worth replacing the arms, anti-roll bar end links, and tie-rod outer ends (inners come with the kit too). FWIW, last summer, I put this kit on my '04 USP with 168k miles on it.

[diagnosticator]

I'd shy away from the Febi/Bilstein kits. I replaced my front end with one of the kits from ECS about 3.5 years ago and its just starting to exhibit all the same creaking from the front drivers side uppers (your passenger side). Another user over on the ozAudi forum mentioned he experienced the same thing on his S4, 3-3.5 years longevity and dead again. Both of us had torqued all the fasteners down with the suspension correctly under load. I'll be going through the same exercise again in the next 6 months and will be using the Lemforder replacements this time round.

Lemforder is the highest quality suspension parts available. This is the kit I am going to use when it is time, despite the higher cost. You get what you pay for usually.

[Kevin C]

On my B5, I had decent results with the Febi Bilstein's. I did lose one lower arm to a poor ball joint seal after 50,000 miles. All the other arms were perfect. The set I put on my B6 had very good looking seals and seemed to be a quality part. They were also made in Germany.

No complaints so far, although its only been about 4000 miles.

[Seerlah]

To what I am lead to believe lemforder is OEM, which is the reason for the higher cost. Add a VW/Audi stamp to them, and price is above $1,000. As most say, longevity has mostly to do with install. I'm a DIY guy, so I plan on just grabbing up the FCP kit in the future. Can't really beat a lifetime warranty. 85%+ success rate from users is good enough for me. And with that being said, 034 CA bushing on my right side is compromised. Maybe 30-40k on them. Not sure which one(s). Ordered new boots to do my axle and will find out then.

[OlivierA4]

Exact same kit used and bolt issues here.

completely agree. some bolts are longer so i reused the old bolts with antiseize compound to help fending off rusty

[OlivierA4]

To what I am lead to believe lemforder is OEM, which is the reason for the higher cost. Add a VW/Audi stamp to them, and price is above $1,000. As most say, longevity has mostly to do with install. I'm a DIY guy, so I plan on just grabbing up the FCP kit in the future. Can't really beat a lifetime warranty. 85%+ success rate from users is good enough for me. And with that being said, 034 CA bushing on my right side is compromised. Maybe 30-40k on them. Not sure which one(s). Ordered new boots to do my axle and will find out then.

FCP is excellent with their warranty. I just have the sway bar link cracked. i took the pictures, send it in thruough email. 24 hours later, i got email back for the return replacement. done no hassle no haggle. LEMFORDER is making great product.

in replying to replacing the bushing, I would not do that. i was thinking of doing all the bushing in my car but the effort would not justifying for the cost of the new item. the bushing is $6 but taking the old bushing out, and put in the new one is too much of trouble with very high change of crack the housing. I have the 90 ton pressed machine at work and I try it with few old guys who know what to do and still not worth the trouble.

[eljay]

Lemforder is the best IMO and I've used their products on my other car. But I have used the FCP control arm kit on my B6 with no complaints so far, but only 5k on it. Paid a good shop to install it and they commented that the parts felt/looked like good quality.
Depending on the part, I always find these lifetime warranty things to be just marketing. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that FCP will replace the part without a hassle. But if a bushing or one arm fails, yes, you are getting your $10-$50 piece replaced, but you will either spend hours replacing it yourself or if you are paying a shop to do so, the part itself is a small fraction of the total cost.

[caldy315]

Lemforder is the highest quality suspension parts available. This is the kit I am going to use when it is time, despite the higher cost. You get what you pay for usually.

Yep, normally the way I would revert to but that kit is $900 or so and I don't intend the keep the car for more than 2 years likely. I think if I could get them to last for 30k, I'm satisfied.

To what I am lead to believe lemforder is OEM, which is the reason for the higher cost. Add a VW/Audi stamp to them, and price is above $1,000. As most say, longevity has mostly to do with install. I'm a DIY guy, so I plan on just grabbing up the FCP kit in the future. Can't really beat a lifetime warranty. 85%+ success rate from users is good enough for me. And with that being said, 034 CA bushing on my right side is compromised. Maybe 30-40k on them. Not sure which one(s). Ordered new boots to do my axle and will find out then.

That sounds like what I've read to. If I intended to keep this until the wheels fall off, I may be in that frame of mind, but it's an 05 with 175k on it. As my buddy would say, it's almost to the point of being "rinsed".

Lemforder is the best IMO and I've used their products on my other car. But I have used the FCP control arm kit on my B6 with no complaints so far, but only 5k on it. Paid a good shop to install it and they commented that the parts felt/looked like good quality.
Depending on the part, I always find these lifetime warranty things to be just marketing. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that FCP will replace the part without a hassle. But if a bushing or one arm fails, yes, you are getting your $10-$50 piece replaced, but you will either spend hours replacing it yourself or if you are paying a shop to do so, the part itself is a small fraction of the total cost.

Nail meet head. Really lifetime warranty doesn't mean a lot and I often see that on parts that take quite a bit of time to install. I'm just looking for a initial decent quality kit that doesn't break the bank, at least those are my thoughts now. If it has a lifetime warranty and you have to replace every 1500 miles, forget it. Couldn't pay me enough to put something like that on.

[Kevin C]

FCP is excellent with their warranty. I just have the sway bar link cracked. i took the pictures, send it in thruough email. 24 hours later, i got email back for the return replacement. done no hassle no haggle. LEMFORDER is making great product.

in replying to replacing the bushing, I would not do that. i was thinking of doing all the bushing in my car but the effort would not justifying for the cost of the new item. the bushing is $6 but taking the old bushing out, and put in the new one is too much of trouble with very high change of crack the housing. I have the 90 ton pressed machine at work and I try it with few old guys who know what to do and still not worth the trouble.

I swapped S4 upper bushing into my new Febi arms using a 20 ton press. All I did was make a set of press bushings to make guiding the new part in easy. EDIT: The only thing I can think of is corrosion made yours hard to press out?

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post11331051






Converted Febi Arms. I never found a kit for the B6 that had the stiffer S4 uppers.

[jesse500]

Doesn't the FCP kit have S4 uppers?

[Kevin C]

Doesn't the FCP kit have S4 uppers?

Some have said they do, when I checked their kits out I didn't find a kit with that option.