200q Center bearing Repair

[Denis Julien]

I have a 100Q 1989, V8 1991, 5000TQ 1987, A4 1996 prop shafts here and i
dont see any diffencies for the U-joint or center bearing.

There is what i got:



1: BMW part # for 4kq carrier bearing: Drive shaft carrier bearing BMW
#26-12-1-209-532(includes bearing, bracket, rubber)

2: I have found a source for the 4kq center driveshaft u-joint... Try
calling Driveline Service in Portland, OR. (503) 289-2264. They have a joint
made by GWB of Germany. P/N 287000600000. It is an exact fit AND it has the
grease fitting on it. Price is a bit steep at $51 but it is an exact OE
match.

3: The centre support bearing for a type-44 quattro: I stopped by a local
M-B dealer and matched up the bearing and the rubber cap against the M-B
parts. Below are the long awaited part numbers: Both parts are from a 240D
or 300D, chassis # 123:
Bearing: 0039812325
Rubber cap: 1234101081

4: I recently purchased a center support bearing by Mercedes Benz P/n 123
410 10 81. This part is made by Weyle of Germany. There is a part number
cast into the bearing support ring - Meyle 014 041 0045 The bearing is also
an MB part made by Weyle of Germany P/N 014 098 0017.

I think both parts cost me about $50 . . . I dont have the bill to check
against.

5: Now the bracket from MB isn't the same as the Audi bracket. But, it looks
like that Audi bearing support is only welded in two spots to its bracket.
It looks like it may be possible to grind off the welds. Then place the old
bracket on top of the MB bracket (plenty of room and diameters are close),
and tack weld it in two spots. Voila! Its done.

I'm not sure if the MB flanges will interfere with anything . . they may
have to be ground off.

6: The support is NOT an exact match and does require modifications. I used
the Audi strap and the new ring. It is made by Febi. It is attached to it's
own strap by 7 spot welds and 2 tack welds on both ends. I ground off the
tack welds and drilled out the spot welds. The pieces will separate pretty
easily, but the Febi ring is a lighter gauge steel and will bend pretty
easily. My welder did a great job joining them without melting the rubber.
The u-joint is also available from AEC Products in Defiance, Ohio.

If the shaft is aligned properly and greased, there is almost no stress on
this thing. If you are careful, you can remove the u-joint without damaging
it. The AEC bearing is p/n 1677. 26mm cap dia. and 70mm cross. Center grease
fitting. Save yourself some money and buy a good quality sealed ball bearing
sized 30mm x 55 mm x 13mm.

More thoughts...

It has been on my car for about 1500-2000 miles now. No problems so far. My
original u-joint is still in the car. It was VERY clean. It disassembled it
and solvent washed the whole bit, then reassembled with Mobil syn. grease.
My front and rear driveshaft CV's were also in excellent condition. New CV
grease from some of the 15 Lobro kits I've accumulated. The seals here are
rubber and only need to be cleaned and reglued. I used contact cement.
IMPORTANT!! Make sure you index mark the CV's to the drive flanges front and
rear! The flanges were very hard and I didn't get a "good" pin punch mark. I
had to rotate the CV on the flange 3 times to stop the minor vibration this
caused. Not such a big deal, just 3 more trips under the car than I wanted.





I saw a p/n for U-joint BMW but i dont see it now

Denis



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <TooManyAudis at aol.com>
To: <200q20v at audifans.com>; <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 11:14 AM
Subject: 200q Center bearing Repair


> I have the exhaust off my 200q20v for some repairs to the rear end (no
> schoolboy giggling, please), and was thinking that now would be a good
time to pay
> the center driveshaft some much needed attention.
>
> I have been getting noise when I let off the gas (like a metal on metal
> rattle) and I think it is narrowed down to the U-joint / center bearing
area.  Of
> course, with this being a long hollow chunk of metal, it's difficult to
say
> precisely from where the noise originates.
>
> I did a google search and there is refererence to both a BMW and a
Mercedes
> replacement bearing / carrier that will work with the audi drive shafts,
but I
> am having trouble tracking down the exact part numbers and which bearing /
> carrier goes to which audi driveshaft.
>
> If anyone has the information, please let me know, or, alternately,
provide
> me with a link where it can be found.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom Werner
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>