[s-cars] Suspension bushings and tranny mounts

[Igor Kessel]

saltinot at alltel.net wrote:
>
> While you were wasting time in your warm garage I was out in cold rollling around in the gravel/dirt under my wagon (supported by AC Hydraulic jack stands, BTW) finishing up replacing all the front suspension bushings, tranny mounts, and new exhaust hangers.
>
> I just wanted to say that the new tranny mounts a la S6+ are the shiznit.  Soooo much better than the stock (totally collapsed) ones.  All that slop I was used to was gone.
>
> I wanted to ask if anyone had tried a set of V8 motor mounts?  And if they were worth the extra money?  FYI, the 90-93 V8 and S6+ share the same motor mounts.
>
> Not much weekend drama here......for a change
>

Tom,
some of us have just finished the second cup of espresso made out of
that wonderful Brazilian arabica, waiting for the 1.5kw quartz heater to
warm up my garage suffisiently to start working on the suspension. Right
now it is -3.3°C outside here in Philly, and nice and cozy +15°C in my
garage. I am waiting for it to reach +18°C before I put on those
overalls with the Audi logo that I have for such an occasion ;P

Jokingaside, I am extremely interested in your subjective feelings
before and after the suspesion and mounts replacement.
Heres what I have. A few mos ago I started bitching on the list about
the shaky wobbling steering wheel under braking from above 60mph. Since
I have the brand new BBB (Budget Big Blacks) in my car and the brake
pedal itself never vibrates I tend to agree with several sisters who
suggested that theose were not the warped rotors, but rather the
elements of suspension.
Right then I lifted the nose up in the air, jacked up the liwer control
arms one by one and with my wife's assistance checked the lower ball
joints and the outer tie rod ends for play. I found nothing outside of
the a little loose steering rack pre-load. Which I have adjusted
promptly.
The problem did not disappear.
A few days ago I have accidentally found another problem. I used the
wife's part of the garage for my car since I was doing some minow work
on the a4. As I was backing out that huge whale in the tight spot in the
corner of my driveway I had to cut the steering wheel very sharply,
almost to the lock position. All of a sudden I hear this BANG! from the
right wheel and the car shook slightly. That's it. No problem while
driving or turning forward. No problem while backing up. Only when I
backed up one more time yesterday while turning the wheels sharply to
the right did I hear this loud BANG! again. And the car shook sideways
again, ever so slightly, as if I had rolled over a pebble. Obviously
somethign is loose. But what?
The car has very lo mileage. However, the tyres are 255/40/17 on the
17x8 heavy Avantgardes with the 32 mm offset. And I think I hear the
roaring sound of a failing wheel bearing coming from the right hub.

So, listers, what would be the concensus? Take the front suyspension
out, and replace both front wheel bearings and lower control arm
bushings. What else? Or?


--
Igor Kessel
two turbo quattros