[s-cars] RE: control arm R&R

[Fred Munro]

Teddy;

There are two methods to pry this off. In both, you remove the swaybar to
body mounts but leave the swaybar attached to the control arm. If the ball
joint spindle is loose in the strut, pass a pry bar over the swaybar and pry
down on the swaybar levering against the strut just ahead of the CV boot.
You have to be careful not to slip and rip the boot.

If the spindle is tight in the strut, pass a six foot steel bar over the
swaybar and pry down on the swaybar levering against the subframe behind the
axle.

In both cases you pry the joint out by prying down on the swaybar, not the
control arm.

HTH

Fred Munro
'94 S4


-----Original Message-----
From: Theodore Chen [mailto:tedebearp at yahoo.com]
Sent: February 20, 2004 10:35 PM
To: Fred Munro; Bill de Alva
Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: RE: [s-cars] RE: control arm R&R



--- Fred Munro <munrof at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> Bill;
>
> Careful! It is not good practice to pry open the casting to release the
ball
> joint spindle. As the Bentley puts it "Never use a chisel or other tool to
> pry open or widen the slot." Doing so can deform the casting and if the
> spindle drops out during one of those triple digit left hand sweepers Paul
> is fond of, it can ruin your entire day.
>
> The recommended method of removal is to soak the joint with penetrating
oil
> and lever it off with a six foot steel bar.

i tried unsuccessfully to separate them in order to replace the balljoint
boot.  the balljoint isn't stuck in the spindle - it moves quite easily
after i take the bolt out.  but i can't push the control arm down enough,
or push the hub up enough, to get them apart.  this was on the driver's
side.  the real problem is that there isn't really anything to pry against,
once i get the balljoint partially out of the spindle.  i couldn't find
a way to pry it apart any further.

i tried unbolting the antiroll bar on the driver's side, but that didn't
help much.  i didn't unbolt the antiroll bar on the passenger's side -
should
i have?

both front wheels were off the ground when i attempted this.

-teddy


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