[s-cars] Front control arm fell off

Aaron aaront at cox-internet.com
Thu Jan 20 00:04:02 EST 2005


Hi folks,
Im in need of some advice.  
Two weeks ago I had my front end redone by my local allignment shop who 
as done a few audis and seemed pretty knowledgable.  I consulted the 
archives and made sure he had the correct parts.  He installed both 
control arms as a kit with all bushings including those for the sway 
bar.  He also did a tie rod, steering damper and strut tower bearings.  
Well today we feel lucky to be alive.  My wife was driving slowly around 
town ( 10 min after being on the icy highway) and to her surprize the 
front end "dropped" and she stopped immediately.  Turns out the outer 
control arm nut came off and the spindle assy came free and jammed in 
the wheel well!
This is one day after returning from a long - fast - road trip across 
eastern idaho where shall we say the road was empty.
The car has been towed back to the shop but I have not yet spoken to the 
guy who did the work as he was out today.  Im pretty shaken up and am 
unsure how best to handle it.  The bill for the orig work came to around 
700$ and has not yet been paid.  Im not sure I want to pay it.  We are 
talking about a serious liability issue here.
On the technical side im not sure if the control arm nuts were replaced 
(im assuming they are supposed to be).  What about the bolt holding the 
ball joint to the spindle and the bold holding the inner end of the tie 
rod.  Should these have been replaced also?
Luckily it appears nothing else was damanged.  The strut tower, jack 
shaft, wheel well etc all appear OK.  Anything else I should look for?
Thanks
Aaron





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