[s-cars] Re; Help with rear control arm replacement

[Donna Green]

This list is going to have your whole rear end rebuilt before we are  
through.  Why
not try a needle tip on a grease gun to lubricate the ball joint on  
the rear control arm.
That's probably the source of the squeak.  It's not permanent, but  
should buy you a
few months of quiet.

Tom  '95 S6    Using Donna's computer for a while
           '95 S6 avant


> Peter Schultz wrote:
> Have a help push down on the car while you listen closely...
>
> I made the mistake of replacing the track control arms on my 91 200
> avant ( same rear suspension) with ones made by OCAP instead of  
> Lemfoerder.
>
> They squeak.
>
> I may try to add a grease port to the ball joint to see if adding
> grease will get rid of the squeak.
>
> Replacing them is relatively easy, they essentially are mini tie rods
> for the rear.
> Just be sure that you understand how to properly loosen and tighten
> them, and use anti seize liberally on the threads.
>
> Eyeball the existing adjustment by measuring it and then transpose it
> to the new parts.
>
> You should have an alignment done shortly after the R&R...
>
>
> -Peter
>
> At 01:10 PM 8/9/2006, Dave Ellis wrote:
>
>> Hey Sean!
>>
>> O.k, now I'm a little confused.  In previous posts on the topic of
>> squeaking appearing after installing lowering springs in the rear,  
>> the
>> consensus was that new control arm bushings were needed.
>>
>> Where I'm getting confused I believe is figuring out what part the  
>> rear
>> "control arm" being referred to really is, and what part is really at
>> the root of the squeaking.
>>
>> So far I have two possible culprits:
>>
>>
>> Possible Culprit #1:
>> --------------------
>>    Track Control Arms (ETKA)
>>    Transverse Linkage (Bentley)
>>       p/n 443 505 351 P -left
>>           443 505 352 P -right
>>
>> Possible Culprit #2:
>> --------------------
>>    Trapezoidal Arms (Bentley)
>>    I can't even find this one in ETKA
>>
>>
>> Any insight you may be able to offer to clear this up for me would be
>> appreciated Sean.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> -Dave
>>
>>
>>
>> Sean Douglas wrote:
>>> Dave:
>>>
>>> Having just gone through a complete suspension overhaul, this is
>> still fresh
>>> in my mind.
>>>
>>> Bentley refers to them as "trapezoidal arms". Have you priced out
>> a new set? I
>>> hope you are sitting down :-)
>>>
>>> The trap arms are very robust, and are coated with a rubbery-like  
>>> paint to
>>> limit corrosion. Working on a donor set, I used a wire wheel to
>> clean them and
>>> painted them with an epoxy chassis paint and installed new
>> bushings - actually
>>> if you contact Gabriel, he has my old set which were in pretty
>> good condition
>>> and he may sell these to you. That way you can work on them ahead  
>>> of time.
>>>
>>> Dave K's advice is spot on, I torched out the rubber and punched  
>>> out the
>>> centre piece, then used a sawzall, and carefully cut the outer
>> ring. Then I
>>> punched out the ring with a drift.
>>>
>>> I used a press to install the new bushings - perhaps a machine  
>>> shop can do
>>> this for you if you don't have access to one.
>>>
>>> Also, you may want to consider reconditioning the toe-adjustment
>> bracket at
>>> the rear and the front support bracket and related bushings.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Sean D
>>> 1997 S6