[s-cars] Qu: Control Arms

[jpb3]

Tony,

I just purchased TRW control arms from partsquick.com for $97 each.
They ship quickly too.

On a side note (Dave) I am planning on pulling both front struts soon
to replace the wheel bearings and at the same time I am going to
replace the control arms, tie rod ends, swaybar bushings (inner), DS
axle and the strut bearings.  My question is can I pull the entire
strut assembly without removing springs and replace the strut bearings
(the big plastic circles) without a spring compressor?  I have not had
the struts out of the car before and cannot wrap my mind around the
set up.  I have 2B plates and know I have to put the OEM mounts
(bearings or mounts as they seem to be called both) to get the strut
to drop through the top hole and I believe I have read that this will
keep the whole assembly together?  I can then press out/in the
bearings with the whole strut (spring and all) together?

So, once I loosen the 3 bolts up top and have everything disconnected
at the bottom the entire strut assembly just falls out?  I presume
these plastic strut bearings I have are the interface between the body
of the car and the top spring plate and if I have the whole assembly
out of the car I can just stick the new ones up against the top plate
as I put everything back together?

Sorry if this is OT and confusing, but I am confused.  I imagine I am
making this more complicated than it is and it is probably pretty
evident once I start unbolting things.

Also, the metal sleeve.  I have read you can use a lug bolt to remove
these without messing them up?

John

On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 1:03 AM,  <djdawson2 at aol.com> wrote:
> I've purchased control arms from Blau in the past... german parts.? They have worked as good as anything I've tried, and are priced at about $86 each.
>
> This is a DIY job if you have typical shadetree experience.? The only trick is getting the swaybar back into the "eyes" on the control arms.? I prefer to compress the suspension to maximize the distance between the two eyes on the control arms, making reinstall of the swaybar quite easy.
>
> One point to keep in mind... each control arm bolts to the subframe with a single long bolt.? That bolt has a sleeve (looks like a large valve guide) that typically gets ruined during disassembly.? You'll want to make sure to buy a pair of these to insure that you don't get stuck halfway through the job.
>
> Dave
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Schulz <pcschulz at comcast.net>
> To: Tony Curran <tony.curran at sympatico.ca>
> Cc: S-Car-List at Audifans.Com <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Sent: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 8:41 pm
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Qu: Control Arms
>
>
>
> Tony:
>
> Yes, they are better ...and (no stated brand is a risk not worth taking).
>
> Related case - I needed to replace the outer tie rods on my S6,
> decided to try the TRW/Moogs.
> Compared to the Febi/Bilstein Tie Rod ends, they are larger, the
> rubber on the boot appears to be thicker, there is a spring retainer
> for the boot, and even the tie rod stud has a dimple to center the
> tie rod puller.....
>
> -Peter
>
> At 09:35 PM 7/29/2008 -0400, Tony Curran wrote:
>>Hi all,
>>
>>Control arms are up for renewal. Just wondering if this is a DIY job for
>>reasonably savvy home wrench? And are TRW arms that much better for the
>>extra $$$$ - $247 pair from Canadian online source for (TRW) or $187 from
>>German Auto Parts (no stated brand).
>>
>>TIA
>>
>>Tony
>>96 S6
>>_______________________________________________
>>S-CAR-List mailing list
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>
> -Peter Schulz
> Chelmsford Ma, USA
> http://www.naaclub.org/
>
> 1995.5 S6 Avant Emerald/Ecru
> 1995.5 S6 Avant Silver/Platinum
> 1991 200 20v Q Avant Titan Grey (for sale)
> 1991 90 20v Q Red
> 1991 CQ silver  (eS2 recipient)
>
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