[s-cars] '95 S6 Lower Control Arm Choices

[Tom Green]

Hi Tom,

Your intelligence is suspect right off the bat for following Dave's  
advise, but we'll let
that pass for now.

The market has been flooded with low-cost, low-quality suspension  
parts that don't
last long enough to get over the pain of installing them.  The genuine  
Audi parts, even
from the discount online dealers like Miramar Audi DBA  
genuinevwaudiparts.com on the
web, are too expensive to be in the running.  That pretty much leaves  
TRW as the trusted
source if you want a German made part.

If you look at the FAQ section of the quattroworld.com UrS4/6/S2/RS2  
forum (right at the top),
you can find lots of advice and a list of online sellers others have  
used with some success.
It does look like you have been doing the price comparison already.

If you need upper strut mounts, I don't have any recommendation except  
genuine Audi parts
even though they may be twice the price.  They are easy to change if  
you just have to try the
cheap ones (unlike the lower control arms).  You will probably move an  
alignment point
unless you carefully plan the swap.  Don't forget to look at the rear  
suspension also, at least
to make sure the adjustments are not rusted tight before you align the  
replacement suspension.

I hope this is a great relationship with a great vehicle.

Tom '95 S6
          '95.5 S6 avant
Knoxville, TN

On Friday  December 17, 2010, at 1:35 PM,  Tom Heitzman <gyro at stuffinder.com 
 >  wrote:

> I bought the lo-mileage ?95 S6 Dave Kase mentioned seeing on  
> Craigslist in
> Sept.. (Thanks Dave, I Think!) It?s got 53 K miles and when I took  
> it to
> Force5 for pre-purchase insp. they identified several problems. One  
> of the
> LCA ball joints is bad and the rubber on the large end bushings appear
> aged/spider webbed. I want to keep this as a comfortable long distance
> cruiser so would like to keep the suspension as compliant  as  
> possible. That
> being said I?m incredibly confused by the myriad choices and wide  
> ranges of
> prices on LCA?s! Parts Geek has following brands, ?Replacement?  
> $88.98 w/o
> bushing, FEQ w/bushing, $59.94, TRW w/bushing $131.94 and Moog w/ 
> bushing
> $64.98. Blauparts has Meyle w/bushings for $85.95 (or both sides  
> plus Sway
> Bar Bushings plus full hardware kits for $205.95)
>
> I plan on using the car as my April Fool?s to Halloween DD (about  
> 15-20 K
> mi. yearly) and want the suspension rebuild to last a long time. I had
> thought Moog and TRW were 1st quality and comparable to OEM but the  
> large
> diff. in price makes me wonder. I invite opinions as to which  
> direction to
> go.
> TIA
> Tom Heitzman (new to the World or Urs4/6)
>