[s-cars] Adventures in C4 control arm & strut replacement..

[Peter Schulz]

Spent Saturday at my friend Mike S, doing something that was relatively easy on both my former 1991 200q20v Wagons...not so with an S6 Avant...

Tackled the control arm and front strut replacement on the Silver Avant which included a pair of powder coated struts from Brian Weldon, S6 pus springs, Bilstein sports, new bearings and oem top mounts.
Drilled approximately 1/4 inch hole in bottom of strut housings per Bilstein for drainage.

Thoughts....
#$!#!#@!#! New England salted roads and ABS sensors...
Had to torch one out in order to get the  brass cage, luckily my friend Mike gave me a pair of used sensors.

Next @#!@#! - removing the control arm ball joint from the strut housing... Mike and I bent his 6 foot pry bar and had to resort to sliding a piece of pipe over it to pop the ball joints...definitely a two man job, and not for someone weighing less than 200lbs.

Found a neat way for removing the metal bushing from the control arms.
Remove the control arm/subframe bolt, get an old wheel bolt, large washer, and thread it into the bottom of the collar.  Use a pry bar against the washer and the bushing should come out of the subframe.

Final @!#@! - driver side control arm bolt did not want to come out. Met alot of resistance with a 18inch breaker bar, so I decided to not replace that control arm for fear of snapping the bolt.  Installed the powdercoated strut housing, tightened everything up, and headed home..what was Audi thinking when they eliminated a separate subframe & control arm bolt....the type 44 design was much better for R&R

Need to get all the torque specs from Bentley today and check every fastener, and schedule an alignment.

Impressions on the ride home...much firmer ride with the Bilsteins and S6+ springs - no wonder the stock springs and Boge struts had 168k miles on them.  (I replaced the rear struts & springs already)

Something I need to tackle soon however, is that control arm/subframe bolt.
Any advice on extraction, other that cutting a hole in the inner fender to access bolt end?  Its a matter of time for having to replace that control arm as the ball joint is looser than a new one.



-Peter Schulz
Chelmsford Ma, USA
http://www.naaclub.org/

1995.5 S6 Avant Emerald/Ecru
1995.5 S6 Avant Silver/Platinum
1991 90Q 20v Q Red
1991 90Q 20v Indigo
1991 CQ silver  (eS2 recipient)