[urq] Re: Tubular control arms, any interest??

[Jeffrey Goggin]

 >...I'd love to see it capable of reasonable caster changes, and camber
changes up to 3 degrees if possible.

Based upon my considerable experience with getting maximum camber out of the
OEM control arms, you'll need to add a spacer to the inner CV joint if you
go beyond 1.8-2.0 degrees of negative camber.  This is because doing so
pushes out the bottom of the strut housing, which uses up the plunge
available at the inner CV joint.  When the engine rocks slightly under
acceleration -- poof! -- the race will break the cage ... BTDT done that on
both FWD and AWD Audis several times!  Also, when you push the bottom of the
strut out, you're also changing your suspension geometry and not in a good
way, either.  IMO, the best way to handle camber adjustments on this car
would be to adapt the two-piece strut approach that was used in the 80/90
series as this lets you adust the angle of the wheel without changing either
of the strut mounting points and thus changing your suspension geometry as
an unfortunate byproduct. Whether this can be easily done with an UrQ strut
is another matter, of course, so I mention it here just for the sake of
theoretical completeness...

Lastly, if you just want more caster overall and not necessarily the ability
to adjust each side independently, you can gain a bit by loosening all four
subframe bolts and then using a come-along to pull the subframe forward,
which allows the captured nuts inside the engine mounting rails to move
forward and pre-loads the rubber subframe bushings slightly, and then
tighten the subrame bolts again.  BTDT, too, and Yes, these cars respond
well to additional caster.

Jeffrey Goggin
Chandler, AZ

[... and definitely starting to enjoy his '99.5 A4 1.8Tq!  Audi has
definitely come along way over the years although I do still have doubts
about the Torsen center diff...  ;^)]