[urq] Fw: early ball joints

[Patrick Carlier]

Early ur-q ball joints are a problem . NLA at the dealer . 
Only available , to my knowledge , at audi classic with long delivery times and 
high prices . 150€ ish a piece . 
Left front and right rear are identical , so are right front and left rear . 


So I did some research and found out that  the 1987 -1992 audi 80/90 have an almost
identical balljoint . There's  a catch , I'll get to that later . . 
Still available at the dealer , dealer price 50€ , aftermarket price about 25€ .
That would make 4 new ones for the price of one nla . 

P/n 893407365A and 893407366A  listed as ball joints for audi 80/90 without power steering .
These are the ones I tested .I have a brand new one in front of me .   

There's also p/n'ss 893407366F and 365 F , ball joints for audi 80/90 with power steering . 
Haven't been able to test those , my guess is they are identical but maybe  a bit sturdier  .
Can't tell for now , I 'll probably order one to see . 

There's also an "E" variant wich is listed for the 7A powered 80/90 .
Might also be worth investigating .  


Now ,  the catch : 

The original early ur'q ball joints are 18mm . 
The possible replacements I got here are 19mm . 
The originals have a straight body . 
The replacements have cast reinforcement ribs  .

I've solved the  body problem by adding a shim to it
Just a piece of mild steel with two holes drilled in it . 
Thesame result could be achieved with a couple of thick washers . 
it's just needed to fill the gap between the reinforcement ribs . 

The 18 to 19 mm is a bit harder . 
Now I have a mill , so I simply set up the entire strut on the milling table , and 
used a boring bar to bring it to size . Any machine shop will be able to do this . 
They'll charge probably an hour for it . 

But I guess not everyone has a mill right :) . 
So I gave it some more thought . You can't just use a 19mm drill to bore it out . 
There is a slit in the housing , and a drill will most certanly bind in 
the sllit .and if it doesn't , it'll break something or at best wonder of center . 
The best solution I can think of is to temporary fill the slit with a 
steel strip , allign it flush with the bore , secure it , and then drill it to size . 
Or even better drill it to 18.5 and ream it to 19mm . 

Pat