[V8] Strut Mount Progress...need some help!

[Carol, Dave, and Zach Weiss]

Working evenings, this is a tall order for Thursday, given the parts issues
and that it's the first time you've been into the suspension.  With all
you've got going on, you'll need an alignment-- esp. for the track.

Pic 96:  Because you're doing the strut bearings, you do have to take the
struts off the car.  They come off as a unit, and then the springs are
compressed and the strut assemblies are taken apart to get at the bearings.
You will need the wheels on the car to break loose the axle bolts.  Audi
says always replace them (along with a lot of other hardware around there).
I replaced pretty much everything the second time I had it apart.  You'll
almost certainly want a lot of the rubber bits around the sway bar.  Putting
the spindles back into the car is better done with two people, to save your
back.  When I was young and strong I did a 200Q by myself, but never again.

Pic 101: Looks like you have the top nuts off (the outer three that go
through the shock tower).  The control arm must also come loose from the
bottom of the spindle, and you'll want those top nuts on while you're doing
that.  There is a single bolt that goes through the bottom of the spindle
that holds it together.  The finger on the control arm has a groove that the
through-bolt rides in for added security-- so the bolt must come all the way
out to get the control arm loose.  Do _not_ widen the joint at the bottom of
the spindle.  Just use penetrant and leverage (see illustrations below).
Make sure the car is well supported and _stable_ when you're levering the
control arm down with your 6-ft long, 1.5-in dia steel pipe.  Put rags
around the pipe where it will contact your undercoating, or you'll rub
through it.

Pics 102, 103, and 105:  You may have gotten parts from a later Audi
suspension (mid-90's, I think).  They can be interchanged, but I think you
need _all_ the right parts.  I have them on my car; needed to make the ECS
camber plates fit.  There is a post in the archives that lists them all, but
unless you're going to lower the car, you're better off getting the original
fitment parts.  Maybe somebody can chime in here...
 
Attached are the illustrations that show how the V8 (and similar Audi) front
suspensions are put together.

Good luck.

Dave


-----Original Message-----
From: Lanier Pratt [mailto:lanierpratt at mac.com] 
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 11:34 AM
To: Carol, Dave, and Zach Weiss
Cc: V8 at audifans.com
Subject: Strut Mount Progress-help needed.

Don't think this made it out over the weekend.

Here is my progress thus far on my first strut mount replacement.   
Seemed pretty easy until ran into
these few issues.  I need to have this done by Thursday as I'm  
driving to Michigan (from Minnesota)
for the Grattan quattro club event. Any guidance would be most  
appreciated.


Thanks,

Lanier
'92 V8Q
'90 V8Q (thought it was a '91 earlier)