Re: 4ks suspension

[enzeder@ix.netcom.com]

On 09/13/97 10:53:25 you wrote:
>
>Hi all,
>
>So, I tore into my water damaged Haynes this morning (came that way)
>hoping to tear into my suspension with equal vigor, on this, my 2nd
>full day of Audi 4kS ownership.  Goal: dampers that damp.  OK, the
>rear looks like a standard shock procedure.  The front looks like
>a suspenison rebuild.  How doable is this for a shade tree mechanic.
>I've done ground up MC restos, but this ball joint prying and strut
>stuff is very new to me.  Any gotchas?  Yes, I've read the Haynes,
>but they make everything sound straight forward.  What is a fair
>price for front strut replacement (labor only) in case I wimp out
>?  If I do it myself, is there anything else that I _really_ ought
>to replace while I'm in there?  Thanks for any help.


I replaced both front wheel bearings and strut inserts in my '86 4ks without too much trouble or any special tools other than spring compressors.  In 
fact there's only 4 nuts to undo if my memory serves.  The first side took me a couple of hours but the other side took about 15 mins.

1- a single horizontal (front to back) nut and bolt that secures the lower balljoint to the strut.  It just took me a little while the first time to 
figure out how much force I had to use to get the lower wishbone down.  Prying didn't work for me, I ended up using a steel bar and "shocking" it down, 
being careful not to bend the "lip" of the wishbone.  Once it was free it was relatively easy to pry off (as per the book) when I had to do a CV boot a 
little while later.  I'd be surprised if prying it worked if it hasn't been worked on in a while.

2- the nut for the steering rack was a little tricky too as there's no bolt to put another socket on.  I used a length of wood to apply pressure on the 
balljoint to keep it from spining, and it seemed to work for me.

3- axle nut, one big puppy.  had to go buy a socket to fit it.  no other tricks though.

4- the last one is in the engine compartment.  I do know you need a 7mm allen wrench for this, which I didn't have, Sears did.  the allen wrench keeps 
the strut insert from spinning as you undo the nut or vise versa.  My Dad used an impact wrench to get them off once and that seemed pretty easy.

You might want to consider doing the CV boots, but I find it pretty easy to do those as only two bolts (1&3) have to come off for this job.  The rubber 
bumpstops and accompanying boot will probably need to be replaced.  Mine did.

To get the damper out of the strut (once the spring is removed), undo the cap on the strut tube, put the nut back on the damper and put a spanner under 
the nut and hammer it out. 

It's been two years now, but I think that's about it.  There were no "gotchas" for me, it really was straight forward.  


Arryn.