Front suspension overhaul

Kleynie

Kleynie

A2OC Donor
The last couple of days were spent renewing the components on the front of my sons A2 1.4i, this is a pig of a job and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. We started at 3pm on Friday, worked until 9.30pm, then Saturday 9.30am to 8pm, Sunday was just about tidying and finishing the little bits like the cable clips on the struts, so maybe another 1.5 hours.
Now I am a time served mechanical engineer and Adam is pretty handy even at 17 years old, but nothing prepared us for how hard this job was!

First off, the parts list. We purchased the important bits from Audi and went for the better polo top mounts:

From Crewe Audi
6N0 412 249 C – strut top bearing £16.80 each
6Q0 412 331 B – strut top mount £37.20 each
8Z0 412 301 D – bump stop £13.20 each
6N0 413 175 A – Bellows £10.80 each
N 10207803 – Bolt for strut clamp £3 each
N 10106402 - Nut for strut clamp £1.44 each
TOTAL £164.88

From Amazon
Suspension Bush remover/installer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-4748-Suspension-Remover-Installer/dp/B0034AHGSM £77 (although seems to have gone up now)

From Ebay
Meyle cast control arm passenger side https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116-050-...del:A2&hash=item33d55ab4c9:g:G-oAAOSw7GRZIP6A £62.67
Meyle cast control arm drivers side https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116-050-...del:A2&hash=item33d34398ed:g:VTYAAOSwcgNZGVMI £62.67
Bilstien B3 springs https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bilstein...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 £75.66 pair
Bilstien B4 shocks https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bilstein...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 £33.60 each
Meyle HD droplinks and ARB bushes https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-AUDI...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 £31.95 pair

EuroCarParts
Lemforder control arm bushes https://www.eurocarparts.com/search/610442065 £18.89 pair (depending on current discount code)


Supporting the car with axle stands on the console bush housing's we made a start. For safety we also had a trolley jack on one side and some blocks of wood on the other, we also chocked the rear wheels in anticipation of the force required to get the old parts off (and the new wishbones on!)

The original suspension from 2003 wasn't in a bad state, but it was crashy over large bumps and knocking over small bumps:


20181012_153317.jpg


After a good soaking of WD40, the first job was to remove the droplinks, again they weren't that bad and came off with ease. Next was to remove the clamp nut on the bottom of the strut and knock the housing off with a punch and a hammer.


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This revealed some corrosion, but nothing too bad. After undoing the three bolts on the top mount (the drivers side requires removal of the brake fluid reservoir first) the strut was free. At this point the whole hub was supported by the wishbone.
The strut wasn't bad for 15 years old:

20181013_170209.jpg


The nut on the track control arm ball joint came off easy and the ball joint released with a large hammer and a long punch on the end of the control arm. We then supported the whole hub using a ratchet strap.
With the front bolt removed from the control arm we thought the arm would simply wiggle free, how wrong we were. With Adam hammering the finger through the console bush and me on a 2ft crow bar on the front bush we eventually removed the old arm (caution is required here as the whole car was moving on the axle stands)
The old arm was starting to corrode:


20181014_111256 compressed.jpg


With the special tool linked above the old console bush came out with ease and the new one went in. The next job was the hardest thing I've ever done on a car in 30 years, that was getting the new control arm in place. This alone must have taken an hour and a half per side with two of us struggling to get the arm into the new bush. Eventually using fairy liquid as lubricant, a 2ft crow bar, a long clamp and a large hammer the arm went into place:


Photo 13-10-2018, 11 46 01.jpg


Next the new strut was assembled and hammered into the hub clamp, again using a punch and a large hammer, once home the new nut and bolt was tightened:

Photo 14-10-2018, 11 11 04.jpg


You can see on the picture above that the cable clips are now held on using a 50mm jubilee clip, this is because the original band had broken on removal.
Once the top mount bolts were put in and tightened the whole thing was repeated on the other side. We did not install the drop link at this stage.

This shows the new arm in place on the other side (there is wood on top of the brick!):

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And with everything complete the drop links were installed. We decided not to change the ARB bushes as they looked new and had jubilee clips holding them, so they had obviously been replaced already at some stage


Photo 14-10-2018, 11 15 01.jpg


Predictably it started raining at the end and the brake discs soon started to show rust. Adam got soaked putting the wheels back on whilst I watched from the garage!


Thanks for reading, please ask any questions to help with this job if you are considering doing a DIY.

Ian (& Adam).
 

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Excellent write up Ian and Adam. Very useful for other DIY'ers and may persuade others to let a garage do it. I paid £147 labour to have my arms replaced.

The next job was the hardest thing I've ever done on a car in 30 years, that was getting the new control arm in place. This alone must have taken an hour and a half per side with two of us struggling to get the arm into the new bush. Eventually using fairy liquid as lubricant, a 2ft crow bar, a long clamp and a large hammer the arm went into place:
Click to expand...

I believe there is a special lubricant for fitting the bushes. Part G 294 421 A1 diluted 20:1 Whether it is better than fairy liquid I'll let others comment on.

Again, excellent job done and well illustrated write up.
 
good job and excellent photos. My method of refitting the wishbones ( working on my own) involved using a big F-clamp, big hammer and crowbar. The left side went in easy but on the driver side I ended up taking the Aluminium Sub frame of the car. Finish the job after 6 weeks and swore never to touch a piece of suspension again. enjoy the photos especially the bend on the F-clamp in the first one.
 

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That's the same clamp we used, but on the body of the arm so that it can go in straight, the angle you have there is preventing the arm going into the bush. We also screwed the front arm bolt back in with a square washer under it for somewhere for the crowbar to lever against.
 
So does the panel think that removing the consoles makes sense? It appears to me that the grief of loosening the subframe and undoing the consoles is minor, and makes the job of removing and refitting the arms and bushes a lot easier (I would think).
 
Merlin3046 said:
So does the panel think that removing the consoles makes sense? It appears to me that the grief of loosening the subframe and undoing the consoles is minor, and makes the job of removing and refitting the arms and bushes a lot easier (I would think).
Click to expand...

I dropped everything except the steering rack, but that's because I wanted to clean up the subframe and epoxy it. Realigning everything when you come to reassemble is a pain - the locating pin kit is a must. Make sure you thread the ARB back into its rough location before bolting the subframe/console assy back into place. I forgot and had to drop it all again :mad:. And then there's the expense of those stretch bolts :( ...

If you've got a decent bush removal/fitting tool for the bushes at the rear end of the wishbones, I don't think there's much to be gained by dropping everything. You can't fit the wishbones until the console and central subframe are back in place anyway.

To my eyes, the whole console/subframe set-up is a compromised design. I'm being polite - I doubt the forum filters would let me type what I really feel about it. Why any designer would deem it acceptable to tie together the left- and right-hand sides of the suspension set up by 4 M10 bolts in quite slack holes (and load them in shear, no less) and then have the nuts for said bolts only provided as part of the steering rack assy is completely beyond me. It is rubbish. The body engineering and running gear departments obviously didn't have many meeetings, or the former blew all the development budget on their (beautuful and beautifully made) creation and left the latter with two-bob-and-a-conker to do their bit. No wonder the Polo/A2 never won any plaudits for its ride/handling. I reckon it would be a very worthwhile mod to design steel replacements for the consoles with built-in, proper adjustment for the wishbone geometry, then weld them to the central steel subframe and just make the steering rack bolt down onto the top of it all. That would make for a FAR more rigid set-up.
 
That's very interesting. I hadn't appreciated the rack was deeply involved in all this too. I had the impression that the centring bolts would hold the subframe ~4mm lower than normal, thereby freeing up the consoles, while not losing all alignment. I also imagined that you could fit the arm to the bush to the console and put the whole shebang in together. What you're saying is that isn't so.

Always willing to learn from others' skinned knuckles. Off to buy an f-off big clamp tomorrow.

Thanks

M
 
Hi, I'm looking at overhauling the suspension on our 1.4 petrol and your shopping list is potentially very helpful as I'd like to upgrade to the bilsteins in order to improve the ride on 17" with sports set up.

Does yours have OSS and would a sport model require different components (perhaps you may know)?
 
It does have OSS and the front springs we fitted are for SE models even though ours is a sport model. This was in a quest to improve the ride. The sport springs are shorter for a lower ride.
 
Just ordered up a load of parts to refresh the front suspension, but just wonderino whether I’ve made a mistake getting them from Autodoc?

I have been charged 20% VAT, but am dreading to see whether I get any duties added due to Brexit?! Anyone have any insight on this??
 
993BOY said:
Just ordered up a load of parts to refresh the front suspension, but just wonderino whether I’ve made a mistake getting them from Autodoc?

I have been charged 20% VAT, but am dreading to see whether I get any duties added due to Brexit?! Anyone have any insight on this??
Click to expand...
Well you are off to a good start in that they have charged you the UK VAT rate rather than the German rate.
 
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