Front Wishbones/Control Arms

Tom, have all your original questions now been answered?
If you decide to replace the console bush, D4v1d Sm4rt suggested drilling through the rubber so the centre of the bush detaches from the outer sleeve. The wishbone can then be removed and the bush inner and outer sleeves carefully cut / ground until they can be split and tapped out.
When refitting the wishbone into the re-bushed console it needs to be pressed in at the same relative angle. The theory is that in the static position with the car back on its wheels, the rubber isolator part of the bush is in a 'neutral' position and not pre-loaded.

Cheers Spike
 
Thanks again, Spike.
Yes, for the most part, my original questions have been answered and I'm feeling much more educated on this matter.

I went to Lake District Audi today, armed with the exploded diagrams, and got them to give me some prices for both available options.

  • Sticking with the cast type, I'm looking at £183 per side. This includes new bushes at both points where the wishbone attaches to the console.
  • Moving over to the new, pressed type, I'm looking at £175 per side. Again, this includes the bushes and, in this case, new ball joints (as these are bolt-on, and therefore purchased separately).
So, If I'm to renew everything, moving to the newer, pressed steel variety would seem the better/cheaper option. However, do I even need new wishbones? The only reason to replace the wishbone rather than just the bushes is to renew the ball joints. Are these known to wear out?
If the ball joints are perfectly good, I need only buy new bushes, reducing the cost considerably (down to £35 per side). Could the more mechanically experienced share their thoughts, please? What would you do? Is there a way to tell for certain whether the ball joints are in need of replacement?

Many thanks,

Tom
 
Hi Tom, the way I read the parts list suggests the cast and pressed steel wishbones are specific to model year and are not interchangeable. Its logical (but not guaranteed) that Audi would have superseded the cast version when they standardised on pressed steel ones for all late model cars unless there were technical reasons why this was not possible. Bottom line is that you are probably stuck with cast wishbones. Did you ask Audi about the compatibility or just compare prices.
The ball joints do wear, especially if the dust seals split allowing water and grit ingress. For the MOT, with the wheels off the ground, they test for wear using a long pry bar to work the wishbone up and down while looking for movement in the joint.

Cheers Spike
 
Hi Tom, the way I read the parts list suggests the cast and pressed steel wishbones are specific to model year and are not interchangeable.... Did you ask Audi about the compatibility or just compare prices.

I didn't ask Audi as such. When looking at the parts list, AMF was seen alongside the later pressed steel wishbones. The consoles and bushes also appeared to be identical. However, I shall nevertheless play it safe and stick with the cast version.

spike said:
The ball joints do wear, especially if the dust seals split allowing water and grit ingress. For the MOT, with the wheels off the ground, they test for wear using a long pry bar to work the wishbone up and down while looking for movement in the joint.

Ah, I had wondered what they did with the bar around my front alloys when testing my car!
This is really helpful information, Spike, and ultimately decides my course of action. While I'm tempted to take my car to my regular MOT station and get them to check for wear, I'm equally aware that going to the hassle and expense of changing the wishbones at a later date having already changed the bushes doesn't make sense, especially not on a car that's done 157k miles. So, new cast wishbones with integrated ball joints and new bushes is the order of the day.

Unsurprisingly, this does lead to another, hopefully final, question...
It's been 19k miles since my last geometry reset. Having this done at the same time would be practical from my point of view, but would it be best to wait a few weeks after having the bushes/wishbones changed?

Thanks! :)

Tom
 
Dusting off an old thread and breathing some new life into it....

I'm well into stripping down the front end on my TDi. Struts and hubs are off, but I'm really struggling with getting the wishbone (aka control arm) 'pin' out of the rubber bushing in the console. Has anybody ever managed to get the wishbone out of the bushing with the console in place, or should I concede defeat and drop the lot to get it off. It looks to me as though I'm still going to have my work cut out getting the pin out even with it off the car, but at least the steel subframe wouldn't be blocking my path.

If I do drop the consoles, I'll then need to splash out on new bolts and sort out some way of re-aligning them when I come to refit?

These are probably Q's for another thread, but I've noticed that the brake caliper guide pins don't thread very well into the hub upright. My eyes are no longer what they used to be, but it looks as though the tapped holes in the upright have been helicoiled and now the helicoils are losing their threads.

Questions:
1. Is it acceptable to helicoil those threads? There doesn't look to be an awful lot of 'meat' around them in the casting.
2. If it's ok to helicoil, can I drill/ream out the old helicoil and fit a new one?
3.The outer CV joints are starting to look tired, especially the one on the driver's side, which has noticeable rotational play in it. Apart from a shot OS wheel bearing, there was some transmission shunt rolling on/off the throttle so I'm thinking this may have been the culprit. I've trying using the forum search facility to look for feedback on the J&R joints, but the min. 4 character limit for search terms is conspiring against me. They're listed on ebay at a bargain price; they do the inner ones too. I could replace all 4 for about £60! Are they any good? I've used their joints on other cars before and not had a problem, but not tried the ones for the A2.
I'm trying to get the ABS sensors out of the hubs as I want to get the hubs shotblasted. Will they come out in one piece, or should I just concede defeat now and smack them out in pieces? I've had this problem many times before on other cars and only once have I succeeded in getting them out still in working order. If I buy new, are the Delphi ones any good?

Cheers, Matt
 
Dusting off an old thread and breathing some new life into it....

I'm well into stripping down the front end on my TDi. Struts and hubs are off, but I'm really struggling with getting the wishbone (aka control arm) 'pin' out of the rubber bushing in the console. Has anybody ever managed to get the wishbone out of the bushing with the console in place, or should I concede defeat and drop the lot to get it off. It looks to me as though I'm still going to have my work cut out getting the pin out even with it off the car, but at least the steel subframe wouldn't be blocking my path.

If I do drop the consoles, I'll then need to splash out on new bolts and sort out some way of re-aligning them when I come to refit?

These are probably Q's for another thread, but I've noticed that the brake caliper guide pins don't thread very well into the hub upright. My eyes are no longer what they used to be, but it looks as though the tapped holes in the upright have been helicoiled and now the helicoils are losing their threads.

Questions:
  1. Is it acceptable to helicoil those threads? There doesn't look to be an awful lot of 'meat' around them in the casting.
  2. If it's ok to helicoil, can I drill/ream out the old helicoil and fit a new one?
3.The outer CV joints are starting to look tired, especially the one on the driver's side, which has noticeable rotational play in it. Apart from a shot OS wheel bearing, there was some transmission shunt rolling on/off the throttle so I'm thinking this may have been the culprit. I've trying using the forum search facility to look for feedback on the J&R joints, but the min. 4 character limit for search terms is conspiring against me. They're listed on ebay at a bargain price; they do the inner ones too. I could replace all 4 for about £60! Are they any good? I've used their joints on other cars before and not had a problem, but not tried the ones for the A2.
I'm trying to get the ABS sensors out of the hubs as I want to get the hubs shotblasted. Will they come out in one piece, or should I just concede defeat now and smack them out in pieces? I've had this problem many times before on other cars and only once have I succeeded in getting them out still in working order. If I buy new, are the Delphi ones any good?

Cheers, Matt

Not sure any one can help out here but my mechanic is stuck on getting a bolt out to replace the wish bone on the left side and sent me this said it’s really hard to get out and may break any solutions more than welcome ?? EB84C457-0607-4CFA-B5B3-B0A7F9713318.jpeg
 
Not sure any one can help out here but my mechanic is stuck on getting a bolt out to replace the wish bone on the left side and sent me this said it’s really hard to get out and may break any solutions more than welcome ??View attachment 47966

Hi Audi A2 ...
If you look at the other end of the bolt, where it screws into the console, it is open, the bolt already looks to have moved a bit. Spray in loads of WD40 and work it in and out and it should come out. Have a look at the link below and you will see where to spray ...

 
As above I’ve replaced a good few Toyota Hilux pick up springs and shackles the rubber bushes they often can be a pig they really bind ...the secret I found was plenty of penetrating fluid or whatever and leave to soak if you can get a spanner on it and try back and forth ? I used to do this several times a week before I started to disassemble it them came apart easy then ..it’s all in the prep ?
 
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Yep, it's a very long steel bolt into an ally thread. The chances are that the tip of the bolt has rusted, so it's going to take a LOT of torque to undo. Can you wind it in again and get at the tip end with a wire brush to clean off as much of the corrosion as possible?

Once you've (or your mechanic has) wound it out, you will probably have knackered the thread in the console. This is a shame, but not a disaster. You'll probably have to take the console out and then two long-series helicoils will put it back better than new. My local engine builder charged me £20 for this job.

This is all fine in theory, but the head on your bolt looks like it's seen better days. I suspect your challenge is going to be getting the torque into the bolt, a challenge I don't have any instant solutions for, I'm afraid. Sorry.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Mike
 
I will give those of you with little engineering / mechanical back ground a great tip don’t use 12 sided sockets or spanner’s use 6 sided you will otherwise end up rounding off the heads of bolts ..for those that do know sorry ?...the only time I’ve used them is once loosened and not much space to get any sort of turn you can find the 12 point of some use ...
 
This is the bolt that seized in pretty much that position on me.. I ended up having to cut the bolt and replace the console.. it ended up not going either way in or out.. was stuck solid !
 
What a b****r that was ..sorry ..I know a lot of people don’t like using copper slip as it’s not recommended in certain situations but me I always use it ...and with dissimilar metals you can get probs with seized bolts ..they can be a real nightmare ☹️..if I take anything apart it goes back with a smear ..
 
Thanks to you all for all the information I will pass this on to my mechanic today if he hasn’t solved it yet ??
 
Dusting off an old thread and breathing some new life into it....

I'm well into stripping down the front end on my TDi. Struts and hubs are off, but I'm really struggling with getting the wishbone (aka control arm) 'pin' out of the rubber bushing in the console. Has anybody ever managed to get the wishbone out of the bushing with the console in place, or should I concede defeat and drop the lot to get it off. It looks to me as though I'm still going to have my work cut out getting the pin out even with it off the car, but at least the steel subframe wouldn't be blocking my path.

Cheers, Matt

As questioned above I can confirm it's possible to remove wishbone with the console in situ.
This morning I started this job (replacing wishbones) with nil motivation, because of the horror stories around these items.
They took me an hour each side.
The ones that came out where pressed steel, er, corroded ones, and have some bulk in front of the pin to lever them out of the bush. If you pry the front mount out with a crowbar and keep it there, you'll be able to lever it out with a fork (the ones you use to split wishbone ball joint from etc (photos are to big of a file to post here for me)) ....... You can look here, in Dutch, but the photos don't require translation (scroll down)
Putting them in is easy with a clamp that's big enough and some silicon or other lubrication that won't affect/chew away rubber.
Like somebody else already stated here; Put every bolt/nut back with some copper grease or other corrosion inhibitor, saves you a lot of hassle the next time you'll have to work on it!

Swiitched also to forged ones, because of their strenght and being less prone to rust/corroding, disadvantage is not be able to replace the ball joint..... I guess I will get over that one! ?

Cheers, Menno.
 
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I replaced the RH side wishbone in the weekend, but the alignment is way of. To much toe in. The console is placed were it was before. I bougt the parts from an independant dealer, so its not original parts, its marked Klokkarholm. Is there any hope to adjust this with the placement of the console or did I get the wrong parts?
 
I replaced the RH side wishbone in the weekend, but the alignment is way of. To much toe in. The console is placed were it was before. I bougt the parts from an independant dealer, so its not original parts, its marked Klokkarholm. Is there any hope to adjust this with the placement of the console or did I get the wrong parts?

Hi Baard ... did you use the 'special' pins to lock the original position before removing the console?
If you did then the console has gone back in the right position and you should have enough adjustment on the track rod end to line up the wheel again.
If you marked the position and lined up the console visually ... as I did before knowing about the pins!! ... then you probably just need the tracking done. Take it to a tyre centre or you can do this pretty accurately at home if you know the steering wheel was dead centre before you carried out any work by driving up and down a straight road and adjusting the tracking with a spanner ... I get a smug satisfaction doing this because I hate the steering wheel being off centre and make minor adjustments to get it just right and keep a check on the tyres for even wear ...
 
just preparing myself for 2 x wishbone replacement...MOT passed with advisories... found interesting video...in german
 
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