front drivers suspension knock

[205man]

my drivers side front suspension has developed a clunk/knocking noise.

it started after i was driving slowly over a set new speed bumps at local diy store, and the were higher than i thought, and as i got the front wheels over them it dropped down witha large bang, but was mainly passenger side due to slope of the road and how the bumps been put in, ive looked underneath and think it hit the rear of the front subframe, theres no other marks

anyway couple days later it developed this noise, it doeant do it all the time , but does make it when braking / pulling away and when it feels like it whilst driving.

going to have look tomorrow , but pointers as to where to try first would be nice, also i might buy complete suspension arm kit, but where best palce to source one etc

thanks
alan

 

[pjw]

You probably wouldnt need to buy a full kit. I had the same problem, clunks and **** steering. I just jacked that wheel up and gave it a wiggle on the up/down axis and the left/right axis. I found that my upper front arm was paggered at the balljoint. Its easy to spot the failed component, but easier if you have a helper to wiggle the wheel while you look at each suspension balljoint and connection.

Even with the quattro there isnt really that many places it can go, and its usually one of the smaller components that fail first.

 

[ian52]

If you buy a kit dont get one of the cheap ones,they are chocolate and wont last.

 

[dublinS4]

I had the same on mine. replaced the upper arms on both sides. Drives perfect now. You might want to order a set of replacement bolts also,as alot of the time you gotta dogg the originals out ie, lots of heat from the gas bottles.

 

[pjw]

I found that taking the pinch bolt out for the upper arms was a pain but audi have a nice way to help out - theres a little 'window' along the shaft of the pinchbolt where you can get WD40 in. I took the nut off, and just kept twisting the bolt while spraying WD40 into this window and all over it - took a few minutes but it then just came right out.

Its also a hell of a lot easier to replace the upper arms by taking the entire strut out i found, which is what i did yesterday. You will have to unbolt the bottom stut bolt, the upper ARB droplink bolt, and the top three strut bolts.

Press down on the hub while the cars on axle stands and you can get the strut off from the bottom.

Then when its off the car its a ten minute job to get the upper arms off rather than messing about with spanners and not being able to see properly. Took me 2 hours to do both from start to finish yesterday, including a tea and a tab break.

 

[aragorn]

Problem is, if its siezed, then it doesnt turn at all, and trying to turn it will only result in it snapping.

Been there done that!

At that point your only option is to drill the thing out.

And ye, its far easier with the whole assy off, plus the workshop manual gives a specific measurement to set the arms to, to ensure the bushes arent twisted once installed, and its particularly difficult to set them properly with the top plate still in the arch!

 

[pjw]

To be honest that specific measurement isnt worth the paper its printed on. The twisting of the bush is what you want, unless its to an extreme. As soon as you lower the car onto the arm its going to be out of spec.

 

[aragorn]

Thats the ENTIRE point of the measurement. It ensures that when you lower the car onto the ground, the bush is in its "rest" state, and not all twisted up.

Obviously if the cars lowered, you need to take that into account and use a smaller distance.

With the lower arms, you dont tighten the bolts until the cars back on its wheels, so again the lower bushes are clamped up with the bush at rest. The reason for the measurement for the upper arms is that you cant get to them once the cars on its wheels.