Recommendations - which ones: Febi, TRW or Meyle Suspension Arms

[V6_Man]

Afternoon folks,

I know I have asked the question before, so please don't kill me as I didn't get many replies apart from the very helpful @mikep99

Would appreciate some recommendations. I am about to order suspension arms for my A4 B7 and was wondering which one would be a good choice including value for money. The options are:

• OEM - not sure who makes them for Audi. I can get them tomorrow
• TRW - I can get them tomorrow
• Meyle - will be a week before they are delivered
• Lemforder - a week before they are delivered
• FAI - can get them delivered tomorrow

Would also be interested to know if I need to replace one or do both font lower rear arms. Would appreciate your help

 

[DieselJake]

No personal experiance but I hear good things about swapping the lot to Meyle HD.

Think they're a bit more beefy and there's some pictures with the differences kicking about somewhere.

 

[V6_Man]

No personal experiance but I hear good things about swapping the lot to Meyle HD.

Cheers bud. Would you suggest doing both (near and off side) at the same time or just the one which is the problem.

 

[DieselJake]

Cheers bud. Would you suggest doing both (near and off side) at the same time or just the one which is the problem.

If your going Meyle HD probably best to do the lot as they're slightly different to OEM, off the top of my head I think OEM are TRW or/and Lemforder so if you were going for those you could probably get away with just doing the one side (although people still recommend both). The arms themselves don't generally deteriorate so some people just swap the bushings instead (with polybushes, etc).

Suppose the thing with arms is if they go... running on a front disk haha seen a few nasty examples.

 

[tut_gareth]

This interests me too. I have heard good things about the Meyle hd arms but no experience. Personally I plan to swap oùt all sides at the same time and get the alignment done once.

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[V6_Man]

Thanks @DieselJake. I have just spoken to All German Parts and there is not much difference in price between Miele HD and Lemforder. They are @£177 and £199 respectively both delivered. Lemforder it appears are the OEM suppliers and if you get the parts from anywhere but TPS/Audi, the logo would be grinded

(found out after speaking to the guys at All German Parts). Believe I am going to go ahead with Lemforder as it is half the price for both. Audi/TPS charge you £179 for one suspension arm whereas you can get two for the same price from All German Parts.

Once again, thanks for your help folks - not sure what I would have done had ASN and its members been not here

 

[DieselJake]

Think they're a bit more beefy and there's some pictures with the differences kicking about somewhere.

Here we go, nicked this from here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/536167-Control-arm-kits-034-Motorsport-vs-Meyle-HD

"Meyle HD design philosophy is marketed as an improved OEM design looking to address reliability issues commonly seen in original parts. http://www.meyle.com/en/spare-parts/meyle-hd.html

I took a comparison photo of the upper bushing. Visually, the only difference was the thickness of the insert molded bushing. It fills out more to the faces of the arm. Of course this doesn't speak for thinks like bushing mayerial or durometer.

This is the failure point on my upper arm. I've seen a couple others that failed in the same spot. Visually it doesn't look like Meyle HD has done anything significantly different in that area so my best guess is that it's either in the material, molding process, or the weeding out of units during inspection.

If the failure rates are lower on aftermarket units, we may never know since it takes 80k/100k/120k miles for the failure to occur. With many owners starting to move out of the cars the traceability to install date, mileage, and brand of part can get broken. For now you'll have to rely on mfr claims, simulated testing, hearsay, and visual comparison. With that said, I'd rank FCP, Meyle, then 034 from lowest to highest.

"

Not sure if it's the same for b6's and b7's but apparently b5 S4's had stronger rubber too (reading up on all this as I want to swap mine at some point too).

 

[V6_Man]

Here we go, nicked this from here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/536167-Control-arm-kits-034-Motorsport-vs-Meyle-HD

"Meyle HD design philosophy is marketed as an improved OEM design looking to address reliability issues commonly seen in original parts. http://www.meyle.com/en/spare-parts/meyle-hd.html

I took a comparison photo of the upper bushing. Visually, the only difference was the thickness of the insert molded bushing. It fills out more to the faces of the arm. Of course this doesn't speak for thinks like bushing mayerial or durometer.

This is the failure point on my upper arm. I've seen a couple others that failed in the same spot. Visually it doesn't look like Meyle HD has done anything significantly different in that area so my best guess is that it's either in the material, molding process, or the weeding out of units during inspection.

If the failure rates are lower on aftermarket units, we may never know since it takes 80k/100k/120k miles for the failure to occur. With many owners starting to move out of the cars the traceability to install date, mileage, and brand of part can get broken. For now you'll have to rely on mfr claims, simulated testing, hearsay, and visual comparison. With that said, I'd rank FCP, Meyle, then 034 from lowest to highest.

"

Not sure if it's the same for b6's and b7's but apparently b5 S4's had stronger rubber too (reading up on all this as I want to swap mine at some point too).

Interesting read - cheers @DieselJake. I did look at 034 kit and it comes in at £450 from AwesomeGTI (Manchester). I have all my mods for my S4 bought from them and I should've called them to check just the lower rear arms but decided not no, not sure why.


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[OliNix]

Meyle HD 100% yes do both sides, if one side has failed the other is likely on the way out as well. Will also keep the stiffness the same left and right (otherwise 1 side will be stiffer and will handle oddly).

I have just swapped mine, not tested them yet but fitted fine. Make sure to get an alignment after as well.

 

[V6_Man]

Meyle HD 100% yes do both sides, if one side has failed the other is likely on the way out as well. Will also keep the stiffness the same left and right (otherwise 1 side will be stiffer and will handle oddly).

I have just swapped mine, not tested them yet but fitted fine. Make sure to get an alignment after as well.

Cheers mate, was initially ordering Meyle but ended up ordering Lemforder for both sides and delivery expected Friday. It was only that I called TPS and they said Lemforder are OE , which is what All German Parts told me as well. And given the price difference I said why not.


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