Which Control arm kit?

[moschino]

Hi,
I have a 1998 A4 TDI 110bhp (AFN Engine) which I would like to replace the front suspension arms due to excessive knocking.
As the car is 15 years old I don't want to pay a fortune for the parts, just need to keep it running for a few more years until its either scrapped or sold on.
I know there are several sellers on ebay selling complete kits for about £100, just wondering if anyone has used these in the past and can recomend a seller?
Any advise would be great.
Many thanks in advance,
Jim.

 

[aragorn]

I used a £100 kit from ebay a couple years ago.

It lasted about 4 months, and after that time was knocking worse than the original Audi parts i removed, and totally ruined both front tyres.

My advice is avoid under any circumstances.

If your looking for a cheaper option, give Jason at All German a call and see what he can do, he has a few different brands of varying price/quality but all are certain to be better than the tat from ebay!

 

[moschino]

Aragorn,
Many thanks for the advise.
Just noticed a kit on ebay made by Kraft. Are these any good?
Otherwise, how can I contact Jason? Is there a website address?
Many thanks,
Jim.

 

[Mr K]

I found all German parts very useful. I ordered a full set of meyle HD arms for my S8 and they arrived promptly and I was very impressed with the quality. The S8 used largely the same arms as the A4 but with beefier bottom arms IIRC, which they ordered in extremely promptly.

The HD arms tightened things up nicely and made it very precise indeed. I think when I come to do the A4 it will be a tough call between meyle HD from all german and 034 motorsport arms through WOT Motorsport.

You'll also need to pop to audi / VW and get some new nuts n bolts here and there.

 

[aragorn]

Website here:
Home

 

[moschino]

Many thanks for the advise.
Am I right in thinking that I have 20mm Ball Joints?

 

[HEKTOR]

Full bolt kit is supplied with the 034 kit.

Your car should have the steel uprights so will require the larger (thicker) ball joint.

 

[aragorn]

Whats current pricing like on the 034 parts Hektor?

 

[Bradderz_1988]

Bout £450 iirc personally i wish id of gone with the 034 kit rather than the meyle hd kit as the bushes are already starting to look a little worse for wear and the rear control arm bushes have quite a lot off movement i may at some point powerflex the front and rear end as they have just released there black series bushes designed for the track. Firstly i need to do two front cv boots and n/s rear wheel bearing then do the other 3 bearings so they have all been replaced at roughly the same time.

 

[Bradderz_1988]

I also noticed the other week whilst working on a B6 that the alloy uprights have a kind of insert were the lower ball joints go can this not be removed to allow fitment of our control arms ???

 

[moschino]

Just to let you know I have purchased a kit from ebay for £95 complete with bolts and track rod ends.
Only want to keep the car running for another 2 years so hope they last.
Made by KRAFT and have 20mm Ball Joints.
Hope I have not make a mistake with these!
Thanks for all your advise.
Jim.

 

[Oranoco]

Good luck with it mate. I replaced a creaking upper arm with a QH item as it was far cheaper than an OE quality, it lasted just 4 weeks before it was creaking. Replaced it with a Lemforder item and the creak was banished for good I won't fit anything other than Lemforder arms now.

 

[Mr K]

i may at some point powerflex the front and rear end as they have just released there black series bushes designed for the track.

I'd be wary of using poly bushes anywhere that they are not rotating directly around the axis of the bolt, such as most of the arms on the front of a B5.

My race car, although not an A4, runs double wishbone suspension and the bottom wishbone bushes arn't inline, when they are poly bushes they effectively increase the wheel rate (spring) as the hard poly bush has to distort for the wishbone to move. Poly bushes dont relly work very well like this compared to a metalastic type.

Interestingly, If polys are used in a situation where they are rotating directly around theyre axis you will see a decrease in the wheel rate as the inner tube isnt bonded to the bush.

Personally on the bottom arms I would put a poly in the end of the main (front) arm, as IIRC this pretty much rotates square to the car. This arm is also the one dealing with the majority the corneirng loads and therefore the most likely to distort and ruin the geometry when under extreme G. The rear arm mainly deals with braking etc, and is not roatiting squarely, so id stick to a good or uprated metalastic there - somthing like the 034 arm. The tops, especially the top rear shouldnt be a poly bush.

I assume you have experianced a fully polly bushed car? Its only one step away from fully roses jointed in terms of ride, and id imagine powerflex's track bushes would be fairly unpleasant on a road car and probably only needed to tame some sticky slicks or maybe the softest list 1b's.

 

[Bradderz_1988]

Ive never experienced any poly bushed car and for that matter never owned a 'performance' car the TQS is my first as im only 24 and only ever owned 3 cars (corsa c sxi and a 1.8 PFL A4) so never really touched them in terms of modding.

these are the ones i was looking at for the rear control arms - Audi A4 / S4 / RS4 (B5) 95 01 POWERFLEX BLACK BUSH KIT PFF3-202BLK | eBay

 

[aragorn]

My advice is stick with rubber if you want to retain road manners.