Second opinion

cantdecide

Guys,

Meet my passenger side front suspension.

First 2 photos show the lower, more forward control arm on my '98 A6. The weight is on the suspension, (ie car is on a pair of those suicide ramps:eek:). The rubber here looks tired to me.

The third is the same view as photo 1 but with the weight off the suspension (ie, the car is now jacked). I think there is an obvious rip in the rubber.

Fourth photo is the drivers side- about 4k miles old and perfect for all intents and purpouses and the weight is on the suspension (car was on the ground, here).

Mechanic reckoned he could find nothing definitely wrong with my front suspension despite the knocking I complained of, which he himself heard. I've heard this knocking before and I thought that automatically it had to be a control arm.

It is fairly obviously knackered, isn't it????

cantdecide

I thought you lot would have had this boxed off before breakfast:p

crosstownk

I don't see anything obvious, but (and I'm not being smart here) the photos are not as sharp as they could be - it looks like the camera was too close to the subject.

If you've no unusual knocks, thumps or bangs from that area, and if you don't 'feel' any unusual response from the suspension or steering while driving, then I'd be inclined to use the 'let it develop' approach. Keep an eye on the mounting in the meantime.

JHMEG

The rubber can be fine but the balljoints worn out.

cantdecide

crosstownk wrote: »

I don't see anything obvious, but (and I'm not being smart here) the photos are not as sharp as they could be - it looks like the camera was too close to the subject.

If you've no unusual knocks, thumps or bangs from that area, and if you don't 'feel' any unusual response from the suspension or steering while driving, then I'd be inclined to use the 'let it develop' approach. Keep an eye on the mounting in the meantime.

Photos are from my phone and I gave as much room as I could but they're not great, I know. I really think that compared to the new O/S arm, the rubber N/S arm look shagged.

I am getting unusal clunks, bangs and steering feedback for months.

The reason I ask is that for the last 3 or 4 months I've been letting it develop. Early on, I was aware of a slight clunk when I hit a bump a particular way. I started to hear when going around roundabouts for the last month and a half I've been starting to feel a clunk in the steering that has become more and more prominent. I was starting to think that the problem was about ripe.

I was very surprised when the mechanic said he couldn't find anything wrong- I had been hearing clunking and banging getting worse and worse.

If you imagine a new arm has a rubber bush that's roughly in the middle when the weight is on the suspension (like the new one on my O/S in the 4th photo), when the weight of the car is on the suspension, on the N/S, the bolt doesn't sit halfway down, it sits more like 80% of the way down (maybe the photos don't show it so well but it seems to me that the bolt is almost gone through the rubber).

If it's balljoints, that's also a good reason to get it changed- but he's told me not to bother doing anything about it

BrianD3

Has the strut top mounting been investigated? IME this is often overlooked when diagnosing noises. I needed a replacement top mount on one of my cars, the symptom was a "dumming" noise and wheel feedback when the wheel was turned. I had previously brought it to two garages who said they could find nothing wrong with the suspension or steering. I think they assumed it was coming from a ball joint, track rod, track rod end or wishbone, it also passed the NCT. Eventually I diagnosed the problem myself - got my mate to turn the wheel with the car stationary and I could see and hear the spring juddering.

Have to say I am not an Audi fanatic so your photos mean nothing to me, I cannot visualise the suspension setup. Maybe try an Audi specific forum.

MercMad

Yeah just because the rubber doesn't look perfect, or perfectly centralised doesn't mean it needs replacement. However if there is a noise, there is play, and any mechanic worth his salt should be able to pinpoint it, but it may take some time.

I has a noise coming from the suspension on a C-Class. I assumed it was bottom ball joint but it turned out to be the track rod end, which was only a year old. It was a cheap spurious one and created some racket ! There wasn't a huge deal of play in it but it sure made noise !

Also on the CLK there was a rattle over bumps, I figured anti roll bar bushes, or drop links, but again it turned out to be seriously worn track rods !

The best way to check it to jack it up under the wishbone. That way the steering/hub area is unloaded. Try to rock it at 12 and 6 o'clock positions, then 3 and 9 !

crosstownk

As Brian stated, the upper links are prone to wear - as are the anti roll bar links.

richie_rvf

I'm not familiar with Audi's but on some cars when the suspension is unloaded you will not feel any wear.

To me the first picture looks like there is less grease inside the ruber than that on the fourth picture.

If it's not too expensive I would just go ahead and replace.

keep us posted!

Richie.

Esel

That bush looks bad to me.

cantdecide

esel wrote: »

That bush looks bad to me.

Just comparing LH and RH, I agree.

I am tempted to just change it cos even if it's not the cause of the current knocking it's next in line to get the bin in the near future anyway.

I'm also getting new 18's fitted soon and as it's the main lower arm, wear here will probably have the greatest effect on alignment.