Rich Quinlan

I heard it today while creeping over a short, tall speedbump. It sounded like a creaky coil spring, if there could be a thing. Maybe creaky leaf spring is more appropriate? Sound was coming from the left front quarter of the car, down low.<p>If this is indeed a bad arm, should I hold off on having the car aligned? (I'm going to do it late this week or next week)<p>TIA all<br>Rich<ul><li><a href="http://home.att.net/~richquinlan">Quinland-in need of updates!</a></li></ul>

Jason Teller

I still have never gotten an alignment, so I can't comment. OK I lied. I got an alignment when I hit that deer a in Nov. '97. <p>If your lower control arms are failing then take the car in ASAP before the noise really starts to drive you crazy!<p>Jason

Cathleen

That is exactly the sound my LCA bushings make now. Having been through a complete front set already, I knew what it was.<br>Technically, it's the rubber bushings that fail on the lower control arms. The control arms themselves are perfectly fine, however, the design (of the control arms) is really not "serviceable" so they can't just replace the bushings. The dealers end up just giving you a new control arm under warranty.<br>If you are still under warranty, that is fine. I had my whole front replaced under warranty at about 30-35k and now at 72k they are bad again.<br>Since I am no longer under warranty I am going with a new option as soon as it is available. The rubber bushings in the stock arms make for a nice cushy ride, however, no matter what....they will fail in a relatively short time. You can't go over bad roads and expect them to last forever. It's just not possible. You CAN go with a stronger bushing material such as Delrin or urethane and have them last much longer, though. The trade off for having longer lasting, stronger bushings is a stiffer ride, which may not be for everyone. For those who enjoy doing track events, it also provides a much better feel and turn-in response. <br>These control arms will also be made "serviceable" which means that if you ever needed new bushings (Delrin or urethane) you could have these replaced without having to buy a whole new control arm.<br>I myself, plan to go this route. I've driven a 4000 quattro with urethane bushings and you can definitely tell a major difference in steering feel and response. The slight increase in road "feel" is worth the benefit to have a better, longer lasting bushing IMO. <br>-Cathleen

DaveL

at 36k miles.<br>Anyone know how much these bad boys will cost when out of warranty?<p>