ex-a8drifter

The dealer called me and told me that the curved control arms that were under recall were not the reason for the suspension play. The lower front straight control arm is the culprit along with the sway bar linkages. Are the sway bar linkages a common worn part? What is the difficulty level with the straight lower arm replacement DIY? The dealer is quoting $315 for the control arm replacement, $350 for the linkages, and $245 for a torn CV boot. I will do the work on my own, but if its really difficult and time consuming, I might opt for the dealer service. I might purchase the parts on my own and have them do it as an option. This is the worst week of my A8's life! Thanks in advance.

TerminA8r

They replaced the straight lower control arms for me at no cost.

PaulW

You have to take the sway bar links off to change the straight control arm, so there should be no extra labor.

I think I bought mine at the stealer for $70 each or so. So you'll save over $200 right there, the straight controls arms are easy to replace. If you have two jacks, a few 18mm wrenchs and a morning, you could do everything.

Add the CV joint boot repair in there, and you've got a day in the garage.

pw

ex-a8drifter

Akron, OH... a hop skip and a tip shift away from ECS Tuning!

ex-a8drifter

Looks like one of them is the wishbone linkage for $315 not the control arm.

PaulW

This is the one (sway bar link) that I was referring too, about $70 each at stealer:

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/susp_whls_brake_steer/hr8.JPG">

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/susp_whls_brake_steer/hr9.JPG">

The original 97 ones had little ball joints, the new ones have through bolts.....made a big difference in handling.

pw

ex-a8drifter

curved control arm replaced and asked if that was the one under the recall. After many confused misdirections and multiple add on work orders, we have come to conclusion that it is indeed the curved control arm ball joint, which is what I knew from the beginning. I told them to not work on the car and I can do it on my own for 200 bucks difference. $120 for the arm from ECS and a few hours of my time. The linkages, Paul, that you showed me, are a "c" shape, which the dealer confused with the curved control arm. I thought that this was going to be a pleasant experience but I guess not.

PaulW

For some reason I think my dealer service department can do it right. They are fairly good, but they have a huge amount of cars to service every day....but they seem to make recurring mistakes.

I guess that's the one thing I have learned from the nuclear power industry, everybody makes mistakes, but it's really in what you do to prevent them from happening again in the long run that determines performance.

They overfilled my crankcase a month ago when doing an oil change.....and you know what? It's still overfilled...... ;-)