allroaddave

Today I changed out the front air springs on my '04, and I have to admit - once you've done one side - this is a very easy DIY. However, it does require you to have a few tools.....

In looking over the other DIY threads I saw a few common issues, things that pretty much gave me no problem. I don't know if this is due my car only having 45K on it, or the easy life it's led (which makes me wonder why the bags failed so early, almost all the others have had well over 100K on theirs) or just due to my superior technique!

At any rate, here's what I did......

Pinch bolt: yes, soak it down the night before with a good rust penetrant like PB Blaster or Kroil. Take the nut off first, then if you have an impact wrench, hit it with that while you squirt some more penetrant into the pinch areas, once the bolt starts turning it will come out easily. Before you try to put it back do two things; clean the rust out of the grooves on the ball joints with a wire brush and coat the shaft of the bolt with a good antisieze.

Ball joints: some guys really fight getting these out but there's no need to, just tap a cold chisel into the split and open it up a bit, the joints will come right out. They also go back in easier after you've spread them a bit this way.

Lower shock bolt: This is a mother, unless you do one thing - remove the nut on the ball joint and pop the control arm loose so you can get clearance for the bolt on the back side where the other arm is. To release this ball joint, back the nut off till it's flush with the end of the joint then give it a good rap with a 3lb hammer, it'll pop right out, then remove the nut and lift the arm up till the shock bolt clears the other control arm.

Clean everything up well before reassembling....the tops of this later gen Arnotts is plastic of some sort, I used silicone paste both on the lower part of the spring where it fits over the shock, and to hold the top o-ring in place while I put the lid on.

You really need an impact wrench to take the top nut off the shock, I can't think of any other way to do it, and it makes the job so easy and quick.

It took me 3 1/2 hours to do the left side, and about 1/2 hour to do the right, between studying everything carefully before I took it apart to checking other DIY postings here to look for pitfalls, plus the time to lift the car, pull those incredibly heavy wheels off and so on.

If I had to do it again I can't imagine it taking more than 2 hours total for everything, experience is a great teacher.....

Hope this helps.

all(over)road

Nice write up !

So true....doing it once makes one an expert from that point forward. Congrats on doing it successfully , you've saved a bunch of money!

allroaddave

Thanks Jimbo....

Like most DIY projects, the worst thing to get over is the fear of doing it in the first place. I worked on imports for my living for many, many years, so to me it's just a matter of take your time and do it right.

I still wonder why my front bag failed with only 46K on it, I could not find any place on it that looked bad, and the rubber was not dried or cracked - in fact they look almost new. Still, since I replaced them, I don't come out in the morning and find one corner down anymore....

all(over)road

With the right tools, attitude and some experience, most German cars are easy enough to work on.

That IS odd for your bag to go at that low mileage. My first bag went at 135K...then the compressor, then the other front bag.

Now I'm way past due for the front shocks, which I now think is causing my bag problems which now I have another front one leaking. I hope the new generation Arnott bags are a bit more robust than the early ones...but their lifetime warranty is great regardless.

all123

I live in Georgia (the country) and it is full of post soviet wiseguys, so I just popped 30 bucks for the change couldn't be happier.
Those small changes are really cheap. The problem is if i have to change the TB, I gotta go to the AUDI certified dealership and pretty much sell the car to cover the cost

allroaddave

The new ones are supposed to be stronger, but no harder than they were to change, I'm not nearly as worried about it as I was......

The only real $$$$ concerns I have right now are the turbos and the transmission. While I'm capable of fixing either/both, I just don't fancy doing the job......

I had a Lexus ES 300, one of the few things that goes wrong with them is the radio display (LCD) goes black over time - the radio still works fine but you can't read the display. The dealer quoted $1000 for the radio and about 1 hr to change it. Doing some research online, I found you could buy a new display straight from Panasonic for about $100, and that it took about 20 min to change it. As I was selling the car to a friend I decided to go for it. True to the description online, 20 min after it arrived I turned the radio on and it worked brilliantly! It can be done!

allroaddave

Follow up to this old thread....my 2004 Allroad now had 75K on it. 2 years ago the right front air bag failed and Arnott sent me a replacement. 2 weeks or so ago the left front bag failed and again Arnott sent me a replacement. The new replacements are different than the first ones I put in tho the procedure is the same and since I was proactive when I did the first job and lubed everything well before re-assembling it all came apart easily again. Considering how few miles we do and my car lives in a garage, I'm surprised they don't last any longer than this, but it's nice that the company stands behind it's product. Here's a pic just to show the difference in the early Arnott bags vs the current ones.

DreamInRotary

Cool to see the difference, thanks for the pic! I have Arnott Gen 2's on my AR right now and may need to swap my fronts out for some new ones. Either that or my suspension level control is thinking that the ground is where Level 1 is

allroaddave

Well, here we are in 2019 and my airbag woes continue, last year I replaced the right front again, and just yesterday I was only two blocks from my home when the right front let go with a loud bang! Usually I just come out and find one corner down - I've never had one blow like this!

So I have my 6th Arnott bag on the way.....again I'm grateful that they stand behind their product, but I'm getting damned tired of changing them out.....I'm at 84K miles now.

We've decided to just keep the car as we drive even fewer miles per year than we used to and it's an excellent car for road trips to see the grandchildren - we live in KC and they all live on either coast. I have other cars to drive so it's predominantly the bride's daily - given how expensive new ones cost we have been looking at 2014-2015 smallroads, and while one of those would end my suspension woes it's still a lot of money. The plan for now is to just keep the one we have.....and hope Arnott stays in business.

I appreciate the technological advances that have been made in modern cars, but the cost to purchase and repair them is just staggering.

RudyRudy

6th, OMG! I'm very fortunate/thankful to still have a functioning original on my '04 at 78K (second owner). I don't raise it often, and wonder if I should. My mechanic last used it twice this winter, when replacing the axles, first, and then tie rod ends. Into my eight decade, I do hope this black beast, suspension, turbos, inter alia, do outlast me for a Good while yet. But, if necessary, and I could not find another C5 allroad in great state, which is likely, I'd shop for a used Outback, and not one with all the latest technological advances. I'd install Bluetooth as I have on my allroad and be set!