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View Full Version : Please Help Chewin through suspension arms and track rod ends



treeshark
23-03-2011, 04:12 PM
I've been searching previous threads about track rod end replacements but haven't found anyone with this problem.

I'm not doing many miles these days about 6k a year but have had to have the below done to get through the MOT's.

26/07/2007 top arm front
26/07/2007 top arm rear
26/07/2007 n/s front track rod
26/07/2007 o/s front track rod
19/02/2008 2 Front Tyres
14/05/2008 Track rod
14/06/2008 2 Front Tyres
07/07/2008 front pads
07/07/2008 rear pads
07/07/2008 discs
07/04/2009 o/s/f suspension arms
07/04/2009 suspension arm front
07/04/2009 suspension arm rear
03/08/2009 n/s front track rod end
03/08/2009 o/s front track rod end
03/08/2009 n/s front upper arm
03/08/2009 rear front upper arms x2
21/04/2010 Anti-roll bar
21/04/2010 n/s/f front arm
21/04/2010 n/s/f rear arm
21/04/2010 o/s/f top front arm

Now I've got another nasty creaking sound when turning left and loose clunking going over pot holes, which led me to check and it looks like I'm at least gonna need new trackrod ends again already.

I live at the end of a 300m rough track which is badly potholed but I only travel about 4 miles an hour over this and am really careful to straddle the holes where possible.

Would you consider that the track is fully responsible for all this work or anything else that should be looked into?

Really appreciate any advice.

:1zhelp:

iwaters
23-03-2011, 06:05 PM
The 2 sets of front tyres in 2008 was probably caused by the alignment not been properly checked after the first lot of track rods and arms.

Did you replace with cheap parts?

I know the arms are a weak point but that if excessive to say the least.

Instead of paying for new arms get some tarmac and start filling those potholes! :p

yaman
23-03-2011, 08:07 PM
and start filling those potholes! :p

For Gods sake!!

Think of how many people will be made redundant at
those suspension factories, they'll be on a three
day week!! :D

Regards
Jim

treeshark
23-03-2011, 08:30 PM
Thanks for taking the time to reply iwaters.

You're right about the alignment checks I had to take the car back to the garage about 4 times before they got it right. The tyres were wearing heavily on the outside edge, and was pulling to the left although the garage said it was tracked and within tolerance. It's pretty good now tho still has a very slight wander to the kerb.

The parts weren't genuine, I don't know if they were cheap though
TrackRods were about £20
Arms were anything from £23 - £51

And yes I bought & wackered 20 tonnes of roadstone to the track last year to fill the holes. Most has blown out now tho, it's like painting the fourth road bridge.:aargh4:

hibbsy21
24-03-2011, 02:22 AM
I feel your pain on this, i had to have near enough every front suspension link done at my last mot, albeit my first with the car so i am not sure how it was driven before, or where.

But I have noticed that the bushes in the lower suspension arms aren't round any more, so i imagine this MOT will be an expensive one, I have been saving all year for it, so I will be getting expensive stuff this year. I blame the roads around Lincoln, especially the country lanes that I frequent on, this winter only made them worse. So the council decided to do cheap temporary repairs which, to be honest, have just made the roads even more bumpy and uneven.

olds_kool
24-03-2011, 06:03 AM
go on ebay.de and search for meyle hd
full kit is around £290 + postage (about £500 if bought in uk)

these are heavy duty and better than o.e, should stop you having to keep replacing them!

sounds expensive but one lower genuine audi arm is around £100 so its not too bad a price

treeshark
24-03-2011, 11:12 AM
Thanks for the replies, good forum this.

Olds_kool I've had a quick search on ebay.de and found this "Enhanced Double Life 14 piece version" so may last me two years, but at £400 is a bit pricey.

I have an A4 B5 1.9 TDi 110

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.de%2FVERSTARKTER-MEYLE-HD-QUERLENKERSATZ-Audi-A4-B5-1-9-TDI-%2F390127340116%3Fpt%3DAutoteile_Zubeh%25C3%25B6r% 26hash%3Ditem5ad566ca54&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

olds_kool
24-03-2011, 06:12 PM
can be found cheaper

http://cgi.ebay.de/MEYLE-HD-Querlenker-Set-AUDI-A4-A6-A8-VW-Passat-3b-TOP-/380241286651?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item58882595fb

http://cgi.ebay.de/MEYLE-Querlenkersatz-kpl-12tlg-Audi-A4-A6-VW-Pas-/310302594359?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item483f79d537

http://cgi.ebay.de/QUERLENKERSATZ-MEYLE-HD-AUDI-A4-B5-SPORTFAHRWERK-1BV-/150512102251?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item230b386b6b

all state they will post to uk
or there are some upper arm kits only, around £150

sure i read somewhere that all meyle 'HD' items have a four year guarantee

treeshark
25-03-2011, 12:18 PM
Thanks again to all who've helped.

I guess I'll save up and wait for good weather to tackle this one.
A 4 year guarantee would be most welcome I could see me getting my money's worth out of that.

Cheers
All

olds_kool
27-03-2011, 09:04 AM
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES337518/?salesrep=JMarusic&utm_source=audizine&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=JMarusic&utm_campaign=postreply

claim to be genuine vw/audi, lower control arm set for $99 + $105 shipping
bargain at about £130 delivered

mike ryan
30-03-2011, 08:33 PM
If you need genuine arms but at acheap price go to euro car parts and get the lemfoder parts. I bought some and when i compared them to the originals low and behold exactly the same but where the 4 rings should have been they simply ground them. I guess this is as they are not audi dealers or who knows but they were certainly cheaper than genuines.

yaman
31-03-2011, 12:36 AM
Some of the Chinese copies now have grinder marks
on them.... they don't miss much :D

Regards
Jim

iwaters
31-03-2011, 09:47 AM
If you need genuine arms but at acheap price go to euro car parts and get the lemfoder parts. I bought some and when i compared them to the originals low and behold exactly the same but where the 4 rings should have been they simply ground them. I guess this is as they are not audi dealers or who knows but they were certainly cheaper than genuines.

I am pretty sure (although I could be talking through my hat) that Lemforder make them for Audi, the must just remove the rings and brand them for themselves. Or that could be Febi?

mike ryan
31-03-2011, 02:00 PM
I dont think the chinese stuff would find its way into the supply chain for Euro parts. They were the same as the originals. I think maybe Febi do supply them aswell due to car makers normally having more than one supplier of the same part to ensure that a missing sole item will not hold up production. they even came with new nuts and bolts to replace the ones on the car. You get what you pay for so look for a quality item and it will always reward you. I know after fitting cheap parts at the customers insistance they are back 12 months later with the same problems.

olds_kool
31-03-2011, 07:08 PM
genuine audi arms are made by lemforder

i priced them up from ecp a few weeks ago
£104 rear lower arm each
£80 front lower arm each so that on its own is the cost of an uprated hd kit from meyle and without the 4 year guarantee !!!


i bought a pair of lemforder rear axle bushes from ecp and they had audi logo and part number ground out from the rubber part so lemforder must supply them like that to anyone other than audi?