a6 avant suspension onto an allroad?

[kid-jensen]

Teamorange, just take the weight off the suspect bag and undo the pnumatic fitting at the top. Pour in half a bottle of Slime and re-connect the fitting.

Re-pressurise the system and go for a drive.

That should temporarily fix the leak, because the leaks tend to be at the bottom, and that's where the slime will go.

Check the next day. If it's still collapsing, put the other half of the bottle in.

I did this on mine as an experiment about a year ago, still holding air, but sooner or later the cracks in the bag will join-up and proper spanner work will be required. A year's not bad though, there's always something else likely to go wrong on an Allroad that could potentially write the car off. Sending it to the scrapyard with new air bags fitted would be tragic...

The bags don't age like steel springs so shouldn't need replacing in pairs, unless you're SURE they are the same age and are likely to fail soon. That being said, the failure mileage is a pretty random figure, so I wouldn't change anything until I was sure it's leaking.

Near side front bags tend to go first, as they get more "action",but with the increasingly ropey state of out roads, that may no longer be true..

[green A8]

What were the symptoms of your problems and how is the car now you have replaced the 2 front airbags?

How much did it cost for you to do the job including the bags and labour etc...

Well I did go slightly mad and bought the complete replacement kit at a cost of just over €1,000 I'd have to dig out the invoice to give the exact figure. The kit includes all four air bags/springs a new compressor/dryer and various mountings and bolts O rings ect. As for labour well I did that job myself so no labour charge.

The job itself was an absolute doddle to do. No more difficult than renewing a leaking conventional shock absorber on any other Audi A4/6/8. On my car very little effort was required. Nothing at all was seized or caused any problem.

I discovered that the compressor had blown it's large fuse (60A?) Once that was renewed it worked and raised the suspension. Though I relpaced the compressor as a matter of course as I had the part I might as well fit it. The same held true for the rear air bag/spring unit, I had 'em so I fitted 'em. Plus I might as well get true value out of the two year warranty.

The reason the Allroad had suffered problems was that there was a 5p sized hole in the O/S air bag/spring, Oddly it looked like someone had drilled it. I was later told by the trader whom I bought the car off that the couple who owned it were split over getting rid of it. Husband wanted a nice newer 63 plate Hyundai i40 and Wife wanted to keep the trusty Allroad. We think that Hubby might have sabotaged the Audi simply to get his way and drive a nice newer motor.

The car now drives as a quattro should, air suspension or not. I've put around 1,000 miles on the clock since doing all the work on it. It was simply bought as a hack for winter use for the Wife and I. This means that both our more expensive cars can hide in the garage while the old Allroad takes it's chances, on the roads. If it ends up in the ditch then that's just tough luck. I hope it won't come to that, but thet was the sole reason it was bought. We live beyond the back of beyond on very narrow lanes. Gritters, snowploughs. What are they? When the winter turns nasty and the world turns white, around here you're left to your own devices. The councils won't be of any help.

[Phutters]

ONLY buy from Audi or Arnott, Arnott now have a Europe dispatch https://www.arnotteurope.com/p-4210-...ir-spring.aspx

Hello Mr Piping. Can I call you Andy?

I expect you're off hobnobbing with the entrepreneurial glitterati somewhere exotic or having your PA add a bowlful of orange Smarties and a dozen ShihTzu puppies to the dressing-room rider for your next YouTube blockbuster, but I'll give it a whirl anyway.

Do you know of anyone who's bought Arnott's front shocks?

They're the thick end of £140 a pair cheaper than OEM, but it's no bargain at all if they're pants.

What's the word on the street?

P.S. Say hello to Charlize Theron next time you see her and tell her to ditch that loser Sean Penn. That lady puts steam in my strides, so she does.

Your number one fan

Phutters

[bagpipingandy]

Hello Mr Piping. Can I call you Andy?

I expect you're off hobnobbing with the entrepreneurial glitterati somewhere exotic or having your PA add a bowlful of orange Smarties and a dozen ShihTzu puppies to the dressing-room rider for your next YouTube blockbuster, but I'll give it a whirl anyway.

Do you know of anyone who's bought Arnott's front shocks?

They're the thick end of £140 a pair cheaper than OEM, but it's no bargain at all if they're pants.

What's the word on the street?

P.S. Say hello to Charlize Theron next time you see her and tell her to ditch that loser Sean Penn. That lady puts steam in my strides, so she does.

Your number one fan

Phutters

Hi Mr Phutters,

of course call me Andy, my fellow allroader I've still got my feet firmy in my old trusty allroad, no glad rags for me

as for shocks the word on the street is either arnott or audi again, blisteins used to do them, i believe through arnott, but from what i read they seem to have dissapeard, i have not ever changed my shocks, although they do need it, but i kind of get used to the wallowy ride,

sorry no conclusive info for you, only change them if they leak or they fail an MOT would be my approach

keep up the good banter, i enjoy reading a phutterism or 2 in a phutters post

regards

Andy

[ceilidhalfie]

Cheers andy,

Whats your reason for not liking the plastic design, is it down to the ride quality or is it less reliable?

thanks for the link. The arnotts look reasonably priced. I just need to find out for definite which bag/bags are causing my problems.

Just fitted an Arnotts Air Bag to the NSF of my 2002 Allroad. I had the same concerns as Andy - brass studs set in plastic. So when I fitted it, only half torqued the six bolts - ofcourse it leaked big time at the top and had to come off again. Second time I made sure the mating surface of the aluminium upper mount was sanded to "baby's bottom" grade, I buffed off some excess rubber around the bottom of the Arnott supplied rubber mount, also removed washer sized excess rubber covering from the centre of the rubber mount so the shock nut was mating with metal (the Audi rubber mount is all metal in the middle and I think the excess rubber on the Arnott was down to the design of the mould used to manufacture). Also smear the rubber mount with WD40 (so it fits easier into the aluminium mount).

Now the tricky part, using a GOOD QUALITY torque wrench, I tightened the six bolts (in a star fashion) first to 10nm. Then in 2nm steps, I coaxed the 6 bolts to the Audi recommended torque setting of 23nm - actually for 20 to 23 I went in 1nm steps! The problem is you seem to be torquing against the rubber mount and it is impossible to "feel" how tight the bolt is getting. After the event, I contacted Arnott Europe who said they "do it by hand feel" and do not use a torque wrench! I then contacted Arnott USA, who said I must use the Audi torque specs - but they did not know what they were! Also, they could not tell me the designed max torque setting before the risk of pullng out the brass studs!

Now the good news - the Arnott AirBag seems to functioning 100% with no air leaks after 1 week and I am pleased with this. If you goto fit one, just take great care torquing those six bolts. My only worry now is what will happen to that plastic rim when I next hit a big pot hole? I guess only time will tell.

[teamorange]

I think ive found my problem.

Me and my brother ( mechanic) had a good look at it today. I got the car up to level 2 and he went under the car to investigate.

There was an obvious leak coming from the left rear of the car. After a closer look, you could hear and feel leaking out of the bottom of the shock. I put the car in jacking mode and stayed with the car to see what would happen.

The front stayed up. The rear dropped, more obvious on the rear left (the one we found the leak on).

I went inside and came out about an hour later to check it.

the front was still in the air, still at level 2 by the looks of it. The left rear (that was leaking badly from the bottom) was near enough on the bumpstop and the rear drivers side was somewere around level one id say at a guess.

So im thinking this left rear is my problem. Even if its not it definetly needs replacing. Its 170 euros from arnott which is about 135pounds so not too bad if it sorts it out.