Vaico vs URO control arm kit?

[sirsmokealot303]

I was just wondering what would be a better Control arm kit between Vaico and URO... I noticed ECSTuning advertises both kits, so neither 1 could be that bad... I'm not in a position to order the $500 kit. And not too fond of the $150 ebay kits... About to replace my wheel bearing and since I'm more than halfway there, I might as well swap out my old flimsy clunkin balljoints

[Turbo_B5]

I got Vaico upers+tie rod ends 3000km on them and good so far, and got the lowers in the trunk.

[Mad Cow]

They're around the same quality as FCP arms, so better than the $150 ebay kits but not by much. Can you not afford the Febi kit? It's not much more expensive but the quality difference is huge.

[sirsmokealot303]

They're around the same quality as FCP arms, so better than the $150 ebay kits but not by much. Can you not afford the Febi kit? It's not much more expensive but the quality difference is huge.

febi kit is almost $300 more... its listed as $499 @ ecs. The others are 2-250

[woolveren]

I was just wondering what would be a better Control arm kit between Vaico and URO...

Vaico and URO are not good brands, there are tons of threads in BMW, Benz and Audi forums out there about the quality of these brands..Just do a google search.

IMO either get a Lemforder or Febi control arm kit if you can afford those.

Or consider getting this one from ebay UK if money is a problem. I have read about this kit made by Kraft Automotive in Audi UK forum in the past while searching for something and the folks had good opinion on these. The final price with shipping will be still less than the ECS vaico kit price

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-A6...item2a245c3042

Their website, at least no warehouses are showing in China which is good

http://www.kraft-automotive.pl

[Davdraco1]

I ordered my controle arm kit from auto parts warehouse. I replaced the uppers on both fronts as well as the TRE and have about 11,000 miles on them. No issues at all. It's only 205$. No complaints, aside from that damn pinch bolt.

[woolveren]

I ordered my controle arm kit from auto parts warehouse. I replaced the uppers on both fronts as well as the TRE and have about 11,000 miles on them. No issues at all. It's only 205$. No complaints, aside from that damn pinch bolt.

Did you get the "Replacement" brand control arms from there?

[Mad Cow]

I wouldn't be surprised if 90% of cheap arms came from the same Chinese factory, these companies jump through some serious hoops to avoid people tracing the origins of their parts. The part that scares me about these cheap arms isn't their longevity (or lack thereof), it's the fact that they're made out of worse materials. They're very obviously pot metal and not pure aluminum, and for a structural part like a control arm that scares the shit out of me. The ball joint boots are always trash too, up here they rarely make it past one winter without tearing.

I don't know if it's just the B5 section, but every other forum I've been on would laugh at anyone even considering cheap control arms. But here for some reason people live in their own little bubble and either refuse to believe or have no idea that everyone else thinks these cheap arms are trash.

Also, TRW was the OEM for B6 and later arms, they're a bit cheaper than Lemfoerder (super overpriced IMO) and the same/better quality. Problem is they seem to only sell individual arms and no kits.

[JaysA4]

Why not FCP kit? http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi...iece-4d0498998

[Davdraco1]

Did you get the "Replacement" brand control arms from there?

Yep. I couldn't think of the name before. That's them. And the boots did just fine this winter. I was going to change out the lower control arms when I did the uppers and the TRE's, but I couldn't get the ball joints out of the knuckle and said to myself, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So I put all the nuts back on and it's been perfect ever since.

[AudiB5owner]

I like my FCP lower control arms, they are pretty stiff actually.

[woolveren]

Yep. I couldn't think of the name before. That's them.

"Replacement" brand is another cheap Chinese made junk with HORRIBLE quality. STAY AWAY from it in future.

See my old thread below..

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...placement-quot

[A1 A2 German]

There's a FCP Groton group buy going on, it's in the: Sponsored Forums : a couple links above the B5 forums.

$195 with Free Shipping

[Davdraco1]

I'll see what happens with them, but so far not a single issue.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the control arm failures are because of people not installing them properly. When you do not install control arms properly you severely shorten the life of the bushings. See the information below.



Many Vaico parts are manufactured in Germany as well as ISO 9001 facilities for quality control.



Jason

[Mad Cow]

Here's the problem with "manufactured in Germany", there's nothing stopping them from buying Chinese cast arms with ball joints, pressing in bushings in a German factory, and saying made in Germany.

I just find it a bit suspicious that a dozen control arm brands popped up after lemfoerder moved their facilities to China.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Here's the problem with "manufactured in Germany", there's nothing stopping them from buying Chinese cast arms with ball joints, pressing in bushings in a German factory, and saying made in Germany.

I just find it a bit suspicious that a dozen control arm brands popped up after lemfoerder moved their facilities to China.

Manufactures are always going to find ways to cut costs. Because lower costs net more profit. I've never seen in the 12 years I've been around Audi's an actual cast arm fail. Bushings and ball joints sure, but the actual cast? Never.

Jason

[Davdraco1]

I installed the control arms with the entire shock out side of the car, hen just pulled in the to get then to fit in the knuckle. It sucked but I beats trying to swap them out in the wheel well

[sirsmokealot303]

There's a FCP Groton group buy going on, it's in the: Sponsored Forums : a couple links above the B5 forums.

$195 with Free Shipping

Wow thanks for the heads up. I have heard good things about fcp. Best price so far (im in a pinch) I think we found a winner

[JaysA4]

Manufactures are always going to find ways to cut costs. Because lower costs net more profit. I've never seen in the 12 years I've been around Audi's an actual cast arm fail. Bushings and ball joints sure, but the actual cast? Never.

Jason

Wow thanks for the heads up. I have heard good things about fcp. Best price so far (im in a pinch) I think we found a winner

I've used 3 FCP kits and one eBay kit, FCPs are waaaayyyyy better.

[A1 A2 German]

I just bought the kit hours ago .

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

What's the rest of the car look like?

Jason

[Cgoon009]

What's the rest of the car look like?

Jason

I usually am a stickler for OEM parts, but Jason is right in this case.

That does look bad, but did he hit a curb at 60? Because I have seen that shatter OEM parts, so that wouldn't really be a fair comparison.

Imho, the cast parts of brands meeting the ISO 9001 standard are just fine. What fails on cheaper kits is the rubber. The rubber is often softer or a lower quality, as its expensive to produce well. That alone should make you buy the higher quality part.

Finally, that Audi logo makes me think that's a OEM part, but I cant tell.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

I usually am a stickler for OEM parts, but Jason is right in this case.

That does look bad, but did he hit a curb at 60? Because I have seen that shatter OEM parts, so that wouldn't really be a fair comparison.

Imho, the cast parts of brands meeting the ISO 9001 standard are just fine. What fails on cheaper kits is the rubber. The rubber is often softer or a lower quality, as its expensive to produce well. That alone should make you buy the higher quality part.

Finally, that Audi logo makes me think that's a OEM part, but I cant tell.

I agree. I was talking under normal driving situations. If you get in an accident, hit a curb, or are doing something you shouldn't be doing on the street I don't think that's a fair comparison at all.

That definitely seems like a genuine part too. Aftermarket manufactures are not able to reproduce trademarking with out the permission of Audi, which unless Audi is having that specific manufacture make the part for them you wont see it.

Jason

[woolveren]

That does look bad, but did he hit a curb at 60? Because I have seen that shatter OEM parts, so that wouldn't really be a fair comparison.

Should be more than hitting a curb..

This Audi below had a head on collision with the truck at ~80Km/hr and see what happened.. pretty sure if it had cheap control arms, the front end damage would have been much worse..

I agree. I was talking under normal driving situations.
Jason

That pic 'JaysA4' posted is definitely not from normal driving conditions.. If it was, then Audi brand would have extinct by this time..

[JaysA4]

What's the rest of the car look like?

Jason

That pic 'JaysA4' posted is definitely not from normal driving conditions.. If it was, then Audi brand would have extinct by this time.. [/QUOTE]



The car is fine. That is from normal driving, he admitted knowing the ball joints were bad. I didn't post the picture to prove anyone wrong, it was strictly informational. I can tag you guys on the Instagram if you'd like. I even told him that was damn near impossible.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

The car is fine. That is from normal driving, he admitted knowing the ball joints were bad. I didn't post the picture to prove anyone wrong, it was strictly informational. I can tag you guys on the Instagram if you'd like. I even told him that was damn near impossible.

No worries. I had just assumed that a cast failure would most likely occur from the impact of another object. Or like you said another piece of the control arm that failed first.

Not saying it's not entirely possible, but without any other variables, the chances of the actual cast breaking under normal driving is very rare.

Jason

[JaysA4]

No worries. I had just assumed that a cast failure would most likely occur from the impact of another object. Or like you said another piece of the control arm that failed first.

Not saying it's not entirely possible, but without any other variables, the chances of the actual cast breaking under normal driving is very rare.

Jason

Absolutely, I completely agree. I've replaced 4 complete sets of control arms, on my Mid-West winter seeing cars, those things are tough. I've personally beat the living crap out of some of them. I was also in an almost head on collision, which turned into a t-bone, smashed my fender into my wheel, etc, I had BRAND NEW control arms on and no damage was done to any of them.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Absolutely, I completely agree. I've replaced 4 complete sets of control arms, on my Mid-West winter seeing cars, those things are tough. I've personally beat the living crap out of some of them. I was also in an almost head on collision, which turned into a t-bone, smashed my fender into my wheel, etc, I had BRAND NEW control arms on and no damage was done to any of them.

Figure the cast arm has to be able to support the corner weight of the vehicle and these cars are no feather weights by any means. Not to mention the fact that most Audi front suspension is 4 link, where there is really no cross bracing. So each individual arm has to be pretty beefy.

Jason