What are the common Suspension Issues to look out for at 55,000 Miles on 3.0T Q5?

[arjun90]

I'm sure if any of you drive through major metropolitan areas its quite annoying how rapidly the suspension wears and tears. It didn't take long to realize shortly after purchasing, that my front driver side suspension was a bit out of whack. A complete front suspension overhaul isn't as a cheap as my Avant. The strut itself costs as much as a complete control arm set for my A6 Avant.

Recently I jacked up the front, I tested 9 and 3 positions and 12 and 6 positions and found no play whatsoever.

I'm issue starts when going over manholes, storm drains, and little potholes. I can feel a double-tap (pronounced sound) coming specifically from the front driver side. The front driver side is usually the most susceptible because of driving on the far most left lane. In countries where right-hand driving occurs, the front ride side would be more susceptible.

I notice a lot of upper control arm complaints on the Q5 as well other Audi models (rather most models because of the multi-link position). I don't hear any metal to metal contact.

What are some other common issues based on the variables mentioned above?

[KillerQuattro]

Im currently at 105k miles. No suspension issues so far. I went on the KW Street comfort coilovers 25k miles ago. So ~80k on stock and another 25k on modded suspension. I live and drive quite a lot in a city filled with nasty pot holes.

Maybe you should try looking for a used strut off of a crashed Q5 with low miles? Or, would an aftermarket suspension solution would be close to the cost of and OEM strut? You could get some H&R coilovers for fairly cheap and address any control arm stuff at that time, while you are in there. 2 birds, 1 expensive stone.

[djn876]

Short answer really should be none.

I'll post up maybe today or tomorrow my suspension swap I just did if you are looking for alternatives to stock or want to do the job yourself. Our roads are awful, and my car has about 40k miles and everything still looked basically brand new, no issues with any of the rubber bushings, etc. Including the front control arms. I honestly would not suspect a suspension component at 55k miles barring some premature failure, which can happen on the bushings, shocks, etc.

What mods (if any) are done to the car? How many cars out there have needed a full suspension rebuild at 55k even of one side? There's nothing exotic about this vehicles suspension, and they use the same bushings as probably a lot of cars, many of which are likely bigger it heavier.

Just be sure you actually have an issue before just throwing parts and money at it. You would be surprised how many things you hear/see that have been there forever but you just never paid attention to before until you are concerned there could be something wrong, myself included.

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[arjun90]

The noise only comes when going over bumps and manholes, something tells it could be something as cheap as the strut mount, buts it’s all speculative at this point. The handling suffers every time this car goes over manholes and storm drains and I’m typically driving on the left-most lane on the highway. I’ll have to remove the wheel and update here with my findings

I hope it’s not the shock/strut, the price is astronomical, lol


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[djn876]

A new strut is like 250ish, unless you have EDC and then close to twice that. It's probably less than 2 hours to do just one. A shop asking for more than 5 or 600 is charging too much (again more based on EDC parts). Strut mount is 30 bucks but is basically the same job.

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[arjun90]

I was able to feel something in the wheel well as I drove earlier today, closer to my left foot on the footrest, could be lower control arm / wishbone, I’ll be checking this first thing in the morning


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[MSq5]

I am at only 48,000 miles. No suspension problems. However, I’ve done my own maintenance on multiple cars for many decades.

The description you supplied is more consistent with the front sway bar end links. That usually goes first before struts on most cars and has on my others. The end links are readily user replaceable without disassembling the suspension. I would check that first.

I looked up the price. OEM Audi is over $100 each. Ouch. Aftermarket ones are a fraction of that, but I defer to others here on quality.

Were it me, I would do both sides while at it. It’s usually best to replace them in pairs, even when only one side is noisy.

One way to test is to undo one end of link on the noisy side, zip tie or wire I it out of the way and drive the car over some bumps. If the noise stops, you know it is the end link.

[djn876]

Moog end links, which have a metal construction and still use the bonded rubber bushings, are like 25 or 39 bucks a piece if you need a replacement. They can be done with the car on the ground in probably 30 minutes for both sides.

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[arjun90]

I did visual inspection of the front driver side sway bar link and surrounding suspension earlier today. I should probably affix a camera and see what's rattling while going over bumps. I sure hope its something as cheap as the end link, costs $13 Lemforder, not sure if they are the OE supplier for this part though

[MSq5]

Camera may not show anything. A noisy endlink may not make any movement. Probably won’t. Just undo one end to take the load off of the entire bar. Tie it out of the way temporarily and take a drive. If the noise goes away, you’ve found the problem. If it persists, look elsewhere.

Don’t go super cheap on endlinks. They will soon fail. I’ve used Moog with good success and their stuff is reasonably priced.

[SQive]

I hope it’s not the shock/strut, the price is astronomical, lol

HA! You should check out the mag-ride on the R8's. Makes these seem like something from a Cracker Jack box (free).

I haven't seen any pot whoes around here, just crack whoes, but I only run over them in GTA.

[seanf86]

At 55k miles I had to do both lower ball joints on mine, everything else is tight.

[uncleiggy]

Last year, at 50K miles I put a set of Bilstein B12 Pro Kit (Bilstein B8 + Eibach springs), this is 2009 Q5 which was driven very little but over poorly paved roads, shocks where pretty much busted but suspension parts looked good after 9 years. I was amazed about the lack of rust on the underbody. Bushings, specially rubbers have some life still, no cracks spotted when job was done. I’m the second owner and drive it like she deserves it, so let’s see how things look like in a couple of months when I take it for an alignment but I don’t expect any major repairs down there.

[djn876]

At 55k miles I had to do both lower ball joints on mine, everything else is tight.

What was the issue you were having?

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[seanf86]

Clunking and squeaking over bumps, jacking it up it was very obvious that the ball joint was loose

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[mlux24]

Earlier this summer I noticed a squeaking noise coming from the rear whenever I went over dips in the road forcing the suspension to compress. It sounded like something needed to be greased/oiled, like maybe a dry rubber component. Indy shop said my control arm bushings were probably wearing out.

I swapped out the the rear right upper & rear left upper control arms with OEM (Meyle) arms. Squeaking noise gone.

Time on coilovers: 1.5 years
Mileage on coilovers: 20k miles
FTG: 29.5"
Total mileage: 62k miles

[Ashs4b8]

I've had the same issue since owning the car 7k ago. The noise started to get louder with harsher clunks. Come to find out the upper control arm nuts was loose. I would go round and check everything is tight.

[arjun90]

"I think," I found the source of the clunking. It could be my upper control arm bushings.

I used a pry bar, rubber mallet, and my hands earlier this morning to check for play.

I even tried checking the suspension when under load (placed a hydraulic jack under the brake rotor).

The creases and what appears to be cracked upper control arm bushings stood out to me.

As per the attached pictures, would you agree similarly?

I don't hear any metal to metal contact, therefore should probably rule out ball joint issues.

The clunk feels more soft and coincides / follows a split-second after hearing the thump on my tires whenever going over manholes, storm drains, small bumps, etc.

I can feel the clunk faintly around the footrest area inside the car. If the feel of the clunk was more pronounced there it could have very well been lower control-arm related, but in this case is not.


However, coming back to the upper control arms, I wedged the pry bar between the upper control arm and the metal housing plate, the control arm moves side to side rather easily; it should be stiff.

Surprisingly, the "Plastic" sway bar links still look and feel intact.

What do you all think? Please let me know, thanks again



Also, is there supposed to be this much of gap between the sway bar and sway bar bushing? (see attached)





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[arjun90]

How is the price of $167.36 of four upper control arms possible when genuine Audi upper control arms (4x quantity) cost $900 altogether?

[arjun90]

Also, has anyone here tried the Meyle End Links? They seem to be made of all-metal as well, similar to the MOOG-brand

[djn876]

The creases are molded into the rubber, and the circumferential cracks aren't really a major concern. If the bushing rotates independent of the control arm, that is generally when it's time to replace. Or if the cracking is really deep. They don't look that bad though.

Meyle makes a lot of OE stuff so I think you'd be fine with them

167 for all four arms seems reasonable. Shop around a few places and see what you come up with.

For the end link, make sure it's actually going to be metal, they are typically in the 100+ range (maybe I'm remembering wrong). The Moogs are like 30 bucks a piece or something.

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[arjun90]

I've used Meyle HD on my A6 wagon, which was a reasonable aftermarket upgrade and was cheaper as a kit

The bushing flexes a lot when I wedge a pry in there, not 100% sure if it is contributing to the soft clunk though. The sway bar bushing (driver side) though looks like there is a minor a gap between the sway bar and bushing itself.

I would definitely upgrade the end links after the clunk is eliminated.

Also, the bump stop is still in place. I haven't checked the strut mount yet as that would involve complete removal of the strut assembly

The creases are molded into the rubber, and the circumferential cracks aren't really a major concern. If the bushing rotates independent of the control arm, that is generally when it's time to replace. Or if the cracking is really deep. They don't look that bad though.

Meyle makes a lot of OE stuff so I think you'd be fine with them

167 for all four arms seems reasonable. Shop around a few places and see what you come up with.

For the end link, make sure it's actually going to be metal, they are typically in the 100+ range (maybe I'm remembering wrong). The Moogs are like 30 bucks a piece or something.

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[arjun90]

Turns out there wasn't really a clunk; apparently that's just how the suspension behaves. Although, the mechanic did point out that eventually my upper control arm bushings will need to be replaced. These bushings are common to crease within 10,000 miles of buying new off the lot. I probably should just change the driving style and avoid the roads and lanes with numerous manholes and storm drains.

[mc_marto]

I think your upper control arm bushings look similar to mine. Recently my car started clunking occasionally when backing out of my driveway. So, I checked the bushings and only those seemed to have cracks in them.

Check the cracks with the vehicle stationary and the steering wheel turned all the way to the left and then right. When I checked mine that way, the splits looked much deeper than otherwise, because as you turn the control arms twist. Interestingly, that’s when it clunks when backing out of my driveway - steering wheel is turned quite a bit.

I’m considering just pressing the old bushings out and installing new ones. There’s no reason to replace the control arms at this point, especially with aftermarket ones of questionable quality. My ball joints and boots look like new.


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[djn876]

You probably will see a reason to replace the arm after trying to press those bushings in and out. If you are really going to replace them, just do the whole arm and save yourself the aggravation. Plus then you have a new ball joint as well.

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[SQive]

You probably will see a reason to replace the arm after trying to press those bushings in and out. If you are really going to replace them, just do the whole arm and save yourself the aggravation. Plus then you have a new ball joint as well.

That's sound advice.

[arjun90]

Prior to taking the vehicle to a family mechanic, I was quoted $40 (from a nearby mechanic) for each upper control arm bushing as far as price for the part goes.

Otherwise, each arm was to cost $300; labor $80 for each side.

These are things I'd be able to do myself, however, I still reflect 'till this day about my experience with seized pinch bolts on my A6 wagon

Ultimately, I'd like to replace upper control arms, sway bar links (from plastic to all metal--from either MOOG or Meyle), and sway bar bushings.

The bumps I drive over sound more harsh compared to my wagon, but I'm sure this is to do with 20" wheels and heavier vehicle, overall---I'm still getting used to this feeling. However, a visual inspection of the strut mount wouldn't hurt. Some drivers prefer firmer rides other prefer the opposite; I'm more or less in-between, not to keen in cabin vibration. I made the mistake of installing 034 strut mounts on my wagon

That's sound advice.

[arjun90]

Today I decided to stay on the middle lane on the highway. I also changed the Drive Select from Auto to strictly Comfort and that made a night and day difference. In comfort, bumps don't feel as harsh. Other than that, I'm prepared for what's down the pipeline. Eventually, they'll be the time to replace bushings, etc. Will continue to keep an eye on it. For the meantime, I plan to replace the radiator on an A6 avant.

[djn876]

Prior to taking the vehicle to a family mechanic, I was quoted $40 (from a nearby mechanic) for each upper control arm bushing as far as price for the part goes.

Otherwise, each arm was to cost $300; labor $80 for each side.

Buy a non-Audi branded one from an OE supplier for like 40 bucks a piece for the arms as a whole or the bushings are like 9 bucks a piece for an OE supplier that doesn't say Audi on it. I understand not wanting to fight with those pinch bolts and ball joints, 40 bucks an arm isnt bad, you could bring them the parts and do it for close to what he was going to charge you for one arm.

[arjun90]

Yep, I hear TRW is the way as far as upper control arms go. I don't see any rust on the pinch bolt; which seems to be prevalent on Audi's that are closer to the ground; I won't let the appearance deceive me When its time to replace, will put penetrating spray (i.e. Kroil) days in advance

Buy a non-Audi branded one from an OE supplier for like 40 bucks a piece for the arms as a whole or the bushings are like 9 bucks a piece for an OE supplier that doesn't say Audi on it. I understand not wanting to fight with those pinch bolts and ball joints, 40 bucks an arm isnt bad, you could bring them the parts and do it for close to what he was going to charge you for one arm.

[SQive]

Buy a non-Audi branded one from an OE supplier for like 40 bucks a piece for the arms as a whole or the bushings are like 9 bucks a piece for an OE supplier that doesn't say Audi on it. I understand not wanting to fight with those pinch bolts and ball joints, 40 bucks an arm isnt bad, you could bring them the parts and do it for close to what he was going to charge you for one arm.

Ermagerd! Getin anything repaired on the R8 is an arm and a leg, so bitchyour quitchen.

[djn876]

How terrible you have to struggle with r8 ownership. Could always give it to me if you'd like! I'm not complaining, just saying you can find parts for way less than that guy wanted to sell them for.

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[SQive]

#first-worldproblems