Putting lowering springs and cracked spindle trying to remove the top pinch bolt....

[NitroViper]

2011 Audi A5 Quattro

While trying to put lowering springs in today the top pinch bolt would not come out no matter what? tried pb blast, air hammer, heat from a propane torch, cut the head iff thru the slit with a cutting wheel and tried to pull the bolt out with the nut. that didnt work either i cracked the ear slit of the spindle on that side.

Ok so... figured id give the other side a go and be more gentle, well the bolt will not budge, cut the head off and tried the pull method with the nut but not as hard this time. It wont come out.

Sooooooooooo... Anyone have any videos on how to remove the Spindle itself? I need to replace the drivers side and take the passenger side off to get the spindle on the bench to get that bolt out.

Im afraid the pinch bolt on the bottom of the spindle wont come out now....

[shortyolsen2017]

Sucks man, its easier to remove the whole top hat and upper control arms though and avoid that bolt.

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[old guy]

Sucks man, its easier to remove the whole top hat and upper control arms though and avoid that bolt.

For sure. No need to touch the bolt from hell....

[NitroViper]

To late, both bolts are fugged.... So I didnt need to remove those at all? Im driving it with the drivers side cracked, that bolt isnt coming out of there lol.

[shortyolsen2017]

Correct, bolt could of just stayed and you remove both uppers from spindle and the top block with the strut. Google and this forum have lots of info about it.

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[NitroViper]

Correct, bolt could of just stayed and you remove both uppers from spindle and the top block with the strut. Google and this forum have lots of info about it.

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I watched a lowering spring install video on youtube and thats what He did so figured it was the way.

[shortyolsen2017]

Yeah, I'm not a youtube fan myself but my kids love it. You can find some decent stuff but like anything you have to take it with a grain of salt. Research isn't easy. We all live and learn though, you should be able to find one off ebay or co-part. Shit happens, man.

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[NitroViper]

Justyard has a 2012 AUDI A4 2.0T QUA PREMIUM, $30 each. might just go cut the spindles off.

[shortyolsen2017]

Probably be easiest way, lol.

Correction mind is foggy, remove control arms from upper hat than remove strut, getting old. Lol

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[Darel]

To help out the OP instead of just telling him how he SHOULD have done it:

To remove the spindle you'll need to pull the lower ball joint and control arms, there are ball joint puller tools for this.

You also need to remove the BIG bolt in the center of the axleshaft, I forget what size but it's a monster female Allen. This almost has to be broken free with the tires on and the car on the ground.

After that the spindle will come off.

Just throwing this out there, don't know your mileage but if it's getting up there the car will probably be due for a control arm change anyway. It would really suck to have to go through this shit in another year or so, you know?

BTW, ALL of this hardware will need to be replaced with new.

If you are buying junkyard spindles: be aware of the change from M12 to M14 ball joints in MY2009. Since you have an '11 make sure you're getting the later M14 ones. This should be easy, it's actually hard to find M12 parts. My '09 has a mishmash of parts (M14 ball joints in a M12 spindle) because of this, but they still work together.

Oddly enough, despite my car being a salt-state car my UCA pinch bolts came out just fine.

[NitroViper]

the 2012 at the junkyard the spindle doesnt seem to be there.
They have a 2009 A4 2.0T QUA PREM PLUS, I think its the same according to a few sites.

[Darel]

The change was midyear 2009 so honestly it could be either. My '09 had the early ones, but most '09s had the later ones.

[NitroViper]

Is there a write up on changing the lowering springs without removing that bolt? How are you taking it out from being attached to the spindle?

[shortyolsen2017]

Quick search I found these:

VWVortex.com - Suspension Install How to

https://youtu.be/QzweL8YYjZc

Might help

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[NitroViper]

So just take out the upper bolts instead and hope they arent stuck in the bushings? lol. They guy in the video takes out that pinch bolt ro remove the strut.

Why cant you just cut a nice hole in the engine compartment and take the strut nut off there?

[shortyolsen2017]

It's actually really simple, yeah sorry didnt watch the vid just quick searched. Photos though show what I meant. Bolts should come out just fine. Top bolts come off easy 2 under cowl and 2 in engine bay. Upper controls are bolts and lower strut mount and remove entire thing. I found pictures more than any videos.

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