2011 A4 b8 shock replacement hardware

[Soren]

I have a leaking rear shock and my car is at 80,000 mi. so I want to replace the front struts and rear shocks at the same time. The only trouble I am having is tracking down all the bolts that Audi says are supposed to be replaced. I've searched this forum and don't see much/any mention of what everyone is replacing hardware wise... Does anyone have or know how to get a parts list that includes all of the strut cage bolts, strut fork pinch bolts, control arm bolts, etc. etc.?

[Smac770]

If you're going to be taking your car apart, you're going to want the correct documentation. Go to erwin.audiusa.com and pay for a day and get the PDFs for your car. The stuff for this particular task will be in the suspension, steering, wheels repair manual. But you paid $35, grab all the PDFs; who knows what you'll need next. In it will be the overviews of the stuff including what has to be replaced when removed. Then you have to match it up to a parts catalog page so you can find the actual part numbers.

Such as front:
https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...01&language=en
and more front:
https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...00&language=en
and rear:
https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...00&language=en

Rear is real easy, just the two bolts at the top and the big bolt at the bottom. The fronts, being struts, are a lot more involved.

[Soren]

Thanks for the links and tip on erwin.audiusa.com... For this project I already have information on what needs to be replaced, but don't have part #'s or specs for the bolts so the ilcats.ru links are a huge help.

[Justin B8]

Just did fronts and rears on my 12. Make sure you order the new style pinch bolt for the front upright. The middle of the bolt shank has a slightly narrower profile. I used the heavy-duty triple-square pinch bolts for the strut fork (N90954802, I think).
Make sure you have a "nerd" bit, or some handy way to spread the fork collar from the strut body.

I cleaned any corrosion from the upright drilling, and coated the pinch bolt shank with nickel-based antisieze. I also fill the upright "slots" and the bottom ball joint openings with grease, as I live in the rust belt.

Load the suspension when you torque everything to spec. I'd replace your upper control arms while the front is apart, and measure the angle relative to the strut mount before tightening them.
Not sure what your plan is for the fronts, but I'd avoid the strut/spring/mount pre-assembled combos sold by Amazon/RockAuto, etc. The springs are a crap-shoot compromise (there are about 25 factory front spring options) and the struts might last a year or two.

[Soren]

Make sure you order the new style pinch bolt for the front upright. The middle of the bolt shank has a slightly narrower profile. I used the heavy-duty triple-square pinch bolts for the strut fork (N90954802, I think)

Thanks for the tip... Any advice on how to identify which part # is the "new style"? Having a smaller diameter shank bolt in the middle seems like it should prevent that bolt from seizing up, which would be great! I will also take a look at the "heavy duty" triple-square pinch bolts for the strut fork.

Load the suspension when you torque everything to spec. I'd replace your upper control arms while the front is apart, and measure the angle relative to the strut mount before tightening them.
Not sure what your plan is for the fronts, but I'd avoid the strut/spring/mount pre-assembled combos sold by Amazon/RockAuto, etc. The springs are a crap-shoot compromise (there are about 25 factory front spring options) and the struts might last a year or two.

I am ordering a set of Febi bushings for the upper and lower control arms to replace them at the same time I do the shocks/struts (Bilstein B4's from ECS Tuning). Unless there is good reason to replace the springs on a car with 80K miles I think I'm just going to leave the stock ones in place... The car has some oil consumption issues to sort out before I'll really know whether I'm going to keep it so I don't plan on putting much into upgrades at this point.

[Soren]

If you're going to be taking your car apart, you're going to want the correct documentation. Go to erwin.audiusa.com and pay for a day and get the PDFs for your car. The stuff for this particular task will be in the suspension, steering, wheels repair manual. But you paid $35, grab all the PDFs; who knows what you'll need next. In it will be the overviews of the stuff including what has to be replaced when removed. Then you have to match it up to a parts catalog page so you can find the actual part numbers.

Such as front:
https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...01&language=en
and more front:
https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...00&language=en
and rear:
https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...00&language=en

Rear is real easy, just the two bolts at the top and the big bolt at the bottom. The fronts, being struts, are a lot more involved.

How does a person figure out which part to order when multiple are possible? i.e. For the front lower straight control arm ball joint nut. Two are possible: m12x1,5 and m14x1,5. I see the notation: "hexagon flange nut, self-locking to use for: D >> - 15.08.2011" and "hexagon collar nut self-locking to use for: D - 15.08.2011>>", but I'm not exactly certain how to decipher this. I'm assuming the dates relate to the production date for the vehicle, but not sure which notates before/after that date.

[Zuzuwu]

I’m a dealer technician, i do stuff every day and I’ll tell you i have never replaced a “one time use” suspension bolt ever. Not once, on any car of any brand, customers cars or my own cars. They don’t even include them on warranty repairs that are supposedly by the book. If replacing them makes you feel better then by all means do it, but my personal stance on it is that it’s bs. The only bolts i suggest buying are the pinch bolts as they tend to get mangled when removing them if your car has any type of corrosion at all.


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[Justin B8]

Thanks for the tip... Any advice on how to identify which part # is the "new style"? Having a smaller diameter shank bolt in the middle seems like it should prevent that bolt from seizing up, which would be great! I will also take a look at the "heavy duty" triple-square pinch bolts for the strut fork.

New style pinch bolt: WHT007963
Locknut: N10272302
Flat washer: N10406105 (prob ok to reuse)

[Soren]

I’m a dealer technician, i do stuff every day and I’ll tell you i have never replaced a “one time use” suspension bolt ever. Not once, on any car of any brand, customers cars or my own cars. They don’t even include them on warranty repairs that are supposedly by the book. If replacing them makes you feel better then by all means do it, but my personal stance on it is that it’s bs. The only bolts i suggest buying are the pinch bolts as they tend to get mangled when removing them if your car has any type of corrosion at all.

That's some good information and insight... I have a quote from my local Audi dealer for doing the bushing replacement and they have all of the bolts listed for replacement. I'm guessing if it was warranty work they would just skip that extra expense, but maybe because I'm a paying customer why not make $$s off of replacing them?

[Theiceman]

I replaced shocks and springs and just reused bolts with no issues.


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[Smac770]

I would never reuse that lower bolt on the rear dampers. +180°? Not reusing that. Other ones I would certainly not reuse, the lower control arms to subframe bolts. Then again, I don't reuse any of the bolts specifically noted as replace if removed.

Soren, regarding the multiple versions of nuts stuff (tie rod end nut, lower control arm ball joints), it would make more sense once you had the manuals and saw the sections on "multiple versions". It spells it out there. More so, the dates are references to build date. What is the build date of your vehicle, on the door jamb inside the driver's door?

[Soren]

I would never reuse that lower bolt on the rear dampers. +180°? Not reusing that. Other ones I would certainly not reuse, the lower control arms to subframe bolts. Then again, I don't reuse any of the bolts specifically noted as replace if removed.

I am leaning toward replacing at least the ones that are TTY with a torque requirement of > 30 ft/lbs + 90°... The front shock mount to frame bolts seem a little ridiculous to replace and there are 8 of them. It seems a little ridiculous to spend $25.00 on 8 bolts.

Soren, regarding the multiple versions of nuts stuff (tie rod end nut, lower control arm ball joints), it would make more sense once you had the manuals and saw the sections on "multiple versions". It spells it out there. More so, the dates are references to build date. What is the build date of your vehicle, on the door jamb inside the driver's door?

It looks like the build date was 11/14/2010. I'll have to go get the manual like you are recommending, but I need to get a good block of time to download everything at once like you suggested. The cost seems worth it given the number of things I have repaired on the car already.

[Smac770]

Yeah, I was still on 3Mbps DSL when I did my day, made sure everything else was off that day. Nowadays, 300Mbps fiber, no big deal. The file set I downloaded way back when was almost 200MB. But you want that documentation if you're doing your own work on the car.

The rear is nothing, one nut, two smaller bolts, one large bolt, each side.

The front has a number of things that were changed over time. With a build date of Nov 14 '10, the specifics get locked down though.

Take the nut on the tie rod end ball joint, number 10 on https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...10&language=en
The workshop manual designates this nut as a replace if removed. So which number 10 do you replace it with? The chart on the page shows the hex collar nut used from Jan '08 to Dec '08, then the 12-pt shouldered nut from Dec '08 on. So you're going to need WHT 004 593.
https://www.genuineaudiparts.com/oem...-nut-wht004593 $5 a pop, but classified as replace if removed because it's self-locking. Would some threadlocker blue be sufficient to reuse it? Who knows. It's $10, how often are you doing this?

Likewise, on https://www.ilcats.ru/audi/?function...01&language=en
you see the pinch bolt was changed on Jun 6 '11. But throw that part number into ECS or parts.audiusa.com, you see it's been replaced by WHT 007 963.
You see the reduced center shank in the pics - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ach/wht007963/
It's not the "correct" bolt per say for your pre Jun 6 '11 build, but I imagine it's what anyone is installing these days.
You can see the older style one - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ach/n10491802/

If we look at nut 6A for the lower straight control arm ball joint, again, two versions with dates. But also notice in the tech information, one is M12 and one is M14. That's because the ball joint was upgraded from M12 to M14 on that date. So clearly you have to use the correct one for your build date as the other one won't even fit.

etc, etc, etc.

Stretch bolts only stretch correctly once. And it doesn't have to have a +° to be a stretch (aka TTY) bolt.

[Soren]

Take the nut on the tie rod end ball joint...

Thanks for calling this one out specifically, because I had missed it in my parts list!

T
If we look at nut 6A for the lower straight control arm ball joint, again, two versions with dates. But also notice in the tech information, one is M12 and one is M14. That's because the ball joint was upgraded from M12 to M14 on that date. So clearly you have to use the correct one for your build date as the other one won't even fit.

This exact nut is the one that is holding me up, because there are no dates in the date column like there were on the steering diagram/chart. There is some confusing (to me) notation in the description, but I'm not confident of how to interpret it. And, of course, Audi didn't list either of the options on their quote. I was even thinking of just ordering both, but one of them is ~$8.00 through ECS and I hate returning stuff. :)

Lastly, thanks for all of the help! This is my 1st Audi and I didn't imagine they would have so many revisions.

[Justin B8]

Having literally just done the front, you don't really need to disconnect either of the ball joints.

You need to remove the pinch bolt in the upright, loosen the pinch bolt securing the strut to the lower fork collar, and remove the bolt securing the lower fork to the straight lower control arm.
Then loosen the 4 top bolts, press down on the hub, and hop the fork over the control arm (but NOT over the tie-rod). You want the lower fork in the gap between the tierod and the lower control arm.
Then remove the top bolts and carefully finagle the assembly out.

Be sure to support the hub/halfshaft from underneath while you have it apart, if it hangs down, you risk tearing a CV axle boot.

[Smac770]

Justin's right. I couldn't remember which end of the lower straight you disconnected so you can lower it out of the fork. It's the subframe bolt end, not the ball joint end, you undo.

As for the date info, it's there:

catalog date info 1.jpg

So the M12 nut is for builds until date Aug 15, 2011 while the M14 nut is for builds after date Aug 15, 2011. Audi is Euro, so they use that backwards date format (yes, I am insulting ddmmyy format). In reality, one is M12 and one is M14 and that's what matters. Say for example you have a MY09 vehicle but you use the 034 control arm kit with the M14 ball joint upgrade for the lower straight. Well, your car's build date is before Aug 15 '11, but you are no longer using a M12 ball joint, so that M12 nut would be useless.

[Soren]

Justin's right. I couldn't remember which end of the lower straight you disconnected so you can lower it out of the fork. It's the subframe bolt end, not the ball joint end, you undo.

If I wasn't also replacing the bushings in the control arms at the same time (They are completely shot) I would definitely try to avoid disconnecting any of the lower ball joints, but I am going to tackle all of this at the same time so I don't have to deal with it again for a while (Hopefully). Also, it turns out that the drivers side outer CV joint boot is also bad so I'm going to replace the boot on both sides while I'm at it. I'll probably get a lot of crap for saying this here, but my wife's 2004 Saab 9-3 is doing a lot better than this Audi and it's 7 years older with similar mileage.

So the M12 nut is for builds until date Aug 15, 2011 while the M14 nut is for builds after date Aug 15, 2011. Audi is Euro, so they use that backwards date format (yes, I am insulting ddmmyy format). In reality, one is M12 and one is M14 and that's what matters...

Thanks for the tip on this... I was reading it exactly the opposite that you are. I had assumed that a notation of "hexagon flange nut, self-locking to use for: D >> - 15.08.2011" meant this part was for anything built after 15.08.2011, because the date is to the right of the >> symbols.

Anyway, I am just going to order the M12 and see how it goes (once it cools off a little). Thanks again to everyone for the guidance!

[Theiceman]

If I wasn't also replacing the bushings in the control arms at the same time (They are completely shot) I would definitely try to avoid disconnecting any of the lower ball joints, but I am going to tackle all of this at the same time so I don't have to deal with it again for a while (Hopefully). Also, it turns out that the drivers side outer CV joint boot is also bad so I'm going to replace the boot on both sides while I'm at it. I'll probably get a lot of crap for saying this here, but my wife's 2004 Saab 9-3 is doing a lot better than this Audi and it's 7 years older with similar mileage.



Thanks for the tip on this... I was reading it exactly the opposite that you are. I had assumed that a notation of "hexagon flange nut, self-locking to use for: D >> - 15.08.2011" meant this part was for anything built after 15.08.2011, because the date is to the right of the >> symbols.

Anyway, I am just going to order the M12 and see how it goes (once it cools off a little). Thanks again to everyone for the guidance!

Yup this always messes people up, it's not a greater than / less than symbol, it's an arrow.

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[Smac770]

Thing of it as flow of time. past >> future Your date of interest D is either in the past compared to the reference date or in the future. D >> 01.01.2014 means dates until Jan 1 '14. 05.09.2015 >> D means dates after Sept 5 '15.

The same is true when you see limitations by VIN (F) rather than build date (D). F >> 8K-9-100000 would be VINs of type 8K (aka B8 A4; VIN digits 7-8, though US screwed that up starting MY10) up to model year 2009 (VIN digit 10) sequence number 100000 (VIN digits 12-17).

[Theiceman]

Thing of it as flow of time. past >> future Your date of interest D is either in the past compared to the reference date or in the future. D >> 01.01.2014 means dates until Jan 1 '14. 05.09.2015 >> D means dates after Sept 5 '15.

The same is true when you see limitations by VIN (F) rather than build date (D). F >> 8K-9-100000 would be VINs of type 8K (aka B8 A4; VIN digits 7-8, though US screwed that up starting MY10) up to model year 2009 (VIN digit 10) sequence number 100000 (VIN digits 12-17).

i just imagine it as " up to"

[Soren]

Thanks again for all the help. I've have, what I hope to be all of the correct parts, on order and will tackle this in a week or two.

[Justin B8]

I would never reuse that lower bolt on the rear dampers. +180°? Not reusing that.

So the front struts went fine last week. The usual messing with the pinch bolt extraction and springs. Figured the rears would be a piece of cake. Nope; can't get the rear shock bolt out on the passenger side.
Looks like it's in there with 150nm +180 plus 9 years of corrosion. Tried 2ft breaker, nope. Air impact with 6pt 21mm socket, nope. Soaked it with PBBlaster and a bit of heat, still nope. I'll be in a world of hurt if I shear that head off.

Short of paying someone to put it on a lift and try a larger breaker bar, anyone got any ideas? Shocks are not leaking, but I'm sure they're worn.

[Smac770]

Yeah, that kind of sucks; if it's not moving with heat, pbblaster, and an impact. You really don't want to shear that bolt head off. I can't imagine trying to drill it out will be a fun time. I'd say keep hitting it with pbblaster overnight and hope it moves. I think I only used an 18" 1/2" breaker on mine; but I'm in the south. I don't use impacts, except to get the lug bolts off when tire shop fools can't be bothered to care.

[Justin B8]

Yeah, that kind of sucks; if it's not moving with heat, pbblaster, and an impact. You really don't want to shear that bolt head off. I can't imagine trying to drill it out will be a fun time.

No way I'm drilling that out at my age, lol. Maybe on the workbench, but not laying on the floor. Looks like low mileage used hub carriers are about $120 including the bearing. Maybe I'll grab a pair just in case, before I mess with it anymore.
Normally, I'd just heat the crap out of the area where the bolt threads are held captive. Pretty sure the knuckles are cast alloy AlSiMg, I don't want to kill the temper.

[Theiceman]

No way I'm drilling that out at my age, lol. Maybe on the workbench, but not laying on the floor. Looks like low mileage used hub carriers are about $120 including the bearing. Maybe I'll grab a pair just in case, before I mess with it anymore.
Normally, I'd just heat the crap out of the area where the bolt threads are held captive. Pretty sure the knuckles are cast alloy AlSiMg, I don't want to kill the temper.

a little heat will go a long way though .. id hit it with propane directly on the bolt head . Propane is a relatively low heat and the bolt will expand then contract as it cools just enough to break the rust, I bet you get it.

Hell im impressed you did the pinch bolt from hell. I did my fronts without even touching that

[Justin B8]

a little heat will go a long way though .. id hit it with propane directly on the bolt head . Propane is a relatively low heat and the bolt will expand then contract as it cools just enough to break the rust, I bet you get it.

Hell im impressed you did the pinch bolt from hell. I did my fronts without even touching that

Yeah, I thought about that; if I burn the rubber shock bushing I'm committed though. A buddy has one of those induction heater gadgets, BoltBuster or something. Looks like it will only heat the head though, and I need heat in the other end of the bolt, inside the carrier.

Called my local import indy. They won't use my parts, but assured me they could get it out if I bought their parts (which are the same parts I already have: Bilstein B4s and Febi/Bilstein mounts with the Audi part number cast into them, and the rings logo ground off). Oddly enough, the dealer WILL use my parts but won't warrant them, which is no big deal. Book labor is an hour and a bit per side, which seems fair, so I may go that route if I get tired of messing with them. Kind of embarrassing to admit defeat, but whatever.

I've probably removed a dozen of those bastard pinch bolts. I start soaking them a day or two prior, back off the nut a few turns, then use the low setting on my impact, work them in both directions. Sometimes they move, sometimes they don't. If they don't, I heat the bolt head then move onto higher torque on the air impact. If nothing moves them, I cut a slot on the bolt shank, via the rear slit in the upright. Then max reverse setting on my impact and shear the bolt off where it was nicked. Then remove the nut on the other end, heat the shank. Grease the threads and put an impact socket (over the bolt as a spacer) and a growing stack of greased hardened washers and SLOOOWLY tighten the nut to pull it out; remove nut, add more washers and repeat. I've only ever had one or two not pull out that way. I bought the kit with the jig/drills to drill them out as a last resort. Every other year or so, when I swap the snows on, I remove and replace pinch bolts now, on both sides as routine maintenance. New ones are like $7 and they get coated with nickel-based anti-seize.

To get the ball joints out of the upright, I use a Harbor Freight ball joint separator, with a 5/16 (about 3/4 in long) hardened bolt as a "pusher" (bolt tip centered against the ball joint stub) with the lower jaw of the separator on the bolt head. Make sure it's pushing parallel. Pops them out every time.

[Soren]

I've probably removed a dozen of those bastard pinch bolts. I start soaking them a day or two prior, back off the nut a few turns, then use the low setting on my impact, work them in both directions. Sometimes they move, sometimes they don't. If they don't, I heat the bolt head then move onto higher torque on the air impact. If nothing moves them, I cut a slot on the bolt shank, via the rear slit in the upright. Then max reverse setting on my impact and shear the bolt off where it was nicked. Then remove the nut on the other end, heat the shank. Grease the threads and put an impact socket (over the bolt as a spacer) and a growing stack of greased hardened washers and SLOOOWLY tighten the nut to pull it out; remove nut, add more washers and repeat. I've only ever had one or two not pull out that way. I bought the kit with the jig/drills to drill them out as a last resort. Every other year or so, when I swap the snows on, I remove and replace pinch bolts now, on both sides as routine maintenance. New ones are like $7 and they get coated with nickel-based anti-seize.

To get the ball joints out of the upright, I use a Harbor Freight ball joint separator, with a 5/16 (about 3/4 in long) hardened bolt as a "pusher" (bolt tip centered against the ball joint stub) with the lower jaw of the separator on the bolt head. Make sure it's pushing parallel. Pops them out every time.

Thanks for the tip on the pinch bolt and ball joints... I had ordered one of these: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben.../019527sch01a/ with my shocks so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully you've made some progress on that rear shock bold? I'm still waiting on parts and praying for some cooler weather when they get here.

[Justin B8]

Thanks for the tip on the pinch bolt and ball joints... I had ordered one of these: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben.../019527sch01a/ with my shocks so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully you've made some progress on that rear shock bold? I'm still waiting on parts and praying for some cooler weather when they get here.

Nope, can't get that lower shock bolt out. It will be Audi's problem on Friday. Hope yours is easier.

[Justin B8]

Nope, can't get that lower shock bolt out. It will be Audi's problem on Friday. Hope yours is easier.

Just to tie this off... tech also struggled to get the passenger side shock bolt out with a breaker and impact. Resorted to an oxy/acet torch and that finally broke the corrosion.
Service writer took me back to the bay to chat with the tech; who also noticed a broken exhaust clamp; so had that done while it was in the air ($70).

Still have an annoying creak only at low speed, like crossing over my driveway threshold. Suspect the front/lower/rear control arms - the curved one with the big ass bushing.

[Soren]

I was finally able to download the service manuals from erWin today and noticed that the instructions for the rear shock replacement say to torque the bottom bolt with the suspension components at ride height. I replaced my rear shocks last weekend, but torqued the bolts while it was in the air (It didn't seem that there would be any rotational force on the bushings in the bottom of the shocks). Now I'm debating whether I should loosen and re-torque that lower bolt. Any suggestions?

[mc_hotmail]

Torque at ride height needs a 4-post lift -- even some repair shops don't have that, let alone home garage.

I would agree the bottom bolt of the shock absorber doesn't need to be torqued at ride height.

[Smac770]

I wouldn't say that it doesn't need to be done correctly; I'm open to the idea that it's not worth undoing to redo at ride height.

And you can do ride height at home; did it on my QuickJacks. But you have to be alert to what you're doing, essentially lifting the vehicle weight off one end of the jacks. The most important thing is a fully stable mechanism for lifting the wheel hub. The Audi tool for the job is a piss poor design that fails to do numerous things that would make it safer to use. Raise the wheel hub, the second you see the weight releasing off the QuickJack block, stop. And don't touch that QuickJack laterally for anything until the weight is resting back on it.

[Soren]

I wouldn't say that it doesn't need to be done correctly; I'm open to the idea that it's not worth undoing to redo at ride height.

And you can do ride height at home; did it on my QuickJacks. But you have to be alert to what you're doing, essentially lifting the vehicle weight off one end of the jacks. The most important thing is a fully stable mechanism for lifting the wheel hub. The Audi tool for the job is a piss poor design that fails to do numerous things that would make it safer to use. Raise the wheel hub, the second you see the weight releasing off the QuickJack block, stop. And don't touch that QuickJack laterally for anything until the weight is resting back on it.

This is similar to the approach I am planning to take when I do the front bolts... I'm planning to measure the distance between the wheel well and the center of the hub while its on the ground and then I will use a jack to push one side up to that height. If it lifts off the jack stands before that I'll stop, but hopefully it will be resting on the jack and the jack stands while I'm torquing everything down... I'll probably redo the rear at the same time, because I am waiting on new bolts for it. I suspect it will make little difference, but there is also the possibility that by then the bushings in the shock will be torn. I'll post an update when I finally get it all done.

[Soren]

This is similar to the approach I am planning to take when I do the front bolts... I'm planning to measure the distance between the wheel well and the center of the hub while its on the ground and then I will use a jack to push one side up to that height. If it lifts off the jack stands before that I'll stop, but hopefully it will be resting on the jack and the jack stands while I'm torquing everything down... I'll probably redo the rear at the same time, because I am waiting on new bolts for it. I suspect it will make little difference, but there is also the possibility that by then the bushings in the shock will be torn. I'll post an update when I finally get it all done.

I re-torqued the rear, bottom, shock bolts using the method mentioned above and had no issues... Just in case someone else ends up doing the same thing: I had the car and suspension in the position I wanted it in before removing the lower bolt. When I loosened it I thought I might see/hear some movement in the shock bushing, but I didn't notice anything. I did both sides just in case, but I strongly suspect that it made no difference.

[Justin B8]

I re-torqued the rear, bottom, shock bolts using the method mentioned above and had no issues... Just in case someone else ends up doing the same thing: I had the car and suspension in the position I wanted it in before removing the lower bolt. When I loosened it I thought I might see/hear some movement in the shock bushing, but I didn't notice anything. I did both sides just in case, but I strongly suspect that it made no difference.

Good to hear the rear is sorted. I decided to track down the creaking in the front.

I replaced the front lower control arms and ball joints on both sides; FCP had summer sale and the Meyle HD lower arms were very reasonable compared to replacing bushings (I don't have a press). The large ball joint on the straight control arm was easy to remove from the upright, as an assembly. But the one attached to the curved control arm, holy crap is that ball joint tight (14mm one). I have three hinged ball joint separator tools and none of them would budge the driver side; passenger side came out with a BANG. Did three of the 4 arms, but paid Audi an hour of labor toget the driver side out. Front end is now tight and rattle free (114k). I drove it 1400 miles last weekend to drop my daughter off at college and flew home.

[Theiceman]

Good to hear the rear is sorted. I decided to track down the creaking in the front.

I replaced the front lower control arms and ball joints on both sides; FCP had summer sale and the Meyle HD lower arms were very reasonable compared to replacing bushings (I don't have a press). The large ball joint on the straight control arm was easy to remove from the upright, as an assembly. But the one attached to the curved control arm, holy crap is that ball joint tight (14mm one). I have three hinged ball joint separator tools and none of them would budge the driver side; passenger side came out with a BANG. Did three of the 4 arms, but paid Audi an hour of labor toget the driver side out. Front end is now tight and rattle free (114k). I drove it 1400 miles last weekend to drop my daughter off at college and flew home.

nice work ... Audis "double wishbone" control arm setup is awesome for handling , but for me a nightmare to service, ball joints in aluminum housings and Pinch bolts from hell. All my cars have cracked/split bushings, but if my tires wear well and there is no creaking or banging, i aint touching them :)

[Justin B8]

nice work ... Audis "double wishbone" control arm setup is awesome for handling , but for me a nightmare to service, ball joints in aluminum housings and Pinch bolts from hell. All my cars have cracked/split bushings, but if my tires wear well and there is no creaking or banging, i aint touching them :)

Yeah, I wonder about some of their engineering decisions. I've had both of my upper pinch bolts out in the last year to replace half shafts, so they come apart pretty easy; I did the upper arms with the half shafts, just because it was apart. The creaking over bumps and thresholds was driving me crazy; it wasn't struts/mounts/sway bar links and control arms are the only thing left.

The lower pinch bolt that holds the ball joint in gave me no trouble at all. Squirted it with PB, broke it loose, stuck my nerd bit in to expand it and it practically fell out. The large curved control arm ball joint sits in a steel insert pressed into the aluminum upright; I've seen videos of guys who popped that whole insert out, then had to deal with getting the taper out of the insert; and then pressing the insert back into the upright. No thanks, lol. The Audi pdf/manual shows a fancy tool with parallel jaws that I'm sure exerts a lot more force than the tools I have. I was actually bending the nut edge with the lower "finger" of the separator. I probably could have gotten it apart with an air hammer+pickle fork, but I needed the car together for the long road trip. Audi got me in and sorted out that morning ($168 later). Four new Michelin Pilot Sport AS4s and it drives like new.

[Theiceman]

Justin you must live in a climate friendly area. Those upper pinch bolts are no joke wherever salt is used in winter..

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[Justin B8]

Justin you must live in a climate friendly area. Those upper pinch bolts are no joke wherever salt is used in winter..

Sent from my SM-G973W using Audizine Forum mobile app

I live in PA, plenty of road salt. To clarify, the upper pinch bolts were a huge PITA the first time they had to come out. I used the new style bolt and plenty of anti-seize so they were easy to remove a year or so later.