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Before my friend and me did the control arms on his A4 the other week and getting ready to do mine soon we came across this video on youtube for how to do the uper control arms on an A6. Being as it is basically the same and had a good video for removing the pinch bolt i thought i would share it for others having difficulties.
no need for some stupid special tool.
get a soft hammer. like a plastic one. i've removed those bolts on all kinds of VW's and Audi's when i was working in european car shop before it went out of business.
Must've been where they do not salt the roads.Originally Posted by getlost4x4
how many, just a couple of 'em?
99 GLS, 2.8 V6, Leather, Cold Weather pkg, driven 120 miles/day, Mon-Fri
I has a sig!
Whats this special tool use speak of? The video wont work for me for whatever reason.
its just this
"balljoint tool "
Thanks for that iv never used one on a passat before.its just this
"balljoint tool "
this isnt to say that this isnt the only way to be done i just know many people have problems especially removing the pinch bolt and some people learn better than seeing by reading.
although yes i agree on my friends A4 we just used a nice hammer
Hmmm. I thought those were called pickle forks.
Love the air hammer though...
AJ
The pickle fork is only good if you plan on replacing the arms as it will tear the ball joint cover. It does not help with the pinch bolt. I bought one last month as the newer B5.5 lower control arm has an insert in the hub carrier that gets stuck to the arm.
no salt in Montana or Wyoming. Loooosers! HA HA HA
about 10 of these cars. mostly steering racks and tie rod ends. for some reason those don't seem to last up here.
I can't view the video from my office PC so I can't see what method is being used. Best method I've found for removing seized pinch bolts is the cut and jack method. Cut off the bolt head between the first split in the upper spindle using a Dremel tool and then twist off the head with a socket wrench. Remove the nut from the threaded end and install a spacer, such as a lug nut or something similar. Reinstall the original nut and use it to jack the bolt from the spindle shaft using a socket wrench. Add more spacers as the bolt is extracted to keep the nut on the threaded portion of the bolt.
This process is well documented elsewhere in these forums with photos. I've used it a couple of times on Passat front ends. It beats the heck out of drilling out the bolt. If you can get the bolt out using a hammer then consider yourself extremely lucky. Use liberal amounts of anti-seize compound on the replacement bolt shaft, but keep it off the threads or you won't be able to apply the proper torque.
Video shows using an air hammer.
I plan on removing and reapplying anti-sieze to the pinch bolts yearly since I did my control arms this summer.
I've been doing the same thing. You only have to drill out one bolt before taking preventative measures to ensure you'll never have to do it again. Believe me, it is not fun.
That royally pissed me off when I went to reinstall the new arm and realized it didn't have the sleeve in there. Took forever to get that sleeve off the old arm.
That was the fastest I've ever seen a pinch bolt come out. I worked on getting mine out for about 2 hours, then gave up and gave it to a shop. I even cut the bolt in the spaces you can see, and still the end piece was stuck in it. The shop told me it took them about another hour to get it out. They got lucky with the bolt in that video. Some are MUCH more seized than others. Once again, a retarded design by VW. The dual upper control arm setup is not used on any car but VWs, and is extremely unnecessary. All the dual upper arm setup does, is not allow the front wheels to sit at a slight angle when the wheels are turned. Great. I don't care about that, I'd much rather have an easily accessible suspension setup. Every other car in the world seems to get by just fine without it.
so much pent up anger......lol
mine was a PA car. Each bolt came out in about 10 minutes with a 5lb sledge. For the record, they did learn their lesson and started using aluminum uprights on the w8 and audis. No more seized bolts.
im doing my control arms over christmas break and i am praying that the pinch bolts come out without any huge issues.
Start spraying them with penetrating oil several days in advance.
if you put the upper bolts back in backwards you can change the upper control arms in the car without removing the upper plate.
Fixed it for you
It's an Audi design.
And it allows for the steering axis to be located further out than the arms, in the middle of the tire contact patch.
On cars with Mac struts, the axis is the strut--from the strut bearing down to the lower ball joint. So the axis does not coincide with the center of the tire, and you get undesirable handling traits.
Edit: the bad part of the design is not having serviceable ball joints at the ends of the arms. That and the seizing of the pinch bolt.
I have my new control arms on the bench, ready to go.
Though, a question. In the video, he just torques down the control arms to the plate when everything in off the car. Is this really advisable? I've read that the bolts should be tightened on the car, with the suspension compressed to normal ride height. In the Bentley, they give an actual angle (40deg IIRC). Not this guy, it looks like he just eye balls is from the other arm, then repeats.
Any opinions?
I installed the arms with the pivot bolts just snug. Then I jacked up the spindle until it lifted the car's weight off the jack stand. At that point I torqued the pivot bolts. It may not be the exact ride height as then front is jacked up and carrying less weight, but it's close enough for me.
Going by the existing arms' angle assumes you have good bushings to start.
The degree method is only good if your car has the same suspension. If you have the 1BE springs, the angle is different a the ride height is lower.
I replace my pinch bolts once a year and load them up with antisieze anytime I'm working around them or remove them. They are only a few bucks for the bolts at the dealer, so why not? I actually REALLY want to do this again soon, before the winter and salt start getting on the roads..
no need to keep replacing the bolts after the first time. Just anti-sieze them prior to every winter. Mine have been in there 4 years and come right out with a tap, every time.
x2. If you are just replacing the arms and the suspension has not changed, it is ok to use the degree method or match the new arm angle with the old. As long as the bushing isn't completely torn, it should return the arm to the correct angle when at rest.
I was just looking at this thread because I'm replacing my control arms today. I'm sitting there looking at the bolts thinking what moron decided to put the control arm bolts in, in such a way that you have to take out the entire strut. Idiot. I'm reversing the bolts when I reinstall for any future replacements. That way, i'll never have to take the strut out again unless its being replace.
Excellent description. It's actually a fantastic design in terms of geometry and suspension dynamics throughout travel. That's why Passats (and corresponding Audi's) handle so well with stock suspension and without being lowered.
This design would have been a boon in the A2/A3 for a race application. But, I think the transverse mounted engine didn't allow the room for it. Mac-strut is a very basic design, but you have to dump them on the ground to overcome their weaknesses.
AJ
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