Quattro rear balljoints-easy job?

[spaarky]

A80Quattro 1988/89 1781i DZ engine

I see 2 types of balljoint available for rear on 1988/89 quattros-not sure which type I need, though I know I need at least one & all are pricey

Is this an easy job? Can use spring compressors & most usual tools but can't find A80quattro manual so will not know how tricky until taking apart-daily driver so makes it difficult

also, any idea where is cheapest for rear balljoints? don't think gsf stock them anymore & will be scared at how much audi charge

Any thoughts/opinions/comments appreciated

[pimpdriver]

whereabouts are the balljoints?

Have you looked on www.vagcat.com they have part numbers.

I don't think my Audi 100 has ball joints, just loads and loads of bushes.

[amanda]

A quattro has ball joints........contact kerker21 as he has a contact who repairs these

[spaarky]

yep-definitely balljoints on rear since quattro-front balljoints cheap & readily available, rears don't seem so. had a run thru vagcat etc, but is changeover year & pretty sure I need 893505365C at 72euros each! not sure about repairing balljoints, since daily driver can't really afford the time off the road to repair & suspect they're original like most of car, so probly due a change-just without the audi pricetag!

[mikes2]

you won't need spring compressors to replace ball joints.

It's not that difficult a job, although you'll probably need to destroy the old one to remove it

[kerker21]

if you get stuck and carnt get any try this guy he duz a fantastic job

http://www.classic-audi.co.uk/forum/...ead.php?t=4788

[spaarky]

Cheers guys - interested in the reconditioner, but since a daily driver & a long long way from liverpool, am still thinking that replacements might be a better bet at the minute. might have to change my mind if I can't find any cheap enough though

mikes2, I've got no manual nor had a proper look until I can source balljoints at a decent price but woulda thought rear ball joints under strut spring pressure - is this not the case ? Was glad to see that balljoints are bolt on, but seem to have a clamp on the pin which looks pretty damn corroded - did you have to replace the clamps & bolts as well when you changed the balljoints or did you have the pure bolt on type with no clamp ? My rear balljoints are the type that point upwards towards the strut

[BIGGYIN]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
If they are like mine?Not a hard job,just need a big hammer+wooden block.
Karl.
OR
https://secure.gsfcarparts.com/shop/results.asp
Maybe an idea to change the pinch bolt in strut aswell.
BEFORE you take the old one out(ball joint),mark how far it goes into the wishbone and put new one in same amount.Or it will change your tracking.
Hope that helped?

[mikes2]

the rear ball joints are not affected by spring pressure. Spring is retained by upper and lower collar on the suspension strut.


Confused by the comment about pointing upwards. Got a pic ?

[spaarky]

biggyin - crackin - many thanks, that ebay part looks exactly like the balljoint I'm looking for - I couldn't get anything from your gsf link, but when I looked thru the gsf catalog previously I could only find a rear balljoint up to March 1988, which I think is the wrong type, since car registered Jan 1989 & chassis no listed seems too early. did you get the type shown on the ebay link from gsf ? think my biggest problem might be replacing the pin clamp which I can't find listed anywhere & I don't really wanna go to audi 'cos of my lack of £

Thanks mikes2 - hopefully no buggering about with spring clamps then. I had a look at the VAG catalog to get an idea how it all went together before I had a look under the car & came up with 2 different configurations of balljoint that might fit the car - one is like a conventional balljoint that bolts on to strut & has a threaded pin that points downward and takes a nut through arm from underneath. The other type, which I seem to have on the car, is a balljoint pressed into an arm - the arm bolts onto the swing arm with a pin that points upwards and has no thread, but uses some kind of pinch bolt to hold it onto the strut, like the one in biggyin's link here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT