DeWolf

The rebuilt upper A arms for S4's, are the ball joints replaced somehow or is a polymer resin injected into the existing ball joint?

FredR

From the tenor of what has been written about this I understand they are mechanically disassembled and rebuilt with new components but I do not know that for a fact.

At the end of the day anything that is buildable must be rebuildable, just a question of why they decided to make it as "unrebuildable" as possible. New arms cost about $1k, rebuilt ones about $400 and the bits to rebuild one must be about $200 if one could find them- obviously someone can. How they finally assemble them securely seems to be the trick to the "rebuild" process.

For those of us on the "other side of the world" returning the core is also another cost factor adding about another $100 to the pain. If the core cost is $100 then not worth it of course- just consider the rebuild cost to be $500.

Why the earlier models were DIY rebuildable and not the later ones who knows but I have not heard tales of woe about earlier ones falling apart after having been rebuilt not to mention the zillions of other makes that invariably are rebuildable.

Rgds

Fred

Strosek Ultra

Fred, a company in Germany is selling S4 upper A-arms exchange for GBP 211.85. Free shipping also to the other side of the world. Think they have A-arms of the old version available too (up to -85).
Åke
http://www.ebay.com/itm/original-Por...p=mtr#shpCntId

FredR

Åke,

The shipping to the other side of the world is anything but free according to the link I opened- heck at the price quoted delivered Oman [168 pounds] it seems they are chartering a plane to carry it! On the positive side it is free delivery UK- whether we would have to pay import duties or UK VAT no idea.

It sure looks an interesting proposition.



The auto translation from German is hilarious.
"We have all 928 handlebars in stock"
"Suitable for all 928 loundspeakers"

Carl Fausett

Keep in mind the early A-Arms were cast, and a machined groove to hold a circlip was placed in above the ball joint. Once the resin is removed, all the ball joint parts are able to be accessed.

I have a good video on this here: https://928motorsports.com/928M_file...intRebuild.wmv

The 1986.57-up a-arms are forged, and no provision for servicing that ball joint was provided.

We do offer a steel replacement upper ball joint for the late model cars that has fully serviceable ball joints and may be a more affordable replacement for international customers as no cores are needed to be returned. Price is per PAIR.
https://928motorsports.com/parts/upp...eplacement.php

GregBBRD

The company that rebuilds 928 International's upper A arms makes their own ball joints. These are not likely for sale separately, as it doesn't seem to be a simple "remove and replace" process. It appears that they thread the upper arms, install threaded ball joints and then pin them so they can't work loose.

These rebuilt arms, with new ball joints, new "proper" upper bushings, and all new hardware are a bargain.

hacker-pschorr

+1

People act like these need to be rebuilt on a regular basis. Everything is relative and I would love if everyone posted what their baseline of expenses are based on.

My friend recently had to rebuild the control arms on his 2005 Audi:
Front Left Lower Rearward - $395
Front Left Upper Forward - $225
Front Left upper Rearward - $291
Front Lower Forward - $350

That's per side, just the front. Prices OEM MSRP, sure they can be found cheaper (good luck with some aftermarket units), but you get the point. This is on a "generic" A6 Quattro. A mass produced production car less than 10 years old (when he did the job).

Have fun with that alignment is anything is evenly a little bit out of whack.

If 928's came with air ride suspension which is so common on GT vehicles today, one shock would total out many 928's.

Strosek Ultra

[QUOTE=FredR;14150117]Åke,

The shipping to the other side of the world is anything but free according to the link I opened- heck at the price quoted delivered Oman [168 pounds] it seems they are chartering a plane to carry it! On the positive side it is free delivery UK- whether we would have to pay import duties or UK VAT no idea.

It sure looks an interesting proposition.

Fred, as long as Brexit is not implemented, there are no import duties nor UK VAT when shipping stuff from Germany to the UK. We over here do have the same problem with high shipping charges, import duties and import VAT when we import something from the other side of the world (in most cases from the US but from any other country outside the EU).
Åke

FredR

That seems a sensible approach.

When I investigated what is available on the market I found some after market ball joints that were potentially suitable candidates but easily concluded that buying the parts and getting the mods done was just not feasible considering the botheration involved on something untried/tested not to mention being a safety critical component.

I recently inspected my ball joints and they were way better than I initally feared. After a good degrease and packing them best I could with new grease and boots I could not detect any play although they do not have the resitance to movement I believe they should have. Hopefully they will get me through the summer season and then hope to replace the arms next cool season. During alignment we could not see any signs of untoward movement for whatever that is worth but it does not take a lot of thought to realise that after 25 years of use they owe me nothing. I also have one good spare one in my kit bag.

Rgds

Fred