[B4-Andy]

Finally got round to doing the rear lower arms today. What a difference it's made. I'm actually angry with myself for not recognising how bad they were, but I think that the quattro drive train and the complication of the front suspension hides a multitude of problems - not to mention all the worn rubber is hidden behind subframe.

So this is a picture of the worst worn next to the new arms, the other side was better, but not by much.

The rubber has pretty much came away from the outer housing. When I got the balljoints broken - which was enough of a PITA on steel uprights, can't imagine the hassle of Alu - the arms flopped down, something they absolutely should not do, the rubber should hold them up high.

The new arms couldn't be tightened with the car on the ground, and they certainly couldn't be torqued. Maybe in a garage equipped with both a 2 and 4 post ramp it's possible, but not anywhere else. So they got FT... Of course I marked where the arms sat with the car back on the ground and then placed a jack under the whole thing to raise the arms up before tightening with the wheel off - because you are only positioning the centre of the bush, but the tools just would not fit with the car on the ground, just nowhere near enough clearance below. And there is nowhere near the space needed to get any torque wrench in there. So they were tightened where the arms sit at rest, which is the important part! So many old 80's need brand new arms after a few months because someone in a garage tightened new arms in the air, leaving the rubber to twist under the weight of the car, permanently.

I will see if I can find someone with a 4 post ramp, not happy with the tightness of the bolts because I didn't get that awful feeling the bolt was about to snap you usually get with stretch bolts.

This car surprised me, I recently rebuilt an A2, and you can forgive them for the packaging issues associated with tight spaces to make components fit in such a small body, but to discover they opted for the "make it easier for assembly" option on what would originally have been such an expensive car seems greedy.

Anyway, took the car for a drive.... It's a sensation. When I first got the car there's been 2 problems which have niggled at me, one was the slight judder under breaking and the other was twitchy steering. Both have vanished, without a trace. The car feels fantastic. I'm angry with myself because I know that a knackered arm can cause both of those problems, I have fixed both of those problems on other cars with new arms! I didn't realise how far gone they were, or maybe I was intimidated by how complex this thing appears... The winter tyre that's missing chunks (hidden on the inside of the tyre for months) will be a lesson to me, it will absolutely need replaced.

The "adjustment" of my ball joint tool (ground the jaws down so they would actually go round the joint) and the 2 slots in each bolt, meant this took hours to do rather than the 30 minutes I had envisioned for each side. But it's done now, and the car is absolutely fantastic. I did find myself the wrong side of the law immediately after fitting them during the test drive I had such confidence in how it was going.

So, what's next? Get it back up on my friends ramp and find out what other arms need doing. The front lower arms are easy because you can see how the rubber looks without any messing around, but how's the back end doing? Maybe some pre-emptive maintenance? Maybe the regular use of the car will stop the usual age related stuff by flexing the rubber.

I recently discovered a blocked off hose attachment on the inlet manifold that was barely there, the rubber has simply aged the part, it's split and near disintegration. I guess at 16 years old that's to be expected. Any old car I have needs a tonne of rubber parts replaced...