bushes and brakes

[chalkywhyte]

hi i wonder if anyone can give me some help , ive just been told that my a8 is finished in the workshop and all the damage and paintwork is sorted , as the mot and tax ran out while being repaired in the garage i asked if they could mot the car before returning it , unfortunately its failed , they have told me the handbrake mechanism is seized and both rear calipers are needing replacing , this apparently is a common fault although on a 50 000 mile car this seems a bit strange to me , also some of the front bushes on the steering and anti roll bar need changing so they said i need the complete front changed , they tell me its going to cost me 2600 squids to get it done with them , but this seems really excessive as i dont think they want to do this work as they are a body repair company so have overquoted the cost . what does anyone think about this and how easy are these bushes to replace , do the calipers always need replacing with this handbrake problem and are there better replacements on the market . cheers all help and suggestions would be appreciated . cheers chalkywhyte

[The_Laird]

The handbrake problem is quite common, even on low mileage cars and particularly if they've been stood a bit. But, if you're lucky, you can free it off and avoid a replacement caliper.

Not sure about the bushes though - not had that problem (yet!).

[chalkywhyte]

cheers for that ice blue as for the condition i dont know havent had the car for almost 3 months but surely the hand brake mechanism can be dismantled cleaned and lubed without mAJOR PROBS .

[PsYcHe]

Handbrake could maybe be freed off as Jim said... Replacement of all arms at the front shouldnt be that bad.. but if they're pricing OEM calipers, that could be damned expensive!

If you're semi-handy with tools, the rear calipers arent that hard to do (had to do one on my D2 a while back), just need to remember and bleed it when done

I think you can source the set of control arms for about £400 (there are threads on this) and then a couple of hours labour a side for a decent indie should sort it.

Overall, much less than 2600

[chalkywhyte]

hi cheers for that but i agree 2600 is way over the top but unfortunately am a bit up the creek with this as its been there almost 3 months and now no mot or tax so i had to sorn it but as i am having a bedroom and en suite and sitting room built to accomodate my disabled father i cant get it the road so am scrabbling around for somewhere they can deliver it and around here i dont yet know people who are good on a8s as with my messed up hands working on a car is now a problem for me but thanx anyway

[The_Laird]

Where are you? There's bound to be someone here who could recommend a local independent garage and/or lend a hand. Check the 'roll call' thread to find someone close by

[ainarssems]

Handbrake is common problem with shaft getting rusty and seizing up. You can free them but it needs stripping down caliper and most garages will not do it. I stripped one of mine but a circlip went flying and I never found it luckily I had very similar caliper from A6 that I could scavenge missing part from. I spray mine with lubricant whenever I get close to them to prevent problem and I do pass MOT every year but get advisory on handbrake. If you have done it once it is not too hard but it can be stressing if you do it first time.


Front suspension arms I would recommend replacing all at once as if some fail others will soon follow. There are couple of options depending on mileage you do and if you can replace them yourself. Dealer prices are expensive, Lemforder(same as OEM) cheaper, Meyle better then OEM and priced between OEM and Lemforder or cheap no name from e-Bay(even better German) which are fine if you replace them yourself and do not do much mileage. I do have cheap ones replaced by me now 3 years and 11k miles, still fine. I paid around £120 for a A4/A6 set from germany and £45 for the 2 arms from eurocarparts for the 2 arms that are different and sold the remaining 2 arms from set on ebay for £25, so whole front end cost me around £140

[ainarssems]

Just to add refurbished rear calipers should not be more then £160 each and arm set not more then £450-500

[chalkywhyte]

thanks guys im in oxford but my neighbour behind me [ bj ali ] said to get the car delivered to his house and he will try and do the hand brake so it works as to the rest i want to look at these bushes to see the problem as i beleive the garage is trying it on but will if needed get the lot changed with quality parts even though i do very little mileage per year , its on 20" RIMS which im told puts added pressure on the bushes so good stuff is the way for me just that my money is commited to building work so its all become a bit tight . cheers

[Dezzy]

If it's just the handbrake sticking then it's quite an easy fix. I've done a repair proceedure on here somewhere. Think it's a sticky too.