nene
May 2nd, 2008, 02:42
As some of you may be aware, a while back I had been looking to change the suspension on my RS6, because I had a suspicion the shocks had seen better days. To be precise, I had concerns that my passenger side suspension really needed to be replaced, mostly because I felt that side of the car was transferring lots of energy to the frame. I thought that it would be obvious to me that if the shock was not doing its job, it would have to be transferring energy/noise to the rest of the car.
Took the car in to my local Audi Shot, previously Clair Audi and now Audi of Westwood. These are the same guys that did my Mov'it brake upgrade, so they are pretty familiar with the car.
Told him the story, and wanted it diagnosed if possible before doing any work. Asked if they had done this before, and they confirmed they did a few, mostly either one or two front shocks, and a couple of rears. I did not feel the need to mention known DRC failures, and was really mostly interested in seeing if they had some experience with the issue.
They called me about a day later, and indeed the passenger side front shock was leaking, and the drivers side seeping. They had done some preliminary estimate, with parts and labor for both front shocks and alignment to be around USD $1300. I expected to be more, given how much after market suspension systems are costing.
He told me he was going to call Fidelity, my extended warranty team, to get this appraised and such. I told him not to bother, as I already knew struts/shocks were not covered. I asked him instead to spend the time getting all 4 shock absorbers, as I wanted the work done on all 4 corners. He felt it was overkill, given that the rear shocks were in still in great shape. I explained that it was best to spend the money all at once, and spend another 5 years without any worries. Well, at least I hope she lasts another 5 years.
Ok, after a bit of typing in the computer he tells me the rears a bit more expensive, and total estimate for parts, labor, and alignment around USD $3000. I said ... D-E-A-L!
All parts were in stock except for one rear shock, which arrived about 3 days later.
In the end the total came to be USD $3300. This amount also includes USD $100 deductible, based on story that follows. So not bad preliminary estimate.
Once the work was done, they took the car for a ride.
They could hear a clunking noise from the front passenger side, where the worst shock originally called home. So they looked closer, and found that upper and lower control arms also needed replaced. These parts they ordered upon inspection that it were faulty, since they were not in stock. My service advisor called me and let me know how things were progressing.
He had already called Fidelity, my extended warranty team, as he knew for sure these were covered. They came in, inspected, and once the work was done, the test drive showed no more clunking coming from the front. For parts and labor cost to replace control arms on front passenger side, the Fidelity team paid USD $1600. Thank you.
For some of you that have had suspension issues or replaced suspension with aftermarket, if your clunking is coming from the front, it may not be the suspension, but instead control arms that may need to be replaced. Especially if they were working extremely hard under stress of a bad DRC shock.
I really like the DRC and car drives like new once again. Did not feel the need to go with a different suspension, but I would have liked to have the option to lower it, which with stock DRC you don't have unless you go with different springs.
Parts list for everything is below for each of the work done.
1. DRC Suspension part numbers
(1) 4B3-413-031-P Shock Absorber Front
(1) 4B3-413-032 Shock Absorber Front
(1) 4B3-513-031-M Shock Absorber Rear
(1) 4B3-513-032 Shock Absorber Rear
(2) 4B3-698-009 Gasket Set
(2) 4B0-512-137-C Boot
(4) G-052-731-A2 Hydraulic Oil
(2) N-034-790-8 Screw
2. Control arms part numbers
(1) 8E0-407-506-C Front Passenger Side Upper Link
(1) 8E0-407-510-C Front Passenger Side Upper Link
(1) 4B3-407-151-D Front Passenger Side Control Arm
(1) 8E0-407-694-AG Front Passenger Side Wishbone
(1) N-034-790-8 Screw
(1) N-102-723-02 Nut
From the drive home today so far so good. Love having my beast back.
When I dropped the car off I told them not to hurry, and get it done when they could block off some time. Car was there for about 2 weeks, with half the time waiting for parts, and do control arms after the suspension was done, which included waiting a full day for an appraisal from extended warranty company.
Very happy.
Took the car in to my local Audi Shot, previously Clair Audi and now Audi of Westwood. These are the same guys that did my Mov'it brake upgrade, so they are pretty familiar with the car.
Told him the story, and wanted it diagnosed if possible before doing any work. Asked if they had done this before, and they confirmed they did a few, mostly either one or two front shocks, and a couple of rears. I did not feel the need to mention known DRC failures, and was really mostly interested in seeing if they had some experience with the issue.
They called me about a day later, and indeed the passenger side front shock was leaking, and the drivers side seeping. They had done some preliminary estimate, with parts and labor for both front shocks and alignment to be around USD $1300. I expected to be more, given how much after market suspension systems are costing.
He told me he was going to call Fidelity, my extended warranty team, to get this appraised and such. I told him not to bother, as I already knew struts/shocks were not covered. I asked him instead to spend the time getting all 4 shock absorbers, as I wanted the work done on all 4 corners. He felt it was overkill, given that the rear shocks were in still in great shape. I explained that it was best to spend the money all at once, and spend another 5 years without any worries. Well, at least I hope she lasts another 5 years.
Ok, after a bit of typing in the computer he tells me the rears a bit more expensive, and total estimate for parts, labor, and alignment around USD $3000. I said ... D-E-A-L!
All parts were in stock except for one rear shock, which arrived about 3 days later.
In the end the total came to be USD $3300. This amount also includes USD $100 deductible, based on story that follows. So not bad preliminary estimate.
Once the work was done, they took the car for a ride.
They could hear a clunking noise from the front passenger side, where the worst shock originally called home. So they looked closer, and found that upper and lower control arms also needed replaced. These parts they ordered upon inspection that it were faulty, since they were not in stock. My service advisor called me and let me know how things were progressing.
He had already called Fidelity, my extended warranty team, as he knew for sure these were covered. They came in, inspected, and once the work was done, the test drive showed no more clunking coming from the front. For parts and labor cost to replace control arms on front passenger side, the Fidelity team paid USD $1600. Thank you.
For some of you that have had suspension issues or replaced suspension with aftermarket, if your clunking is coming from the front, it may not be the suspension, but instead control arms that may need to be replaced. Especially if they were working extremely hard under stress of a bad DRC shock.
I really like the DRC and car drives like new once again. Did not feel the need to go with a different suspension, but I would have liked to have the option to lower it, which with stock DRC you don't have unless you go with different springs.
Parts list for everything is below for each of the work done.
1. DRC Suspension part numbers
(1) 4B3-413-031-P Shock Absorber Front
(1) 4B3-413-032 Shock Absorber Front
(1) 4B3-513-031-M Shock Absorber Rear
(1) 4B3-513-032 Shock Absorber Rear
(2) 4B3-698-009 Gasket Set
(2) 4B0-512-137-C Boot
(4) G-052-731-A2 Hydraulic Oil
(2) N-034-790-8 Screw
2. Control arms part numbers
(1) 8E0-407-506-C Front Passenger Side Upper Link
(1) 8E0-407-510-C Front Passenger Side Upper Link
(1) 4B3-407-151-D Front Passenger Side Control Arm
(1) 8E0-407-694-AG Front Passenger Side Wishbone
(1) N-034-790-8 Screw
(1) N-102-723-02 Nut
From the drive home today so far so good. Love having my beast back.
When I dropped the car off I told them not to hurry, and get it done when they could block off some time. Car was there for about 2 weeks, with half the time waiting for parts, and do control arms after the suspension was done, which included waiting a full day for an appraisal from extended warranty company.
Very happy.