it wasn't the DRC

[kismetcapitan]

so I'm in the middle of a swap to Konis and H&R springs. Turns out my DRC has been fine all this time, and it was upper control arm wear that was causing noises and throwing the car's ride height off a bit (front left sagging about an 1/8th") - the bushings on that side were just shredded.

Well, the Konis will give some peace of mind and will hopefully ride harder than the DRC and complement the Hotchkis sways. As I've said before, I've never, ever been in a car where I felt the ride to be too hard.

Upper control arms are being overnighted, and some tie rod ends too just because. Will do lowers in about six months; lowers are in good shape still. Sadly, no auto shop works on weekends in Nashville, so the car will have to be completed on Monday.

My mechanic pointed out that the RS6 subframes (front and rear) are aluminum, and said that he's never seen that before on an A6 or S6 - true? He also pointed out something I never knew - you can't really adjust camber. The subframe can be adjusted, but if you add camber on one side by sliding the subframe, you take it away from the other. Had no idea, and this could be a solution for cars that have alignment issues, if the aligner isn't aware of this...?

[Aronis]

YEs, I found the camber being fixed a bit of a problem....I had a four wheel alignment done after I installed the KWv3...was not too far off, just the camber was a slight bit out of spec and not adjustable accept by raising the car back up....

So far after a year or more the tire wear has been very even.

Mike

[kismetcapitan]

I wonder if adding some toe-in might be to my taste - they asked me if I wanted factory-spec alignment, or something custom. I'm willing to sacrifice front tire wear if I can get the car to feel more "twitchy" to steering inputs.

[4.2Crew]

so I'm in the middle of a swap to Konis and H&R springs. Turns out my DRC has been fine all this time, and it was upper control arm wear that was causing noises and throwing the car's ride height off a bit (front left sagging about an 1/8th") - the bushings on that side were just shredded.

Just out of curiousity, how would worn upper control arms geometriically lower the ride height?... Camber-in causing wheel to move up in the wheel well maybe? Either way, 1/8' in height difference is very small.... Cool!... You're as nueratic as I am for a level "sit"!...

BTW, what rebound setting are you going with on the Konis?...

Pics! We need pics when complete!

Good Luck!

[kismetcapitan]

fully stiff in the rear (all four clicks), three clicks in the front.

[kismetcapitan]

never mind...it WAS the DRC. Front left strut, to be exact. While no oil ever leaked, and the system was under full pressure, I picked up the old strut rod, and when I grabbed the rod, it wiggled as if it were barely attached.

So there we go. Even without oil leaks, Audi can't build a strut correctly. Did not price out what a replacement front strut would cost, but I'll bet replacing it, plus servicing the DRC, would be costing me a ton more than I'm paying now.

$800 in parts (Konis, H&R springs, some rubber bits, control arms, tie rods), $700 labor, and that's a pretty comprehensive suspension overhaul. Not bad at all!!

Fingers crossed that I'll have now covered all the weak points with the car, and all the tuning I'll have wanted to do is done Should have 65,000 miles of clear sailing before the big timing belt service needs to be done again.

[JRS-RS6]

..Should have 65,000 miles of clear sailing before the big timing belt service needs to be done again.

TB is scheduled @ 35K and 75K service. How does that give you 65K until due?

[Tom Sawyer]

never mind...it WAS the DRC. Front left strut, to be exact. While no oil ever leaked, and the system was under full pressure, I picked up the old strut rod, and when I grabbed the rod, it wiggled as if it were barely attached.

So there we go. Even without oil leaks, Audi can't build a strut correctly. Did not price out what a replacement front strut would cost, but I'll bet replacing it, plus servicing the DRC, would be costing me a ton more than I'm paying now.

$800 in parts (Konis, H&R springs, some rubber bits, control arms, tie rods), $700 labor, and that's a pretty comprehensive suspension overhaul. Not bad at all!!

Fingers crossed that I'll have now covered all the weak points with the car, and all the tuning I'll have wanted to do is done Should have 65,000 miles of clear sailing before the big timing belt service needs to be done again.

Very cool... nice to know that you didn't replace a working system (although in the end, we all can agree that the DRC is worth replacing regardless).

Looking forward to seeing pics and hearing your impressions. Not a bad price at all... I'm pretty far in with my 75k/TC but will definitely look at going this route when my DRC decides to STB.

Control arm bushings seem to be a pretty common wear item on these. Mine were shot on the drivers side, discovered when I had my axles installed @ 72k.

[hahnmgh63]

Those DRC (KYB Manufactured) struts and shocks are junk. Both KYB and Audi were given all kinds of praise when the RS6 first came out for the innovative design that was pure mechanical without the complexity of an electronic system. At least an electronic system would probably show a fault before total failure.

[kismetcapitan]

TB is scheduled @ 35K and 75K service. How does that give you 65K until due?

ah, forgot the 35K.