Cast V Steel wishbones?...

[europeanme]

Which would be the better ones??.....

when I brought my S2 I had it inspected and this was one of the very few things the car needed. As my car is about to get it's yearly service thought I would get this done

All advice gratefully received....

[PeterS]

Cast definitely....
The steel ones are pretty rare - and can fail - I just picked up a early 1990 US spec 7A 20v Coupe Quattro that had the outer part of the stamped steel control arm fail by the ball joint.

No problem I thought, I'll just get a type 85 stamped control arm from a 4000 ( 80 for the rest of the world)

Well it turns out that the stamped steel type 85 control arm has provision for a two bolt ball joint and works in conjuction with the type 85 one piece strut/wheel hub assy.

The type 89 stamped control arm uses a 3 bolt ball joint for the two piece strut/wheel hub assy.

The cast arm also uses a larger bushing...
And if you decide to get a used one I believe that the B4 chassis V6 control arms will fit.

[~Delta]

Pressed steel definitely. The steel ones are not rare over here, Audi used pressed steel, then cast, then back to pressed steel. B4 ones fit, irrespective of the engine type - you'll have to use your existing ball joints though, if you use 4 cylinder B4 items. V6 items can be fitted complete, as they have the large ball joint same as the S2. Type 85 / 89 80 and 90 ones are no good, as due to their shorter wheelbase, the wisbones are a perfect "Y" shape, as opposed yo the lowercase "y" shape used on all type 89 Coupes and all B4 cars.

Cast ones are strong, probably too strong. If you hit the kerb broadside, most of the shock is transmitted to the subframe or worse, the shell. The pressed steel ones will bend on impact, best to replace the wishbones, rather than the subframe, and possibly avoid the need to have the front end jigged.

[4WheelDrifter]

Cast ones are strong, probably too strong. If you hit the kerb broadside, most of the shock is transmitted to the subframe or worse, the shell. The pressed steel ones will bend on impact, best to replace the wishbones, rather than the subframe, and possibly avoid the need to have the front end jigged.

That's a good point. I thought stronger = better.

[europeanme]

Thanks dudes...
"Delta"..... do you know if V6 arms will fit an ABY S2?...or are they a special??.....
At the moment I'm just trying to get rid of a couple of "annoying" noises from my front suspension!!!....

Mike

[PeterS]

Hmm, I'm curious as to why one prefer the weaker stamped steel arm to the cast on the off chance that you side swipe a curb... Audi saw fit to use the cast arms on the heavier B4s ( V6, aircon, etc) - The turbo engine package is definitely heavier that a 20v, 10, or 8v NA engine...Audi still crash tested the later cars,...

I've seen 3 stamped arms fail in my last 10 years as an audi owner - two of the cases were catastrophic- drivers were barely able to bring their cars to a stop, and the halfshafts were pulled out of the transaxle, with resulting damage to the fender.

My understanding is that the stamped steel control arms were mostly fitted on the early 3B S2s, correct?

Mike - your call - are you more interest in curb protection, or best possible performance and life span from your control arms?
- with the stamped arms you _may_ have better crash protection, but understand that a heavy front, upgraded, stiffer suspension, etc will quickly find the weak point in your suspension- which will be the stamped control arms, which btw are only spot welded...

[europeanme]

mmmm...it's quite a dilema!!..hopefully this post will keep growing.......some more opinions.....

[~Delta]

I have just broken a 1994 Avant S2 with aircon AND pressed steel front wishbones.

I am currently fitting a clutch to a 1996 (N) S2 Coupe with air con. Guess what? pressed steel wishbones. IIRC Audi did use cast wishbones midway somewhere, dont ask me where, I can't remember.

Charlie on here with the Polar Silver RS2 owned a 1992 3B Coupe with aircon... it had cast wishbones. So why were they changed (if they did?) or were the use of both types random? Were the pressed steel ones lighter or was it the other way round?

As for failure of the pressed steel arms, I've never come across that, none of my cars have had cast items.

Ur quattro 20V also had cast items, the car weighed 1,380 kgs, some 40 kgs less than a 3B and a whopping 145 kgs less than an ABY Coupe.

So it would appear Audi did something like this: Pressed - Cast - Cast - Pressed - Cast - Pressed.



I know Audi crash tested older and newer cars, the point could be absorbtion. Sure the front of the car could be built like a tank (more than it already is) but what would be the point in that? I would far rather smack the kerb and have the wishbones fold up like deck chairs, rather than have them resist and the car ends up on its side / roof instead.

The answer to which arms are better? Personal choice, I don't think there is a definitive answer.

[~Delta]

Thanks dudes...
"Delta"..... do you know if V6 arms will fit an ABY S2?...or are they a special??.....
At the moment I'm just trying to get rid of a couple of "annoying" noises from my front suspension!!!....

Mike

Yes, I can confirm B4 V6 arms will fit the ABY. I have just fitted ABY arms to a B4 V6 80 q to get round worn bushes.

[europeanme]

oh no thats no help to my dilema!!!... me thinks steel ones, as were they fitted to the later S2's anyway, weren't they??.....

[europeanme]

ah, it seems you posted as I was posting my last reply....are the ABY arms different to V6 arms??.....if so is there much difference??...

[~Delta]

ABY and B4 V6 arms are the same. From what I can decipher (if the ABY Coupe I have here is anything to go by) later cars had pressed steel arms.

[europeanme]

Righto, I think I'll get the same as is on the car...pressed steel...I think?!?!?!....

[Mikes2]

I would just change the bushes rather than the wishbones. If you change wishbones, you'll also need to change ball joints

The cast arms were dropped for the 1995 MY on the S2- just when the RS2 received the cast arms.

[auditude]

Stamped Steel vs. Cast Steel, and no Aluminum

So we agree that there are only stamped steel and cast steel, and the cast ones are not aluminum?

I know that some people and places, for example http://www.vagparts.com , list Powerflex bushings for either the "steel" or "aluminum". Then theres a link to a pic of the "aluminum" arms, and it shows a slightly rusted cast steel arm. Surely the reference to aluminum is a mistake?