Subframe problem? Broken captive nuts....

[panzerwagen]

will make what should be a simple removal of the sub-frame into a major headache, time waster and money drainer. How many of you have faced this kink in Audi's supposed excellent engineering? You have to literally cut into the chassis and remove the broken captive nut, then weld another in there. Then weld a piece of metal to cover up the hole you had to cut. What POS.

[S2central.net]

Those ARB locknuts are a ******... first thing I checked on this spare subby of mine is that those threads were all OK.

[S2central.net]

Oh - hold on - talking about captive nuts in the chassis leg here - sorry - that really sucks when they strip/fail.

[Fat Audi 80]

Don't go there!

In fact that reminds me, I am going to give the Plusgas a 72 hours to start working before I even attempt to crack some of the bolts! I fear the dreaded rusty bolts could be my downfall in all this....

[s2driveruk]

soak everything or use that freeze stuff to break the corrosion, worked pretty well for me

[s2driveruk]

...as for broken captives, really feel for you, what a PITA and as you say probably costly too. I guess its just a symptom of age on these cars and the fact that they have been exposed to 10+years of cr*p

It'll be worth it all in the end though!

David

[Skull]

hmm, there are holes made for reaching the nuts, covered with rubber caps.

[Fat Audi 80]

Duly soaked in Plusgas (half a can!) tonight. Will attack in anger on Friday night....

[S2central.net]

Good luck - I am dreading taking mine out... Must polish up the largest hammer I can find !

[panzerwagen]

Skull you say there holes to get to the nuts? WHERE?

I have owned my car for a LOOOONNNNGGG time and have NEVER seen these holes you speak of. Are we talking about the same thing?
Please tell us where these holes can be located. Allot of people here would like to know the location of these holes too.

[S2central.net]

Maybe these caps are on the B4 - saloon / avant only ??????

[panzerwagen]

Yo Skull! Still waiting for your answer!

All I hear is crickets.

[Skull]

well to be hones, i have never checked on the back, i only had avant/limos, so it doesent matter anyway. The holes are in the inner wheel arch, and rubber caps, and they are probably covered with filler or silicone whatever it is. I had problems with one nut on my ex avant, and fixed everything trought the hole.

you can see some of them here.

[panzerwagen]

Nice pix Skull. How in the world did you get at the captive nuts?

Those holes are not big enough to get a wrench or anything worth using in there? What did you use?

[S2central.net]

Wedged the retainer with a big screwdriver maybe ?