Your B5/B6/B7 chassis A4 was designed to be a sports sedan (In my case, sports wagon ☺), without compromising refinement and comfort for daily driving. A vehicle's front suspension plays a critical role in helping the vehicle achieve these dynamics.
Instead of the more traditional McPherson strut or slightly more sophisticated double-wishbone suspension setup, Audi chose to use a multi-link suspension design. One of the main advantages to the multi-link setup is that it is orthogonal, meaning each of the suspension's geometric parameters can be altered independently of one another. This allows the suspension's tuning to be more precise.
The multi-link design consists of multiple arms with ball joints on the end. The tie-rod ends are also included when considering the front suspension. Each of these arms take a significant amount of load from the suspension and steering movement due to imperfections in the road surface (if you live in the northeast, this is a very generous way to describe our potholes). Overtime, from this abuse, the boots for these joints can tear and crack causing the grease in them to leak out.
If you notice that your Audi’s steering is sloppy or the car seems to wander on the highway or smooth roads, inspect your suspension and check your control arms. Also, any “clunking” over bumps or creaking should yield an inspection of your upper and lower control arms. You may also notice your tires wearing abnormally.
If your find your suspension in need of a refresh, FCP carries a few control arm kits to bring the "sports" back into your sedan or wagon!
4 Piece Control Arm Kits
The four-piece control arm kit offerings from FCP consist of the upper (or lower) control arms for the left and right sides. These are main components of your Audi’s multi link suspension. It’s generally a good idea to replace both the uppers (left and right side) at the same time and the lowers at the same time.
Audi VW Control Arm Kit Front Uppers 4-Piece (A4 A6 S4 Passat) - Meyle HD AUDICA4PIECE
If you are looking to purchase both the upper and lower replacements for both sides of your Audi, you will need to purchase two separate kits. One contains the uppers for both sides the other contains the lowers for both sides.
Full Suspension Kits
The full suspension kits will give you everything you need to refresh the front end on your Audi. Both sets of upper and lower (adjustable) control arms are included as well as sway bar links and tie rod ends. This is our most complete offering.
Audi Control Arm Kit Front 12-Piece (A4 A4 Quattro S4) - FCP & SPC B6OPTION3KITSP1
A note on SPC Adjustable Control Arms
Adjustable lower control arms can help maintain proper camber when you lower your vehicle. When a vehicle is lowered, negative camber will be introduced. This will cause the tires to wear unevenly and aggressively on the inside edge if the camber is great enough and the condition is left unattended. In order to compensate for this, the camber will need to be adjusted back to factory specifications. Having adjustable upper control arms will allow you to do this and preserve proper alignment so your tires wear as they should.
These adjustable upper arms are included in the full suspension kits.
Audi VW Adjustable Control Arm Kit Front Upper 4-Piece (A4 A6 Quattro Passat) - SPC-81355KIT
