control arm rear bushing

My right bushing came apart. Can it be replaced without removing the control arm from the car? It's not the money, i just don't want to deal with all the rusted parts.

Are you talking about your LCA rear bushing?
If yes then as far as I know yes you do.
Your only talking 6bolts.
The hardest one is for the forward LCA bolt, don’t use an impact otherwise you can loosen up the captive nut in the sub frame, iffy does break loose then you need to cut an access panel in there to hold it then tack weld it in place....
May be a two hour job....
If it’s the rear beam axle bushing that can be done on the car.....just need the right tool...

vwdsmguy said:

My right bushing came apart. Can it be replaced without removing the control arm from the car? It's not the money, i just don't want to deal with all the rusted parts.

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You're gonna have to take the control arm out. If your bushing came apart, it's likely that the bushing housing (what the rubber is adhered to) is still in there. You'll need to press that out and press in a new bushing.

Or if you want to save a headache, IDParts sells theses:

https://www.idparts.com/control-complete-ball-joint-bushings-left-1j0407151c-46926hd-p-6179.html

Complete with ball joints and TT bushings. I've done it both ways, pressed the old bushing out and new ones in, and I'm currently running the ones linked above from ID. So far so good on the new complete control arms.

"HD ball joint", unknown brand of all parts on that lca... Not sure I'd trust that for longevity.

The control arms aren't that hard to remove. The passenger side lca can be a little trickier due to the movement restriction of the knuckle caused by the longer axle which doesn't angle as much. Removing the axle nut or tie rod end help, but they can easily become a whole other job altogether, especially a rusted and spinning tie rod end.

But to answer your question, the lca needs to come out to press new bushings in.

snakeye said:

"HD ball joint", unknown brand of all parts on that lca... Not sure I'd trust that for longevity.
The control arms aren't that hard to remove. The passenger side lca can be a little trickier due to the movement restriction of the knuckle caused by the longer axle which doesn't angle as much. Removing the axle nut or tie rod end help, but they can easily become a whole other job altogether, especially a rusted and spinning tie rod end.
But to answer your question, the lca needs to come out to press new bushings in.

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Do some research on them. They are an OE supplier of a lot of suspension parts, even from VW. I had a few lengthy email conversations with the company (Spidan/GKN) because I had all kinds of questions for them. The guys at IDParts are running them in their personal TDIs with no issues. I also had a few conversations with them about these setups. They don't carry junk for our cars either...

The track control arm (there is no "lower") needs to come out to replace the compliance bushing. It is a pretty easy job. Although in the rust belt, you may have to fight some more things. I'd be prepared for that.

KrashDH said:

Do some research on them. They are an OE supplier of a lot of suspension parts, even from VW. I had a few lengthy email conversations with the company (Spidan/GKN) because I had all kinds of questions for them. The guys at IDParts are running them in their personal TDIs with no issues. I also had a few conversations with them about these setups. They don't carry junk for our cars either...

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I have the complete IDParts one in my car currently for the past year. So far so good.

I just replaced my front LCA bushings after hitting a big pot hole that destroyed a tire and separated the passenger side rear bushing. The metal bushing was completely detached from the rubber. I have a spare set of lower control arms so I just ordered the Spidan/GKN bushings and ball joints from idparts, pressed them in the spare arms and installed them.

I’m in the rust belt so I struggled with the captive nuts, I had to cut a door in each side and grind the head off the front bolt and push the bolt out the door.

Most A4 and A5 platform cars have Vel-Con drive axles from the factory, although GKN-Lobro is another OEM supplier.

I use a drill with a steel drill bit to loosen up center metal for removal. Then I use an air die grinder with a carbide burr to cut a slice across the bushing, rubber first then weaken plastic or aluminium/steel outside of bushing. Grind till you can push the outside layer in with screwdriver. Hammer bushing out. Clean inside of trail arm lube with grease. New bushing get out of the freezer and hammer into place.
Helps if you have a pipe or socket that us the same size as bushing.
Does anyone know how the new bushing is supposed to be positioned with thick rubber top and bottom or side to side?

Cheers