Front suspension final torque - which fasteners?

[STDOUBT]

FINALLY get to refresh my front end stuff this weekend!
Been driving around with a cracked rear CA bushing for waaay too long.
Replacing the control arms (the pre-built Audi TT ones from IDparts), and struts.
Been reading how-to's but they aren't very specific about which fasteners need their final torque done with the wheels on the ground.
I'm pretty confused. If I had to guess, I'd say the only ones would be the strut's top nuts?
Somebody throw me a clue, please, I really need to not screw this up.

 

[Brett San Diego]

Any bolts that hold bushings that rotate with the articulation of the control arm. In this case, only the front control arm bushing bolts. You want the bushing to be in a neutral position when the car is at normal ride height so the bushing is not overly stressed in either direction when the control arm travels up and down from static ride height. Or, put another way, you don't want any pre-load on the bushing.

There's not much room to work with the wheels on the ground, so an easier way can be to put a jack under the control arm and jack up the control arm (once the new strut is fully bolted in place) until that side of the car just starts to lift off the jack stand you have it on. You are using jack stands, right? Be safe.

Brett

 

[Lug_Nut]

The lower control arm is not intended to support a vertical load. Think about that. The weight of the car is on the strut assembly, pressing on the hub carrier, the wheel bearing, the hub, the wheel, the tire. Supporting the car on the tire is more appropriate. I use drive-up ramps when I need to tighten the new bushings.
That said, I'll often jack from the LCA because it's convenient for winter tire change over, but it's not 'right'.

When jacking from the LCA, keep the jack as close to the tire as possible. This will more closely approximate the in-operation LCA angle.

 

[Zak99b5]

I put the jack under the ball joint to raise it when tightening that front LCA bushing. It doesn't really carry a load when the car is on the ground (it's through the strut to the tire as lug nut says), but you're just trying to get the arm to apporximate ride-height. And just enough to start taking the weight off the jack stand at that corner.

 

[BobnOH]

For most of those big fasteners you can use a general torque table for the type fastener you use.
frequently asked torque specs

 

[Brett San Diego]

I put the jack under the ball joint to raise it when tightening that front LCA bushing. It doesn't really carry a load when the car is on the ground (it's through the strut to the tire as lug nut says), but you're just trying to get the arm to apporximate ride-height. And just enough to start taking the weight off the jack stand at that corner.

Yes, under the ball joint is more precise. Don't put a jack in the middle of the control arm to lift the car.

Brett

 

[STDOUBT]

Big Thank you, everyone.
Also, I thought I'd share, I found these on ebay - supposedly from the same model year GTI V6.
My '03's stock front springs are 1green2pink 149 lbs/in
These 2blue3white are Sport version at 159 lbs/in
BTW when I bought my struts, I was trying to avoid the TC's since I heard a lot of harshness stories.
Ended up buying Bilstein B4's. so.....yeah lol.
Tempted to use these springs but will probably just re-use my originals - 99% sure they're all good.
They were pretty cheap

Does red mean "top"?

Surface rust - still gonna run these some day gonna de-rust them and do some machine oil or sth.

 

[Zak99b5]

Nice. I'd run those springs. Probably sport-type running gear. Only the fronts really have an orientation. Rears you can install either way, but usually the paint code is near the bottom from the factory if you're OCD.

Lol on the B4s. Rears are more important for comfort, so if you hate them after a bit you can easily swap those out with better.

I just ordered Koni Oranges (Str.T) and Neuspeed SofSport springs (minimal lowering, 13mm). Also proper-sized front sway bar mounts and brackets (ordered 21mm last summer) to get rid of the occasional clunking. Also going to install rear beam bushings (whiteline).

So I'll have all new(ish) complete suspension--LCAs, BJs, struts, springs, mounts, bushings, & bearings.

 

[STDOUBT]

Thanks, Zak!
I think I will use these "new" springs. Hopefully they will tame the TC's without beating them to a pulp.
Sport springs with non-sport struts - what could possibly go wrong!
Thanks for the info on the rears - had no idea about that!

 

[Genesis]

BTW the front control arm bolt is one that I don't see in the "all the torque specs" lists...... the rear ones are there. Anyone got it handy?

 

[snakeye]

Out of convenience I've been jacking up my car at the control arms a lot lately, with a hockey puck inbetween. It doesn't do any damage from what I can tell. Look where the sway bar is bolted onto the arm. What kind of force do you think that puts right into the middle of it as you roll over bumps and potholes? A jack is a thousand times more gentle.

 

[Brett San Diego]

Out of convenience I've been jacking up my car at the control arms a lot lately, with a hockey puck inbetween. It doesn't do any damage from what I can tell. Look where the sway bar is bolted onto the arm. What kind of force do you think that puts right into the middle of it as you roll over bumps and potholes? A jack is a thousand times more gentle.

The lion's share of the weight of the vehicle is supported by the springs. Yes, the sway bar delivers some incremental force, but I don't see that anywhere near the full weight of one of the front corners of the vehicle when most of the weight of the vehicle is already supported by the spring.

Brett

 

[STDOUBT]

BTW the front control arm bolt is one that I don't see in the "all the torque specs" lists...... the rear ones are there. Anyone got it handy?

Bentley says: Always replace. Tighten to 70 Nm (52 ft-lb) + 1/4 turn (90 degrees).
Same as the rear CA bolt.

 

[Genesis]

Thank you; yes, I have new (and new nuts for the rears) -- BTW, "self-locking" my butt, one of them I had to counter-hold and its loads of fun getting a wrench in there. Figured the front MIGHT be the same torque but since I didn't have it in the table and a mistake there means potentially stripping or breaking free the captive nut in the subframe....

 

[STDOUBT]

potentially stripping or breaking free the captive nut in the subframe....

Yes. Stuff of nightmares lol. I'm facing that possibility tomorrow! Luckily I'm working at a shop where the owner would be able to get a weld in there if the worst happens. Hopefully these Spidan-GTK prefabs are up to standards.

 

[Genesis]

Thanks -- that's a nice addition page for my collection on torque specs...

Fortunately mine came apart without problems; I refuse to rattle-loosen bolts that might be subject to that kind of risk although I don't know if it really helps..... what makes it more-fun on my daughter's car is that it has a Panzer plate on it, so there's a rivnut right where you'd want to "create" access too. (As an aside that panzer plate looks like its been through a war; I suspect there would have been several oil pan replacements by now with good possibility of an engine wipe-out were it not on the car....)