Everton

Working on front end since Thursday afternoon. Plan was to replace all the control arms, TRE, shocks, outer CV joints. I think since everything is apart I’ll take the wheel bearing housing/upright to a local Audi garage and have new wheel bearings pressed in. I was going to forgo the wheel bearing replacement until I unfortunately dropped the upright and now there is definite play in the wheel hub. As with many of these adventures previously recorded the first challenge was that damn pinch bolt. Tried everything that was been discussed on this forum, but had to resort to drilling it out. Well needless to say I got it drilled out (that took 1.5 days) but not exactly concentric with the original bolt line. Fortunately my misalignment still allows the upper control arm ball joints to engage, but they will come out with the bolt just inserted (not torqued). It is called a “pinch bolt” for a reason, correct? Should I be concerned?

Question #2: Don’t have VAG 3353 to release the 18mm nut connecting the shock to the upper strut mount. (I do have impact tools) Is the 18mm deep socket with vice grip pliers and 8mm allen the best option here? More importantly, how the hell do I maintain an 11 degree angle between the lower shock mount and the two bolts on the upper spring seat?

I consider myself a pretty god DIY guy, doing most of the repair/maintenance on my cars for the last 25 years. I at times feel so overwhelmed having to deal with all the special tools required for Audi/VW; something like a shock replacement should be pretty simple with basic DIY tools.

4Driver4

I'd replace the upright. Not safe. If the ball joints pop off, you are waaay off.

MikekiM@PureMS

1. With the pinch bolt in, it should be impossible for the upper ball joints of the control arms to come out. While it's a pinch bolt, the mere fact of it being in place is enough to prevent the ball joints from coming out of the upright.

2. The 11* is an estimate, if you're close enough it's usually good.
An impact gun on that top nut is not recommended as you can wear out the shock, and of course you're not guaranteed that the nut is ever tight, or that it can become too tight and even strip the threads.
I'm told some spark plug sockets can work, and allow you to hold the center shaft with an allen key while tightening the nut.

Or you can make a tool like what we've done here.

Everton

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have already started my search for a new upright. The job would already be done if the pinch bolt would come out as it should. Since the dealer has a VAG tool to deal with this design issue, it maybe prudent to take cars like mine, (in service in areas exposed to winters and the associated salt) to the dealer and have them extract it. I would assume that cost can’t come close to that of a new upright. With that bolt loose, the rest of the job is relatively easy as a DIY project.

jkautz55

When first reading your post I thought that I must had written it myself when I was drunk or something and forgotten about it, because your pinch bolt saga is exacltly the crap i've been dealing with lately.

-With 2 straight days of failed attempts to remove the bolt and numerous outbursts of profanity for the neighborhood to hear, my achievements could be measured by;
1.) 1 threat to call the cops for noise complaints from my elderly neighbor; 2.) 3 **** stains my dog left on my carpet (she does that when people raise their voices around her).

-So I decided just to cut the bitch' bolt out with a grinder (the bolt was stuck in the middle section of the knuckle joint). I believe that the knuckle joints' structural integrity will stay the same because the pinch bolt will still "pinch" the joint just as tight as before. You can then weld or even use JB weld to replace the joints' cutout section if you want. Like Mikekim explained below the only purpose the pinch bolt serves is to pull both ends together against the center portion of the knuckle joint. A tight fit around the circumferance of the bolt just attracts corrosion for those of us lucky enough to live in wintery climates.

**I plan on having the other work on the car finished this week. I'll report back if my theory is incorrect-GL

oh yeah-i'm in a b5 s4 avant