Clunk after shock replacement
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AudiWorld Member
Joined: Dec 2002
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Clunk after shock replacement
I replaced my front factory shocks with Bilstein HDs, and now I'm trying to chase down a clunk on the left side on bumps. Hard to tell, but I think its happening on the extension stroke. I've checked the torque on every thing I could reach, and tried jacking under the control arm and looking and feeling for play. Nothing. The 3 bolts in the engine compartment are tight and the sway bar shows no play at the mount. Of course I can't see the top of the shock, but I'm sure I torqued it--and the spring's under compression even at full stroke, so there should be preload on the rod and hardware. Any ideas?
AudiWorld Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2003
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Check the steering rack bolt on the drivers side.....most times the passenger side one comes loose - luckily the driver side is in plain site whereas the passenger side is under the battery.....this may not be the cause, but easy to check. After i recently replaced my suspension components, my passenger side bolt came loose - it made an annoying clunking sound even my mechanic couldn't figure out, then i found a thread on AW about the same problem and was able to fix it myself thank god
Tech Guru
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Olney, MD
It is possibly the upper shock mount? When I replaced my shocks on the 2K4.2 the rear upper shock mounts went in less than 3-4K miles. The rod nut was banging on the aluminum mount when the rubber died. Maybe the fronts went on yours?
I used Koni sport shocks.
I used Koni sport shocks.
Tech Guru
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Olney, MD
Yes...and blue loctite should be used as well! Red is tougher to remove, ok I guess, since the bolts are easily removed/accessed with an impact wrench.
NOT on the upper shock rod nut, or Jesus nut. Just on the 3 bracket mounting bolts and on the upper mount bolts (two) that hold the mount to the bracket that holds the UCAs.
The loctite will also result in a higher clamping force since the loctite lubricates the threads.
But I use the same torque specification as Audi.
NOT on the upper shock rod nut, or Jesus nut. Just on the 3 bracket mounting bolts and on the upper mount bolts (two) that hold the mount to the bracket that holds the UCAs.
The loctite will also result in a higher clamping force since the loctite lubricates the threads.
But I use the same torque specification as Audi.
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Thread Starter
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That seemed the obvious place to look to me to, but all three bolts in the engine compartment are tight and the two at the top of the shock assembly seem OK (could just get an open-end wrench on them in place) and the threads protrude equally through the plate.
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