VW Control Arm Kit (Front)

Firestar_3x

Firestar_3x

Firestar_3x

Caporegime
Joined
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Leafy Cheshire
One for the VW fanboys amoungst us :p

My car has done 108k so I'm going to refresh the front control arms (upper and lower), I'm after the full 13pcs kit, I've seen several kits for sale on the bay-o-e but I'm unsure if the quality can be trusted, does anyone have experience with any of these "OEM Quality" kits?

E-bay Link 1

E-bay Link 2

I'm thinking my best option might be GSF, but I expect prices to be very high, any other suggestions for UK stockists of these parts?

ap1313piecsuspension.jpg
 
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If they are too cheap to be true then I would be suspicious of quality, a lot of parts are being copied in china and can be pretty poor quality from what i've seen on various forums. I would steer clear.
 
Ricochet J said:
What significant advantages will you see in replacing the control arms?
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To stop the front ends new obsession with making knocking noises due to one of the upper control-arms being worn, all of the bushes will have taken a battering by now so for the cost i'm just going to change the lot, thats provided i can find a full kit that won't cost £400 and isn't made in China from secondrate aluminium.

beermonster said:
If they are too cheap to be true then I would be suspicious of quality, a lot of parts are being copied in china and can be pretty poor quality from what i've seen on various forums. I would steer clear.
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Thats exactly what i'm worried about cheap parts thats going to understeer me into a ditch on 3 wheels, i'm quite happy with my current understeer with all 4 wheels attached to the car :)
 
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The front end suspension is so industrial on a Passat - At even 100k - It's probably fine.
 
Mines clunking so at the very least the upper control arms need changing, loads of people have issues with these some last as little as 40k, depends which roads you drive on. I know the suspension is fine because thats all been changed its the bushes and balljoints that need sorting now :)
 
Indeed, its my understanding that only one or two people make the bushes so regardless of which OEM parts you buy these parts should be good, its the castings and quality of metal thats of worry.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Indeed, its my understanding that only one or two people make the bushes so regardless of which OEM parts you buy these parts should be good, its the castings and quality of metal thats of worry.
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If they are made of alloy that would be my foremost concern as well, though as Lopez mentioned recently, some of the rubber bushes in GSF suspension components don't seem to last anywhere near as long as OEM.
 
whats the VW price? i know this will sound fanboy-ish, but they are hard to beat for quality. febi items are just rubbish in my experience and youll be chaning them in a year. if you are going to non oe, try and go for lemforder. ive had good experiences with those (ie lasting more than a year)

youre right about the vw items though, they will do over 100k happily
 
Firestar as you possibly know I have a 52 plate Passat (albeit 2.0l :( 20V though! POWAR!)

So i'll be pretty interested in the kind of improvement you get, I was looking at changing the bushes as I read that would help refine the steering a little (or a lot...depending on wear).

I've started to do my own work on the car and its been a PITA figuring it all out, changed the front brake pads (just OEM ATE) and want to change the rears but need to get the bloody caliper piston tool (dont suppose anyone knows how much they are from VW? Or can lend me one if I pay postage :D)

But definitely for me its DIY over paying VW! So very interested in this and please put a few pictures of how you did it if you do :)

edit - have you found out how much the parts are from VW? Sometimes they surprise me, coming in at cheaper than ebay
 
Euro Carparts prices are looking quite expensive:

Lemförder Suspension Arm £55 x2
Lemförder Suspension Arm £71.30 x2
Lemförder Suspension Arm £35 x2
Lemförder Suspension Arm £38 x2

£398!

Can't find the droplinks

Dogbreath said:
If they are made of alloy that would be my foremost concern as well, though as Lopez mentioned recently, some of the rubber bushes in GSF suspension components don't seem to last anywhere near as long as OEM.
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The quality is a big worry, even though its a barge i do drive my car quite hard and if something snapped its going to be a nasty crash, i'd rather not have the worry that i've fitted possible substandard parts but i don't want to pay the no-doubt stupid VW prices, bush life isn't as much of a worry since i'm only planning to keep it another year or so.

Matt82 said:
whats the VW price? i know this will sound fanboy-ish, but they are hard to beat for quality. febi items are just rubbish in my experience and youll be chaning them in a year. if you are going to non oe, try and go for lemforder. ive had good experiences with those (ie lasting more than a year)

youre right about the vw items though, they will do over 100k happily
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Not had a quote from VW yet but i bet its not cheap, need to fireup ETKA and get the part numbers, it has outline prices on this so it should give me a good idea.

Only other option is to take my current arms off and fit some OEM bushes, only problem with this is its the balljoint on one of the arms which is an issue and tbh i can't be fudged to push new bushes in its a total pain.
 
Kappa said:
Firestar as you possibly know I have a 52 plate Passat (albeit 2.0l :( 20V though! POWAR!)edit - have you found out how much the parts are from VW? Sometimes they surprise me, coming in at cheaper than ebay

\snip
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I have some steering slop and its pulling slightly over bumps + clunks everynow and again, i've got a slight hole in one of the upper control arm dust boots and i think the balljoint is well on its way out, i've read that some people only get 40k out of a set of bushes since mine is running the original arms and bushes at 108k its worth seeing the difference.

Good on you for cracking on with some work, mine is a pain to work on tbh, the engine is really complex to get your head round (at first) and its a nest of pipework and wires.

Didn't find my front brakes too much of an issue, since i ripped them off and fitted new ones :p

I'm due to change my rears this weekend, we already have a windback tool but i need to check fitment!

Not checked VW prices yet, gonna check ETKA tonight then phone up tomorrow :)
 
Firestar_3x said:
Good on you for cracking on with some work, mine is a pain to work on tbh, the engine is really complex to get your head round (at first) and its a nest of pipework and wires.

Didn't find my front brakes too much of an issue, since i ripped them off and fitted new ones :p
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Lol it was the little things like the pad sensor cable and getting that off, was scared i was going to snap that little clip you push down (same with changing spark plugs), obviously first corner took an hour and the next was 15 minutes lol. But figuring it out as I go, ran about to 3 halfords looking for a bloody 7mm allen! :mad:

hmm.....maybe time to get a Haynes!
 
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if vw's prices are competative, let me know, i can order bits from VW in essex and get a discount (VAT off basically). im up and down to cheshire practically every week anyway.
 
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