An 18" 1/2 drive breaker bar has always been enough for me to remove the end axle bolt. A tip - tap the Allen bit into the bolt to be sure it's in straight and true. You do not wanna have to drill out that bolt if you round it. As for the size, all the cars I've done have had 17mm Allen bolts up front and 14mm in the rear. I know some cars had a large hex bolt or nut but I've never seen anything larger than a 17mm Allen - you should be good.

 

Would this torch be sufficient for heating her up if she's stubborn?

 

Yessir, I learned that lesson well when I stripped one of the T25 torx bolts on my tranny pan because I wasn't careful enough to get the bit in all the way first. That was a PITA to get out after I did that!

 

Lowe's sells the same kit with a yellow map gas cylinder. That's the one you'll want.

 

Thanks senor devil. Your first-class advice is always appreciated.

 

One last question regarding the inner tie rod end boot. Does anyone have any words of wisdom on what kind of clamp to use to replace the large inner clamp on the boot? Is it possible to use a traditional hose clamp that uses a phillips screwdriver? There's doesn't doesn't appear to be a lot of room to maneuver in there, as usual with Audi.

I saw a video on youtube where the mechanic said you could use a zip tie on both ends instead of clamps. I'm not so sure I want to try that, but if anyone has and can verify that it works, I'd be willing to try it.

 

^^^^^

 

Thanks, Ian! That's a great idea to use the inner tie rod tool as an extension.

I'm going to bite the bullet and order a couple of new boots from Blauparts in case mine are in bad shape. The kit comes with the clamps and steering wheel rack o-ring, too.

Unfortunately, there were a relatively small number of A4's that have 10" boots instead of the normal 7.5" boots. I'm going to order the 7.5" boots and hope that mine wasn't one of the few.

 

7.5's should be just fine.. Thinking back on my car I don't think they were 10" boots. It's really not that bad of a job. One of the first steps is the pinch bolt, so youll know pretty quickly whether or not it's going to be a pain.


A side note about the ball joint separator tools.. I had never used them before so I didn't really know what was going to happen, but For the lowers, it was a loud and violent separation, from the lower arms to the knuckle. I thought i broke something the 1st couple times. You keep cranking and cranking on it and eventually it pops off. It's a little scary. I wish I had known before hand.

Also, out of the lower arms, the widest sections of the tapered ends of the balljoints, theres 1 that is smaller than the other. You can use the ball joint separator for the small one, but you'll have to use the pitman arm puller for the wider one. Hopefully this helps your job go a bit more quickly than mine did.

 

You are correct, sir. My pinchbolts look plenty rusted, even though I know that they've been replaced within the last three years. I have had various single control arms replaced by the dealer.

Even so, they look rusted. No doubt from our lovely Minnesota winters.

I'm applying liberal doses of PB Blaster to them daily to try to help. But let's say that they don't move when the time comes.

I went to Lowe's last night and purchased a MAPP gas torch, a 4lb sledge hammer and a punch set.

If the pinch bolts don't move, I assume I try to heat them up with the torch in order to break the rust free. If that doesn't work, do I just break off the bolt head and the nut, then use the punch & hammer combo to pound the thing out? Is the pinch bolt threaded? If it is threaded, will a punch work on a threaded bolt?

I figured it's better to talk about this in advance, so that I don't have to post a frantic help post on Friday morning. Also, I think this thread could be very informative to others who are thinking of tacking this job themselves.