i need help! busted front end. a4

[tamadrmr26]

my brothers 96 a4 quattro broke something on the front driver side. he sent me a couple pictures but im not familiar with the steering/ suspension setup on his car. i know its a lot more complex than a normal car. looks like a tie-rod end? ball joint? hopefully not cont arm? im not sure. its sitting at a gas station near his school right now and i have to drive a few hours to get there and help him tomorrow night. if someone could identify the part based on these pictures it'd be a huge help. that way i can get the part and tools that i need and go try to fix it. thank you, any help is much apprectiated.

[M3R8]

I'm no mechanic, but it doesn't seem like a huge issue. To do repairs on this you better have the ability to safely lift the car though, otherwise it might be difficult.

[FiftyPence]

I think the OP mistook this forum for a generic Audi forum. I mean, first post and it's a question about an A4 repair on an R8 forum.

[KfabR8]

While this is an R8 forum, it was put in the Off Topic section so I'm happy to respond.

What we're seeing is a lower control arm rod end failure. It would appear that the ball section of the joint has left it's little housing.

I don't know if you can purchase just the rod end alone and then press it into the old control arm or not. You'll more than likely have to replace the whole arm.

If one of these has decided to let go, I'd be VERY wary of the others (I believe there are four on each side - two upper, two lower.)

Pull the wheel off and start tugging, pushing, pulling on the upright and see if there's even the slightest amount of play to be found. If there is, locate the other bad pieces and replace them ASAP. This is suspension failure and an extremely dangerous situation.