[urq] Upper front strut mounts : the blues are not that bad...

[louis-alain.richard at sympatico.ca]

In the past, we collectively accused Audi of producing sub-par parts wrt the
upper strut months, blue coloured (857 412 323 B). 

Some were seeing a dead bearing, some complained about squished rubber.

In my case, the mounts were on the car for not that long, and one was indeed
apparently shot. Replacement revealed that this was not the case this time.
It was the upper spring perch (857 412 111 B) that was destroyed and rubbing
on the rubber part of the mount, hence the “boing” noise when turning the
steering wheel.

Closer inspection of the “blues” confirmed they were not bad at all, but
since I had 2 new in my parts bin, and it took us so long to replace the
broken perch, newer bits were installed. The lightly used one will be
perfect for the rear when time comes.

We, Geraint and I, installed a not-as-bad old spring perch that was salvaged
from Brady’s 4000Q parts car, but I’m quite sure this one will not last
another 25 years. 

For me in Canada, the 857 412 111B is 107 $CDN, quite expensive in my book,
and there is only 1 in all North America. 

Is there another solution ? 

Louis-Alain
1983 Quattro