Hey beyond, got a weird issue and curious on thoughts.
One of the rear shocks in my Q5 is shot and recommendation was to replace both. The shitty thing is the cost…$1000 each for the parts only because it has electronic control. So around 2500 to replace both sides including labour.
However I found an aftermarket shock by brand Bilstein which I ordered on rock auto. Much cheaper being around $400 for both vs $1500-$2000.
But now the problem with these is that for some reason, the shock piston rod doesn’t fit through the upper strut mount. It’s just a tad bit too wide to fit thru.
I thought it could have been the oem Audi mount being off, so decided to buy some aftermarket mounts in case they were wider. Only $50 and fast shipping. Unfortunately same thing, hole is too small even on these.
I did call bilstein and they are looking into it. But while I wait for them to inevitably tell me nothing useful, wondering if simply widening the hole would work. It has quite a bit of extra metal around, and I would need to widen it about a mm.
Here’s a pic of the upper shock mount in question
If widening it would work, anywhere professional in town I can take it to do that? Maybe a metal shop? I don’t have metal bits at home and also want it to be nice and smooth inside the bore.
Thanks in advance for any advice