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For a while I have heard a knocking noise from my left front wheel when going over a bump in the road. My repair shop found nothing, even vehicle inspection (I’m in the EU) had no complaints related to the suspension.

Recently, on a longer trip, I suddenly heard a noise as if something hard was banging against my underfloor. I pulled out and noticed the top bolt from the stabilizer link on the left front wheel was missing. This was 100 km from where I planned to spend the night, so I continued there, driving cautiously, and did not notice any handling issues. I then called roadside assistance to the motel and asked if I could continue to my destination (about 600 km away) or if they recommended I get it fixed immediately. They recommended fixing it immediately, and were able to install a new bolt the same day.

I have heard reports of people noticing just “by accident” that the entire stabilizer link was missing, which I would expect to cause similar issues as a missing bolt.

Out of curiosity, my question is: what would have been the risk, had I decided to continue my trip without the stabilizer bolt? Wheel being slightly wobblier than normal, especially under high speeds? Or other handling issues? Would I have risked further damage to the car, or maybe even a dangerous situation (such as a wheel coming off or becoming unsteerable)?

Car is a 2005 Audi A4.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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user149408
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2 Answers2

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The job of a stabilizer is to make the car handle better. Used to be called a "sway bar", and reduces the vehicles tendency to roll in turns. It's not the safest thing in the world to drive without one (and driving with a missing link bolt is basically the same as not having one), and if you were to drive it in a high performance manner around tight turns, you might notice it is a lot harder to control etc. and you might have even wrecked. But driving normally, not a serious safety issue IMHO.

Thomas Carlisle
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While I agree with @ThomasCarlisle's answer for the most part, where I differ is the last part. If you are driving flat and straight with minor curves and such, the handling and control isn't going to be a big thing. The problem comes in when you need to do something drastic, like swerve to miss another vehicle or something in the road. This is when you'd really tell the difference and it could potentially put you into a really bad situation.

Overall, was it absolutely necessary to get it done that moment? Probably not, but you'd wanted to have it done at your earliest opportunity.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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