GSF droplinks ?

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 12 Jun 2007, 00:31

deian wrote:I downloaded the catalogue today, and i can't find the better one in there either... however... if you look online... it's there in the Suspension & Roadwheels section....

N42264 ANTI ROLL BAR DROP LINK XANTIA RP 6615> (1/95>) 18.50
N42264A ANTI ROLL BAR DROP LINK XANTIA RP6615>RP8141(1/95>98 ) 12.75
N42265 ANTI ROLL BAR DROP LINK XANTIA 98> 13.25
N42265A ANTIROLL BAR DROP LINK XAN 98>; 18.50

bBt as alan suggested, i shall try to grease mine, i took the wheel off once and just turned the drop link, and it stayed quiet for a bit, so grease sounds like a plan.

Thanks deian, you're a champ

N42264 it is then.

So why are they leaving out the more expensive better quality version of parts from their glossy pdf catalog then ?

Regards,
Simon

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 12 Jun 2007, 08:23

deian wrote:bBt as alan suggested, i shall try to grease mine, i took the wheel off once and just turned the drop link, and it stayed quiet for a bit, so grease sounds like a plan.

Looks like you and Alan are onto something here...

On the way home tonight the ride was quite fidgety at the front as it sometimes gets (for no apparent reason) so I decided to check my droplinks tonight to see if I could turn them...

The left hand one at first I couldn't turn by hand - the top joint was too tight, but after a bit of back and forth twisting it freed up reasonably well.

The right hand droplink was much worse though and was a big effort to turn at all and even after working it back and forth I could barely turn the top joint, I also noticed a big split in the boot in the top joint that wasn't there last time I checked it.

(so no doubt water will be getting into the joint by the bucketload seeing as its winter here)

I have noticed before that the top balljoints have a tendency to turn fully towards one direction (both joints were initially twisted completely one way as far as they can go) instead of floating freely and I've sometimes wondered whether the balljoint being fully rotated like this can cause some binding of the pivoting action of the joint even when the joint itself is relatively free ?

Seems like a poor design to have a right angle joint at one end, but have the other end be a straight joint - as there is nothing to centre the top balljoint near the middle of its rotation ?

Anyway I went for a drive and found that most of the "fidgeting" of the ride was gone - it was a lot smoother feeling, I also noticed more body roll around corners, and the steering seemed a bit lighter...(the steering on my Xantia has always seemed heavier than our other two) what didnt change though, is the clatter over broken surfaces, which I think is slack in the bottom balljoint of the droplink.

So it seems like there could be two problems at work at once - seizing/binding of the top balljoint, and slack in the bottom balljoint.

Even more reason to replace the droplinks and put plenty of grease in them from new!

Regards,
Simon

deian · Post by **deian** » 12 Jun 2007, 10:39

It was just by chance i noticed that twisting the top joint made it quiet for a bit, it was quite a difference, of course the boot seems to hav shrunk a bit and isn't as tight as it should be, so for now i will try greasing the links, like you, i suspect the bottom joint is worn and knocking.

I'm getting new front tyres today, as well as balancing 4 tyres and tracking, if i can get the drop links lubed it should be much better, i then need 4 spheres (not the strut ones), and then it should be heavenly to drive.

As for my spelling mistake on my quoted sentence, you could have corrected it for me, i look like a fool! Bad you Simon

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 13 Jun 2007, 03:20

I just spotted this on eBay, but doesn't seem such a big deal when compared with others.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-Xantia-C5 ... dZViewItem

Alan S

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 13 Jun 2007, 05:22

alan s wrote:I just spotted this on eBay, but doesn't seem such a big deal when compared with others.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-Xantia-C5 ... dZViewItem

Alan S

Hmm,

Interesting - once again the picture is not a Xantia droplink, unless the series 2 uses different droplinks than the series 1 ? That picture shows two right angle joints which face in opposite directions, while a Series 1 Xantia has a straight joint at the bottom end.

Can someone with a series 2 please comment on whether the droplink is the same design or different to a series 1 ? Thanks

(The plot thickens!)

Regards,
Simon

LeeDJC · Post by **LeeDJC** » 13 Jun 2007, 06:33

It must be a stock photo, or he's supplying the wrong item, as the drop link on my '99 Xantia is the same as the MK Is

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 14 Jun 2007, 12:04

Hmm,

So I ordered the droplinks from GSF through their website, (havn't ordered from them before) I got an automated confirmation email back straight away, but that was two days ago now and they havn't contacted me yet to confirm shipping costs (As I'm shipping to New Zealand) or answer my question about the brand of the droplinks ?

Do they normally take that long to get back to an online order ? Should I be chasing them up ? Thanks.

Regards,
Simon

mcgregor · Post by **mcgregor** » 14 Jun 2007, 12:44

That photo shows the same type as is fitted to my 2001 Xantia.

Post by **CitroJim** » 14 Jun 2007, 12:57

Mandrake wrote:Hmm,

So I ordered the droplinks from GSF through their website, (havn't ordered from them before) I got an automated confirmation email back straight away, but that was two days ago now and they havn't contacted me yet to confirm shipping costs (As I'm shipping to New Zealand) or answer my question about the brand of the droplinks ?

Do they normally take that long to get back to an online order ? Should I be chasing them up ? Thanks.

Regards,
Simon

Normally, if there is any question they ring but they may baulk at ringing NZ Simon

Otherwise, you get total silence from them until the parcel arrives.

They are very helpful on the 'phone so I'd be tempted to give them a quick call. I know it is dear but they answer quickly and don't use any infernal recordings that can rack up the costs.

Another thing is to send 'em a FAX if you have a FAX machine. I used to make heavy use of FAX for things like this when I lived in Australia. A FAX is much better than e-mail with guaranteed delivery and a certain authority about it that e-mail just does not have.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 14 Jun 2007, 20:56

citrojim wrote:Normally, if there is any question they ring but they may baulk at ringing NZ Simon

Otherwise, you get total silence from them until the parcel arrives.

Hi,

When you fill out the order form you can choose prefered method of contact email or phone, and I chose email. I don't expect them to ring me

It also says with any order outside the UK they'll contact you to confirm shipping costs before sending...

Regards,
Simon

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 14 Jun 2007, 21:31

Mandrake wrote:
citrojim wrote:Normally, if there is any question they ring but they may baulk at ringing NZ Simon

Otherwise, you get total silence from them until the parcel arrives.
Hi,

When you fill out the order form you can choose prefered method of contact email or phone, and I chose email. I don't expect them to ring me

It also says with any order outside the UK they'll contact you to confirm shipping costs before sending...

Regards,
Simon

Last time (years ago ...) I had goods sent from GSF, they were quite slow to react on the order. At the time they only had 1 (O-N-E) guy in the exports department to handle incoming orders from outside UK

My guess its not been much better since ...

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 15 Jun 2007, 11:55

RichardW wrote:A is alternative, and usually represents a cheaper (pattern) part. The online catalogue lists N42264 @ £18.50+VAT - these will (probably!) be the Lemforder ones I believe - worth an e-mail to them to make sure, and get the freight quote at the same time

Spot on!

Just got an email back, N42264 are the Lemforder ones, and the freight for a pair to NZ is £15, so the total price £52, which works out to about $140NZ for a pair, shipped, compared to $334 for a pair over here, via Citroen agents!

Thanks all, I look forward to fitting them and seeing what the results are....(yes I will grease the joints too Alan

)

Regards,
Simon

davek-uk · Post by **davek-uk** » 22 Jun 2007, 10:31

You'll notice a dramatic difference! I tried the cheap ones and they gave up after 18K miles. I changed to the Lemforder ones - greased - and, wow, what a difference. The ride was like a different car - and 13k miles later it still is. That's pretty good freight costs for half way around the world too.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 23 Jun 2007, 02:16

davek-uk wrote:You'll notice a dramatic difference! I tried the cheap ones and they gave up after 18K miles. I changed to the Lemforder ones - greased - and, wow, what a difference. The ride was like a different car - and 13k miles later it still is. That's pretty good freight costs for half way around the world too.

Thanks for the reassurance

They charged my credit card a few days ago, so hopefully they will arrive next week. So you greased yours before fitting - what sort of grease (if any?) was in them before you did ? And what did you use ?

Regards,
Simon

PS, if the poor ones lasted 18K miles and these have only done 13K miles so far, how do you know they'll outlast them?

deian · Post by **deian** » 23 Jun 2007, 11:56

If the difference is big then I will change mine asap too, mine are knocking on both sides now, REALLY annoying me. The smallest things annoy me, and I hear e everything wrong before anyone else does.