Xantia P Bushes

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xantiasmiff
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Xantia P Bushes

Post by xantiasmiff »

Hi All, It seems to be one problem after another recently on my Hdi Xantia. So far (with the help of this splendid forum) i have replaced both drop-links, 2 trackrod ends,1 trackrod and a bottom balljoint. Now i have found excessive play in both P Bushes. Can somebody please tell me, is it a case of removing the wishbone and replacing the bush, or is there more to it. (Usually the case with a Xantia :lol: )
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Post by addo »

That's about it, the main suggestion I have being to disconnect the dogbone first, once you have the front elevated and wheels off.

It's important to line up the new rear bush in matching orientation (rotation about its spindle, or "clocking").

The only bolt you can fully torque before it hits the floor again, is the forward bolt for the rear bush. Until you have performed a couple of (standing) hydraulic ups and downs, bounced the car, rolled it back and forth a few feet, lowered then raised it to normal height again, don't torque down the front eye bush bolt or the rear bush bolt.
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by CitroJim »

Getting the old 'P' bushes off can be fun.

The best way is to lay the wishbone o the ground, hold it under foot and drive the old bush off with a cold chisel and biiiig hammer. If this fails then carefully cut away the outer and very carefully angel grind the inner sleeve lengthways until it can be split off. be careful not to nick the underlying wishbone...

Clean the shaft of the wishbone until it is spotless, oil it lightly and after confirming alignment very carefully, drive the new 'P' bush home. Use a socket as a mandrel for the last few mm.

Adam, good point about final tightens once Citarobics have been done...
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by citronut »

i agree with Adam on final tightenning, but it is only neccersery to do this for the front most are bush, as the hole bush has a rotating action, so the centre sleave is locked by the bolt and in this case it has to be finaly tightend with the arm laying in its normal suspension hight line,

with the P bush the main point is to mount it onto the spigot of the arm in the correct oriantation, the mounting to the sub frame is not going to affect its line in any way if tightend before the arm is in its normal hight line,

regards malcolm
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Post by addo »

I use the looseness of that rearmost bolt to pull the anti roll bar well down and clear. Once the car is "tacked" back together I cannot be sure the ARB is correctly lined up until the suspension is definitely settled. Leaving it a couple of full turns clear means it will settle right.
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by citronut »

yes Adam but the anti roll bar is ment to be able to rotate in its bush's, so there should be no need to leave it loose to settle,

regards malcolm
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by xantiasmiff »

Thanks for all your advice, really appreciate it. Jim dont think the P bushes will take to much persuasion to come off as there is so much play in them. My car steers like a kids homemade go-cart at the moment !! Im going to renew bothfront pivot bushes at the same time, are these just a case of push in and out ? Also, is it really neccesary to remove the dog bone?. No mention of this in the BOL.
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by Chris570 »

xantiasmiff wrote:Thanks for all your advice, really appreciate it. Jim dont think the P bushes will take to much persuasion to come off as there is so much play in them. My car steers like a kids homemade go-cart at the moment !! Im going to renew bothfront pivot bushes at the same time, are these just a case of push in and out ? Also, is it really neccesary to remove the dog bone?. No mention of this in the BOL.
I didnt bother to remove it when i did both my p bushes at the same time, but its not a bad idea really, considering that the ARB will be loose once both wishbones are out and you could accidentally pull the arb over to one side and break the dog bone.

If the p bushes fall apart as you remove them the easiest method (in my opinion) is to get an angle grinder out and cut a slot in the inner bush so that it comes off the wishbone easier but as Jim said be bloody careful you dont damage the wishbone.
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xantiasmiff
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by xantiasmiff »

Thanks Chris. Im going to do one side at a time , so thinkin i will be ok with the arb. Ive just ordered 2 new wishbones and 2 front pivot bushes from gsf so should make it a bit easier. Chickened out just renewing the P Bushes after some thought. Just wondering whats next to go?
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by CitroJim »

xantiasmiff wrote:My car steers like a kids homemade go-cart at the moment !!
I know what you mean :lol: :lol: :lol: Mine was bunny hopping round corners..

This is my old bushes:

Image

One final tip or three: no need to pop the dog bone at all. You'll find if your old bushes are bad that the wishbone will fall out and leave the remains of the old P bush behind. It can be wriggled out easy. Getting the newly bushed wishbone back in is a fiddle but you can do it by CAREFULLY jacking up the hub with the jack cup on the edge of the brake disc just high enough so the wishbone and new bush can pop back in. Go just high enough and no more or you do risk popping the dog bone as the ARB is effectively unsupported at one end. Effectively you have to jack the hub just below normal ride height. This method also obviates any need to disconnect a drop link...

A good tip to check bush alignment is to hold a 12" steel rule against the top stud plate (the one with the two holes in it) and when correctly alighed on the wishbone the rule will be in line with the little ridge on the outside of the front bush boss. I can't now but if it'll help I can take a picture of what I mean on a spare wishbone I have with a bush still in place.

I too agree do one side at a time and if you do hopelessly loose alignment you have the other side still good to act as a guide...
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Re: Xantia P Bushes

Post by xantiasmiff »

Thanks for the info Jim. Managed to do one side today but i have to say it was a bit of a struggle. I bought two new lower arms which came complete with bushes so it was just a case of out with the old and in with the new. Or so i thought. The removal of the lower arm was straight forward, but i couldnt, for the life of me, persuade the new one to play ball. The problem i had was the arb getting in the way. Anyway several hours and quite a few choice words later ,it slotted into position. Any tips for fitting the other arm would be greatly appreciated. Anyone else found this a problem, or is it me?
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