C5 rear suspension bush

[addo]

If you can get the rear up on ramps, you'll have half a chance at seeing the various items.

However - refer back to the photograph I posted. If you look carefully, there are visible the strut pushrod pins, the trailing arms, the anti roll bar (stripe of blue paint), the height corrector linkage, the offside pivot bolt, the offside caliper and backing plate. The exploded diagrams don't work like engineering views; they're made to explain all the bits rather than specifically show their interdependence.

[Jeff]

Are the radius arm bearings difficult to remove and refit?
Could they be pulled back in by tightening nuts on a threaded bar?

[addo]

Out of necessity they are a tight pressed fit. Citroën will have chosen a grade of interference fit that means the bearings will disintegrate before the arm releases their shells.

On a Xantia, releasing the anti roll bar bolts is an extra niggle - C5 may well be the same.

For DIY the other two pointers would be to sink the car fully before powering down, and to disconnect (unclip) the height corrector link as first operation.

[Jeff]

I suppose the old bearings can just be knocked out with a thin iron rod/bar from each side after removing the guide tube.

[addo]

No, they are too tight for that. You will need a bead of weld on the inner running surface, or slot them with a cutoff wheel then split with cold chisel.

[Jeff]

Thanks addo, and putting the new bearings back in, can they be done on the floor under the car?

[addo]

Not practically. The simplest way to "split your difference" with costs is probably to strip the arms off the car, chop out the old bearings, then find someone with press and a box of mandrels/oddments to seat the new bearings. You can do one at a time, the deal is (besides having the car fully low on ramps with battery off) you need to unclip the corrector link each occasion, and remove the anti-roll bar each time.

The bearings are in really tight because there are massive loads on them during driving, and it MUST NOT fail in a bad way, ever. "Safe" failure for a bearing is the innards turning to gravel, getting noisy as hell and eventually fusing together. If you don't hear or feel this when its happening, you shouldn't be driving. Dangerous failure is when an assembly spits out a shell, because this causes rapid and unpredictable changes in behaviour - parts must be engineered so this cannot occur under almost any circumstance.

[Jeff]

At the moment I just hear the knock when going over very uneven surfaces, I have gone slowly over a speed hump and theres no metallic knock but when driving over utility companies road repairs the odd bad one causes the knock. Do you thing this is dangerous at the moment?

[addo]

No, not really. An example of dangerous failure is when a drop link breaks during hard cornering.

[Jeff]

The repair sounds very specialised work even for an indy.

[Jeff]

Hi, Please does anyone know if metallic clonk / knocking sound can be caused by a missing suspension rebound block? (situated on top of radius arm).

[Jeff]

It was a radius arm bearing that caused the knocking. The outer ring was worn like it was "rippled" by the bearings. This is down to poor design as a grease nipple would prevent this problem.

Thanks everyone for your advice

[addo]

The fault is actually the ratio of bearing circumference to operating range of movement. The bearings never move enough for the race to rotate and even up the wear. Greasing helps keep water out but isn't a lifesaver otherwise.

[citronut]

The fault is actually the ratio of bearing circumference to operating range of movement. The bearings never move enough for the race to rotate and even up the wear. Greasing helps keep water out but isn't a lifesaver otherwise.

also i belive it is very difficult to get the bearing pre/load correct, so this tends to be more luck than accurate measuring/gauging,

i have quite often seen them with no shimming at all

[Stickyfinger]

The fault is actually the ratio of bearing circumference to operating range of movement. The bearings never move enough for the race to rotate and even up the wear. Greasing helps keep water out but isn't a lifesaver otherwise.

Would an increased number of Citroen Aerobic sessions assist in the distribution of lubricant and rotation of the bearings ? and is there a retro fit way to instal grease nipples ?