Xantia droplink

Unread post by **Morten** » 27 Dec 2007, 23:30

Hi, what is the average time/milage your droplink last before they are worn out (rattling)? I have been changing them after 9-24 months, and I'm looking for a solution that last longer. I bougt the current droplinks from GSF. The quality is poor, the rubber is gone after approx 1 year, and are now worn out. Anyone in the forum with a good solution that last more than 2 years?

Xantia '94 8V (10mm droplinks). 15'-20'km a year

Morten

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 28 Dec 2007, 02:54

Lube the new ones with extra grease.
Its possible to remove the steel ring holding the rubber, then pull back the rubber and inject as much grease as possible in the joint and under the rubber.
Give the joint a good work-out to spread the grease.

Use any standard CVjoint/bearing grease.

Now the drop link will last a lot longer. If you remember to service the droplinks with fresh grease now & then - then they last forever.

davek-uk · Unread post by **davek-uk** » 07 Jan 2008, 14:58

Sorry I'm so late here Morten, but if it doesn't help you it may help others

GSF sell two different makes of droplinks, one a lot cheaper than the others. I've had the cheap ones fail at around 18k miles. The expensive ones (Lemforder) were much better and I greased them before fitting - even though they were greased already. They have been going for 21k now and still feel supple.

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 07 Jan 2008, 17:55

I have only changed two pairs on my XMs in over 10 years at about 20k per year. They must be very poor quality replacements.

Unread post by **xantia_v6** » 07 Jan 2008, 20:25

I have had 2 sets droplinks that lasted less than 10,000 miles each, one was GSF, the other was supplied and fitted by a Citroen specialist.

I have had 2 pairs of droplinks that have lasted 50,000 (until I sold the car) and 60,000 (still going strong). These were both genuine citroen parts.

Make your choice.

Unread post by **Morten** » 29 Jan 2008, 21:59

I have tried the genuine Citroen droplinks and they have lasted longer than non genuine droplinks. But the price for the genuine one is so high, that it is worth the try to use non genuine. I think I will try Anders DK's solution with grease and see if that can extend the lifetime of the droplinks. Thanks for all the feedback!

slim123 · Unread post by **slim123** » 29 Jan 2008, 22:58

In the past I have used several different makes, as allways trying to find a cheaper fix (dont we all)

First line.....seem to last ok
Quinten Hazel.....Pants!!!!
OE Citroen.....Much much better
Lemforder......These are OE Citroen without the expensive bag.

Greasing it is not realy an option, as the grease will only sit under the gaiter and not get to the back of the ball, the ball part of the joint is pushed into a very tight fitting plastic (poss ptfe) socket from the rear. If you have a look at a greasable joint as found fitted to most 4x4 cars, the grease nipple is allways behind the ball, this is the only way to grease these joints, you build up a pressure of grease and push the old grease out through the front, you will never be able to get any pressure through the front end.

Go for the Lemforder they make these joints for Citroen and several other car manufacturers, if you take a new OE part out of the bag and look at it, you will find a little owl stamped into it, this owl is the lemforder symbol, I guess that it must be the Citroen bags that cost so much!!

Regards
Slim.

oscarloco · Unread post by **oscarloco** » 29 Jan 2008, 23:13

xantia_v6 wrote:I have had 2 sets droplinks that lasted less than 10,000 miles each, one was GSF, the other was supplied and fitted by a Citroen specialist.

I have had 2 pairs of droplinks that have lasted 50,000 (until I sold the car) and 60,000 (still going strong). These were both genuine citroen parts.

Make your choice.

I agree on this. I bought Citroen original spares (well, Peugeot original) and they are now 40,000 km and everything is OK, even tough the road to my house seems like a stretch of lunar landscape.

But I also bought 2 balljoints from Citispares and they lasted about 15,000 km. And "what a surprise", they were dry of grease.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 30 Jan 2008, 07:49

I bought a pair of drop links from my local factors, unmarked but suspected to be firstline or QH, it started knocking again within 1000 miles! Is this unheard of? I dont want to buy more links only to find its something like the balljoints or wishbone bushes.

Unread post by **Morten** » 31 Jan 2008, 18:11

Is it possible to order Lemforder from a web shop, that ships international?

Morten

slim123 wrote:In the past I have used several different makes, as allways trying to find a cheaper fix (dont we all)

First line.....seem to last ok
Quinten Hazel.....Pants!!!!
OE Citroen.....Much much better
Lemforder......These are OE Citroen without the expensive bag.

Greasing it is not realy an option, as the grease will only sit under the gaiter and not get to the back of the ball, the ball part of the joint is pushed into a very tight fitting plastic (poss ptfe) socket from the rear. If you have a look at a greasable joint as found fitted to most 4x4 cars, the grease nipple is allways behind the ball, this is the only way to grease these joints, you build up a pressure of grease and push the old grease out through the front, you will never be able to get any pressure through the front end.

Go for the Lemforder they make these joints for Citroen and several other car manufacturers, if you take a new OE part out of the bag and look at it, you will find a little owl stamped into it, this owl is the lemforder symbol, I guess that it must be the Citroen bags that cost so much!!

Regards
Slim.