Newbie Xantia Suspension Arms and Antiroll bars replacement

[KennyW]

Danny,

FYI, when I changed my lower ball joint on previous Xant I took the suspension strut off the car and removed the ball joint in a vice with judicial use of heat. They are a pig of job to do

Kenny

[danny13]

£80, 90 minutes and a mobile mechanic later, job done. Lump hammer seemed the tool of choice for splitting the taper on the lower ball joint and angle grinder for the droplinks. A crowbar will also be added to my shopping list. MOT booked for 4pm this evening so fingers crossed the old girl will sail through. Cheers for all the advice and help gents.

[sparksie]

Yes, lump hammer was my second choice, when my S P ball joint splitter died! All it achieved was helping me vent some spleen.
I'd say yours were probably not at the tougher end of the scale, for a Xantia.
With any other marque you care to mention, four or five good thumps will shock the taper free. Not on the Xantia. I kept belting it until I got tired.
Even after that, there was significant pressure on the hydraulic puller before it yielded, with an almighty bang.
Decent splitters are not cheap, so many mechanics use the "shock it free" method, as I did myself for years. I always feel self conscious using lump hammers on customer's cars when they're watching, though. A new splitter is on the shopping list for next time there's any spare cash!
There are a couple of DIY ones around, that we have for odd-ball cases where the professional tool won't fit, or there's no room to swing the hammer, but they're not up to the job of day-to-day use.
Can't beat the angle grinder for removing scrap metal from a car. Definitely an essential tool and for these kind of jobs, the bargain warehouse cheapy is perfectly acceptable. Worth getting cutting discs for cutting and grinding discs for grinding and probably worth avoiding the really cheap ones, but no reason not to get the cheapest grinder and throw it away when it stops working!
We've had several "Power Devil" ones over the years, all perfectly good tools for what they were used for.
The current ones are "BlackSpur", cost about E15 a few years ago, came with spare brushes and still haven't needed them fitted! I actually quite like these, because they have variable speed, which makes them good for polishing, squaring screwdriver tips and even, at a pinch, dril sharpening. The last is usually a non-starter with a grinder, because the heat ruins the tempered surface at the cutting tip and they go blunt imediately. But a fine disc, at low speed, makes this possible!
Delighted to hear you're back on the road.
How did the MOT go?

[danny13]

Cheers for the tips on grinders Sparksie, I need to do a little research on what the different discs are but I imagine I can pickup a general purpose cutting disc.

Fred flew through his MOT, not even an advisory! However... the tester played with the hydraulic suspension and on the drive home Fred was bouncing like he was in a rap music video, amusing for the first 100m slightly jarring after 10 miles. I raised, lowered repeatedly about 10 times, both the front and rear would rise/lower its almost as though it's confused as to what is its level equilibrium. Hopefully it'll sort itself out overnight.
The drive to the MOT was velvety, I can't imagine a Rolls Royce being much smoother.

[Hell Razor5543]

There are a couple of things I would check and do. The first is to check the LHM level. Park the car on level ground, raise the suspension to full height, wait a couple of minutes, and then check the level on the tank. The orange disc (not the brass disc) should be between the two red rings. Once the LHM level is OK do a Citrobics session, where you raise the suspension to full height, wait a couple of minutes, then bottom out the suspension and wait again for a couple of minutes, and then redo a few times. To help work the rear brakes pull the handbrake on (why wasn't it already on?!?), hold the brake pedal down as hard as you can, and then move the suspension to full height, wait until the rear brakes start groaning and release the pedal (watch out, the back will come up at speed!). Do the same for bottoming out the suspension (and, as you would expect, the back will drop quite quickly!).

When I remember to do it I will take 20 minutes on a Citrobics session. It should help keep the hydro-pneumatics working smoothly.

[sparksie]

I must do a 20 minute session, so.
The back of mine doesn't rise to max height. In fact it's slightly lower than normal, when asked to rise.
Drops to Low and rises to Normal perfectly. The front does what it should, as do the brakes.
I just have a fair bit of jacking to do, if I need to change a back wheel...

[Timmo]

a top tip for doing any nut on a Ball joint is to undo it whilst there is Still pressure/weight on it! ie- witht he car on the ground in high so you can get in to them, saves a Lot of time with maul grips and spanners if you dont have a grinder to hand or need to reuse them!

its not a tricky job to do the arms, i did mine at the beginning of the year, Very satisfying!! Much easier on the Xant than it os on the wife's Fiat!! especially as the car went back together an inch wide on the track despite the same parts!

[danny13]

an update....I've performed a couple of Citrobics sessions but unfortunately to no avail. Leaving it overnight didn't help either. Going to check the LHM fluid level tomorrow.
It does strike me as a bit of a coincidence that after replacing the front arms the hydraulics are malfunctioning. I read on a number of posts something about a ride height sensor, is there a chance that whilst replacing the front arms and droplinks something here has been interfered with? (I haven't managed to locate where the front sensor is...will hunt tomorrow). All the other posts seem to suggest replacing the spheres, which are probably due on mine but i don't think they'd fail immediately after tweaking the front suspension...

[danny13]

Hmmm I suspect whilst crow baring the roll bar to get the arms in the 'plastic clip' may have been damaged....will check tomorrow

[sparksie]

oops!
I guess that's what they mean when they warn against disconnecting both sides of the bar at the same time.
It must be possibe to over reach and strain/break something to do with the ride height sensor.
I confess, I didn't go looking for this, as I was careful to keep the ARB in the middle of it's range of travel, having read the warnings before I started.
Like you, I jacked one side at a time, but I had the suspension set at Low, so I had no pressure on the bar. I also didn't have to disconnect the drop links, so there was little danger of me moving the ARB beyond its normal range of motion anyway!
Sorry to hear your still in bother

[danny13]

I checked the LHM level this morning....its low so fingers crossed when i top it up I will have my floaty ride back....once I find some LHM!

[sparksie]

Hi Danny

Yes, not all motor factors are likely to stock it any more and garage forecourts almost certainly won't.
However, if there's a tractor parts outlet (a motor factors for agricultural vehicles, if you like) nearby, or even a tractor dealership, they should have it.
LHM is used as brake fluid on many modern tractors.
Good luck

[Timmo]

My local wholesalers stock it!

[danny13]

Yes certainly nah on impossible to locate late saturday/sunday....will pick some up from GSF hopefully a little later

[sparksie]

Just for pig-iron, I had a ramble around Halfords on Sunday.
They actually had a bottle of LHM on the shelf. Had a dedicated slot for it, but only one bottle. Bit pricey, though. I'd need to be desperate.