Xantia rear arm bearings

paranoid · Unread post by **paranoid** » 17 Apr 2005, 22:54

Getting more convinced the rear arm bearings are shot on the xant (very creaky)
Anybody tackled this job? would it be worth just replacing just the roller bearings (not the cups) as there isn't a massive amount of lean yet.

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 17 Apr 2005, 23:43

The rear arm repair kit N42358 contains all the bits you need removing - to access the bearings.
Would be false economy replacing the bearings only.
Worst part of the job is removing the inner bearing races. Exactly this has forced many a handy owner to leave the job at their dealer.
The rep. kit is listed for BX - but is the same for Xantia.

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 17 Apr 2005, 23:53

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by AndersDK</i>

The rep. kit is listed for BX - but is the same for Xantia.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Unless it's the estate - in which case you need different bearings.

paranoid · Unread post by **paranoid** » 17 Apr 2005, 23:55

Thats the bit I will have trouble with, my workshop is the drive floor at the moment[V]
Is removing the races the same a rear wheel bearing race?
Ie 1 race either side of the arm with a long drift.

dnsey · Unread post by **dnsey** » 18 Apr 2005, 01:25

If you prefer, you could always swap the entire arm for a decent one from the breaker's - always a risk, of course, that the replacement could fail soon, but an easy and fairly quick job that way, and you'll have the old arm to rebuild at your leisure if you have any problems in the future.

mpr1956 · Unread post by **mpr1956** » 18 Apr 2005, 02:52

Hi, did mine a couple of months ago " on the drive" with the arm held in a workmate. Once I had removed the plastic inner sleeve by chiseling it into two halves with a ground down old screwdriver, then a lip of between one and two mm is revealed of the inner race, which was sufficient to allow me to tap out the inner races with a long thin chisel from the opposite end. This was in fact the most difficult part of the whole job, apart from fitting the replacement plastic sleeve. You won't need to remove the hub, and the brake caliper can be simply hung up out of the way with a bungee. P.s. It's my understanding that the whole kit of parts should be used for a proper fit when you come to refit the arm to the subframe!!
If I can do it then almost anyone can I'm sure.. Everything is still working ok, but I still don't know if I set the preload on the bearings correctly ( there must be someone here who knows how to do it!) -93 tdsx hatchback by the way

Unread post by **alan s** » 18 Apr 2005, 03:59

mpr1956,
To set the pre-load is fairly simple.
It's done using the supplied thrusts and basically means that when fully tightened, the bolt is fitted through and the arm will need to be pulled down using the smallest amount of effort. If it just drops under its own weight it's too loose and if you need to use pressure, it's too tight.
Alan S

ActivaV6uk · Unread post by **ActivaV6uk** » 18 Apr 2005, 04:07

if you have a welder the best way to get the bearings out is to weld around the inside of the old one then tap the arm and they will fall out. (welding them makes them shrink (after they have cooled). When i say the best way i mean unless some one else has a way to get them out in under 60 seconds with out breaking a swet then it is.
Andy

mpr1956 · Unread post by **mpr1956** » 18 Apr 2005, 16:14

Thanks Alan... There were numerous references to setting the preload on here, but I could find no specific info. If I have to do them again I'll know how!!.
P. Rear arm bearings aren't as difficult as you might think, and I was amazed at the difference in the ride quality -well worth an afternoons work. ( you might also have to budget for having the tracking adjusted afterwards... but my bearings must have been shot for a while.. I don't think MOT checks pick them up )