Newbie Xantia Suspension Arms and Antiroll bars replacement

[Hell Razor5543]

It does not take much for the ride height to be affected. However, the other thing is that the H/C levers can get dirty and then (sort of) seize up. This means that the ride height can also be affected. The levers need to be cleaned until they move freely (according to Citronut, floppy) and then greased. I hope he sees this post so he can explain better than I have.

[danny13]

An update, all sorted! Took Fred to an ATS centre with 4 post lift, explained I just needed to my suspension reset and they were happy to have a go. Told them what to do and 15 minutes later all sorted Prior to ATS I tried Kwikfit, they made excuses that they didn't have training (nor it seems any technical nous) to attempt such a job whilst I stood looking at 4 empty car lifts and a swarm of technicians sat on their backsides!

[sparksie]

Woohoo!
Great to hear it.

[CitroJim]

Excellent. Top marks to ATS

I've just replaced a wishbone on my Activa which necessitated the Activa levelling being reset due to the car leaning. Took me four goes over two days to get it right

Levelling an Activa, although I've done it many times, never get any easier or any less frustrating

[danny13]

hmmm 6 months later and the knocking has returned
I suspect P bushes are shot again, seems odd that they went so quick... :S

[Hell Razor5543]

There are two reasons P bushes fail in short order (other than poor quality ones). If the P bush has been fitted to the wishbone at the wrong angle it will fail (this is why the ones on Gracie failed, and no, I did not fit them!), or if, when the wishbone was fitted, it was not lined up properly. The P bush needs to run parallel to the wishbone (the ones on Gracie were about 20 degrees out). The wishbone needs to be lined up with the car level before the three nuts and bolts are fully tightened.

[citronut]

The wishbone needs to be lined up with the car level before the three nuts and bolts are fully tightened.

no quite so James,
it is only the final tightening of the forward front arm arm bush that need to be done with the arm and drive shaft on a level plane to the sub frame,
as the P bush pivot is not being tightened on bolting in place, like the forward arm bush is as its bolt point is of the rotational kind/type

[Hell Razor5543]

The wishbone needs to be lined up with the car level before the three nuts and bolts are fully tightened.

no quite so James,
it is only the final tightening of the forward front arm bush that need to be done with the arm and drive shaft on a level plane to the sub frame,
as the P bush pivot is not being tightened on bolting in place, like the forward arm bush is as its bolt point is of the rotational kind/type

True, and I should have known better, as it was only last week that we replaced a wishbone on Gracie. However we did tighten up all the bolts at the same time, so it is an easy mistake to make.

[danny13]

Cheers for the advice, I think I may try a french car specialist this time, although wondering if the £200 bill might be the final bullet for fred. I've started doing longish commutes (120 miles per day) as my seat is pretty worn approaching 200k and the brakes are pretty sketchy for fast motorway driving, considering moving to a cheap old mondeo.

My radiator header cap has also started hissing when I park up, so wondering if the pressure valve may have gone. My radiator seems to only have crusty rad weld in it so I've no idea how fred keeps cool!

[citronut]

as my seat is pretty worn

oooh eeer missus, you need to see a doctor with that

and the brakes are pretty sketchy for fast motorway driving, considering moving to a cheap old mondeo.

how ever poor/bad the the brake on a hydraulic Cit are they will still be way better/superior to that on a mun dayo

[danny13]

Whilst I'm pondering whether to fix or scrap Fred(seems such a waste to scrap just because a couple of bushes are shot),... I assume it's possible to replace just the bushes rather than the entire wishbone?

What tools would I need to replace the bushes?

A press of some description, would the following work?
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/prod ... rbor-press


Is this LASER BUSH REMOVAL TOOL useful or would I be better off buying an angle grinder?
http://www.gsfcarparts.com/987gm0180

The bushes are coming in at £18 each http://www.gsfcarparts.com/423pc0120 and a pair of wishbones £140 ...£100 to spend on tools if I try to replace the bushes.

[Hell Razor5543]

You might want to see if any members already have the necessary tools, and are willing to help out. How often do you expect to replace the bushes? If you only have one car, and you replace the bushes properly (correctly lined up, and so on), then you will only use the tools every few years (depending on mileage). However, some members are professional mechanics, and may have those tools (as they will be using them on a regular basis), and so may be willing (for a fee, of course) to remove the old bushes and fit the new ones. If you have the space, what I would suggest is that you replace both the wishbones, and then get the old ones re-bushed for next time. It means that you can replace them when required, and get the old ones re-bushed without the mechanics having a car sitting in their yard taking up space.

When you replace the bushes you have to make sure the P bush is correctly aligned (the other bush does not have this issue), otherwise it is incorrectly loaded, and will fail in short order. Again, the pros know this, and how to fit the P bush correctly.

[Timmo]

I did mine with a normal shed vice and socket larger than the bush to sit flush, the most difficult job is to get them out, but, in a shed with one vice, and one man a day is what it took, I downloaded the image one of the guys kindly posted for alignment of the P bush and tried to get them as Close as possible,

[c.morewood]

Agreed Timmo. There's no need for speciality tools.. A grinder a good vice, a lump hammer, cold chisel and of course a print out of the image of the P bush setup. I draw a horizontal line accross the end of the wishbone when the wishbone is sitting on the workbench, before removing the old bush (if its not too badly gone) this helps me get the alignment right.

[danny13]

doh, I threw my old wishbones away I was smugly assuming my new wishbones would outlast the rest of the car...
I think as its my only vehicle I going to have to replace with new, but will keep my old ones for future.

Now my last 2 replacements have both been done my 'professionals' who should know what they are doing, both times the bushes were gone again within a few months. Will probably have to rely on getting my car fixed whilst I'm at work, what is the diagram people refer to for alignment, i need to print it out for the garage.

Is a car with dodgy P bushes unsafe to drive? Apart from bouncing about is there a chance something may fail catastrophically?