The dreaded Xantia 'D' word...

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 02 Sep 2008, 19:29

No, not diesel, though heaven knows I dread anything to do with this word,
or driveshaft! No, the well conversed here, time worn Xantia staple

= droplinks!!

The whole tedious battle has been well trodden, but I've never got to the
bottom of any differences between them, the qualities (or lack thereof)
and the best place to buy them. I'm tired of paying what I thought was
quality parts prices at GSF only to see them fail a year later with modest
mileage covered.

How long are these damned things supposed to last!?

Andrew

deian · Post by **deian** » 02 Sep 2008, 19:43

hello,

Can i ask if you have ever bought them from citroen?... in the hope that the quality may actually be as it should?

thank you, good bye, deian

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 02 Sep 2008, 20:07

Deian, you may very well be right, I've become accustomed to anticipating
silly SILLY prices for anything I have to buy from the Prat's Department but
randomly some items seem to pass the obscene marking up. Several rubbish
one's may very well equal one good one. I'm listening...

Andrew

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 02 Sep 2008, 20:14

have you got a MOTORQUIPE supplier near you, as i belive MOTORQUIPE is a PSA brand, not saying they are low cost as i dont think they are, but might be worth enquiring

regards malcolm

deian · Post by **deian** » 02 Sep 2008, 20:41

Well don't wanna rub it in... but there is a saying I strongly believe in:

"Buy cheap, buy twice"
(or three of four... etc)

Bottom line is, some thing you just have to buy from the dealer, and these items you won't know to buy from a dealer vs. aftermarket until it wears down many times aftermarket etc. And obviously these 'items' differ from car to car and item to item etc.

Just my opinion. Thanks

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 02 Sep 2008, 22:42

Citroen use many suppliers for their O/E parts.. ZF Lemforder drop links being one of them. GSF can supply a cheap & nasty part for about a tenner or a ZF Lemforder part for about £18.0
Genuine Citroen parts are nothing more than parts manufactured to a standard by a supplier who can supply to Citroen at the price Citroen want to pay.. and believe me, some ZF Lemforder parts are as crap as anybody elses (if I had a new disco I would be inclined to check the droplinks at least once per week).

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 02 Sep 2008, 22:48

OK: so are GSF links any good then!? Aren't the other parts I buy from
them OEM and 'hopefully' quality items?

Andrew

lexi · Post by **lexi** » 02 Sep 2008, 22:58

Well OEM is such a grey area. I put a Lemforder one on as I had the same issue with the cheap ones on a ZX. It`s not on long enough to give an opinion. I suppose you may have to suck and see. I though for a moment you may have been refering to " Dogging" .........whatever that is

.......

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 03 Sep 2008, 08:03

i belive the trouble is there is a lot of faike parts about, made in coragated sheds in far flung parts of the planet, so how do you tell if your supplier is not buying cheap to maximise there profit,

i have often wounderd about the BENDIX brake parts i buy from our favourite supplier, as usualy genuine BENDIX pads come with new fixing bolts and the clip which holds the warning light wire, and some i buy from the above unmentioned supplier have a very rough texture to the pad face and very bad coatting to the metal backing

regards malcolm

BrianM · Post by **BrianM** » 03 Sep 2008, 13:18

9000 miles gs... droplink

85000 mile citroen droplink ( and still no rattle)

Brian

97 Xantia Td

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 03 Sep 2008, 13:20

Out of interest for a means of comparison, how much are they
currently from Mr Citroen?

Andrew

Post by **RichardW** » 03 Sep 2008, 17:01

How much? Confusing, as normal 8)

Early ones (before RP 6615): 61.55
Later ones (RP 6615 - RP 8151): 38.76
After 8151, part no 508748 is given first at 33.92, but this is shown as superseded by part no 508760 at 33.19.

Worth noting that ones after 8151 (3rd March 1999 - that'll be mine then!) have the thread at 90° at the bottom rather than in line as per the earlier ones - GSF do list different ones for post 8151, and again at 2 prices.

Stunned Monkey · Post by **Stunned Monkey** » 04 Sep 2008, 19:40

I'm the wonder of Triple A citroen nr Rye, East sussex for the amount of droplinks I get through on both my Xantia, and my BX before that. I think I'm on my 5th pair on the Xantia in the 8 years I've owned it.

The only reason I can think of for getting through them is that my driveway at home has quite a bump going up onto it, which I always take at full lock forcing the roll bar to quite an extreme in both directions every time I go on or off the drive.

I just think they're a bit of a weak design originally... I think one is on its way right now actually...

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 04 Sep 2008, 20:47

i dont seem to get through drop links ever, Martin do you work for triple a, or are you saying they keep replacing them, if the later do you know who supplies there drop links, what make and how much are you charged for the parts

regards malcolm

Stunned Monkey · Post by **Stunned Monkey** » 05 Sep 2008, 11:29

Hi Malcom, no I don't work for them, but they're about half a mile from my own workshop (work with cars but not Citroens). My apologies if I seem like a walking advert but they're incredibly helpful, honest and knowledgable. I replace my own droplinks. As to the make, I'm not sure but they did tell me that they'd tried all the makes out there, and some really were crap. From memory, mine are about £16 a pop. I have the double right angle type.