Price of a dog-bone?

[Old-Guy]

On Friday I bought a couple of 'dog-bone' connectors (for the height adjuster units) from the local Citroen stealers. I was charged about £5.60 (can't remember exactly) for the pair - nearly twice what I was expecting.

Is this what other people have paid recently?

As I was passing, and to go anywhere else would have cost me a couple of quid in fuel, it wasn't worth trying elsewhere; I'd just like to know for future reference whether I should look elsewhere for parts only available from a Citroen dealer.

[lexi]

I think the dog bones can be got at GSF ? and Ebay.........cheaper. The clutch clip is about 12 quid at Stealers and even the Ebay ones are 8 quid I think.

[CitroJim]

Is this what other people have paid recently?

Yep, near enough, from a stealers in Norwich so maybe they knew I was not a local and fleeced me.

No, hang on, the Norfolk rural accent is very similar to my rural Somerset accent so they would have thought I was local after all...

I was not aware GSF sold them. They must do though, such a commonly needed piece...

But then again... Vince?

[citronut]

if you mean the white plastic link this is part No. and trade price inc VAT

Part Number Description Quantity Price excl. VAT Price incl. VAT Total incl. VAT Selection
0000529103 CORRECTION LINK 2.34 GBP 2.75 GBP 2.75 GBP


regards malcolm

[Old-Guy]

Thanks for taking the trouble to confirm the list price Malcolm.

Even allowing for the low value of the pound and for the high overheads on 'obsolete' spare parts, I doubt that the total cost of this small nylon moulding exceeds 10% of the list price.

A captive market - plus ca change!

[xantia_northampton]

Hey guys! I'm a newbie here
Recently bought a 1999 110HDI xantia, my first citroen!
So far so good, initial impressions are great, BUT going over a speed bump I have lost the so colled dog bone from the front suspension. A specialist came around, confirmed it, but also said that I might need a new pair of spheres at the front, because he suspects the nearside one has collapsed thus taking the dog bone with it due to high load that went into the anti-torsion bar.
I am receiving this dog bone (height corrector linkage is the proper name I think) today from the dealers, and are probably going to pickup the spheres from GSF too, but wondered if there is a way of fitting the linkage without a ramp?? Or can I leave the car on "high" setting, supporting it adequately of course, and then clip it in? I've a feeling I will be doing this a few more times during the ownership! In fact the delaer supplies these clips in packs of 4 now! (around £11)

[XantiaMan]

Its just a couple of quid, whats the big deal? Try getting ripped off for an Activa rear ram lower bush!

[CitroJim]

Welcome Xantia_Northampton Just down the road from you in Newport Pagnell...

Yes, you can renew the dog-bone without ramps by jacking up the front and supporting the can VERY FIRMLY on axle stands or ramps....

NEVER, EVER ventrue under a hydraulic Citroen unless adequately supported, especially when working on the height correctors. they can collapse and KILL by crushing you.

That said, crawl under (After ensureing it is very well supported - get the message? ) and you can get to the front height corrector and dog-bone.

Usually, if they pop off and won't stay on this is for two reasons. One, there is hair-line cracks in the dog-bone ballcups or the height corrector mechanism is badly seized up. Douse it in WD-40, work it by hand and when seen to be free, grease it with thin spray grease.

A flat sphere is unlikely to cause it but best change them if one or the other is suspected of being flat as they can impose severe stress on the strut-tops and these can fail as a result and spear your bonnet. A guide to replacing spheres can be found in the "Supersticky" area of the forum.

Here's a diagram of both height correctors...

[CitroJim]

Its just a couple of quid, whats the big deal? Try getting ripped off for an Activa rear ram lower bush!

or even a ram

[xantia_northampton]

thank you very much citrojim!
I will of course take a lot of care when crawling under the car.. don't want the diesel engine crushing my bones! Thanks again!

[Old-Guy]

Welcome to the forum!

You can easily carry out a basic test of any suspension sphere: with the suspension lever still in Normal, 'bounce' the relevant corner of the car by pushing down hard with both hands, there should be plenty of movement - the gas springs in the spheres are designed to provide softer than normal (steel) springing. Try the other side - both should be similar. If the sphere is blown or badly down on gas, that 'corner' will feel much stiffer with less movement.

At the risk of stating the obvious, one crucial thing with Xantia suspension that many owners have a problem getting their heads around is that the gas in the spheres provides the 'spring' and hydraulic fluid (LHM) provides the variable-length 'strut' that connects 'spring' to wheel hub. So a a sphere loses gas, you get a shorter, stiffer, spring without any change in ride height; completely the opposite to conventional suspension. Ultimately you get no spring at all - other than from the tyres - really bad news as this over-stresses the suspension mounts.

There's a sticky on the subject of changing spheres. If you do a search on the forum you'll find a variety of ways of fitting a new dog-bone.

Personally, I don't see how a blown sphere is going to break the 'dog bone' connector if the height adjuster mechanism is operating freely; the sudden jerk of going over a speed hump could be the last straw for a dog-bone that was ready to fail.

[Xaccers]

Get two axle stands.
Peg them throughthe first holes.
Set the car on high.
Use a trolley jack under the front subframe, just behind the front wheels there are large nuts which fit neatly into the cup of most trolley jacks and help prevent things slipping dangerously, jack the car up enough to get the axle stand under one side's jacking point (lump on the sill with two longer tabs each end about 3-4 inches long in total).
Repeat for the other side.
Set car on low.
Amaze your friends and family as the car "magically" lifts it's nose up in the air giving you plenty of room to safely work under.
Silence anyone who says "but it's just pivoting on the axle stands"
Replace dog bone, check height corrector, get out from under car.
Set car on high.
Jack one side up again, remove axle stand.
Slowly lower jack, let suspension compensate and rise back up to full height.
Repeat for other side.
Set car on normal, drive off smiling.


Basically, take advantage of the greatest suspension system and let it do the heavy lifting for you.
Similarly if you ever need to change a wheel after a flat, set car on high, secure jack under jacking point or subframe by flat wheel.
Slacken the wheel nuts, set the car on low, and the wheel lifts itself up making wheel changes a doddle

[xantia_northampton]

Thank you guys for the great advice! I am, however, still stuck on the 1st step which is to get the new dog bone fitted. I have received a bag of 4 from citroen (£11) and crawled under the car this morning to find that the original one is still there, just detached on one end! OK, so I took it out completely, check for hairline cracks, none there. But it goes on and comes off quite easily and there was plenty of crud in the "cup" so I thought I'd clean it up and re-fit, but when I realised how easily it comes off, I abandoned the plan and went for a new one! A real b@st@rd to fit, basically I struggled for a long time to get it to fit on the anti-roll bar end, and then came the r e a l l y tricky part: how to attach the other end (it's effectively a bit too far away as the suspension is on high setting. Moving the sprung pivot by hand was impossible, then I sprayed loads of brake-cleaner to get the grease and crud off the spring of the height regulator, then sprayed Shields lubricant, and tied a bit of strong string onto the ball and pulled. After a few yanks it started moving more freely, so more Shields and more yanking and it started feeling good. I then found that I could use the "principle of strings" to pull the "ball" closer. Now, at this point in time, I ran out of time. SO I have not quite finished the job. But TBH after spending a couple of hours under the car in this coldish weather, I'd had enough. The job continues tomorrow. But I would appreciate any tips on getting the dog bone cups to clip on! Thanks!

[Xaccers]

shirley your suspension would be set to low?
once the front's up though you can turn the engine off and set the lever to normal position. that way you won't be fighting against the manual override

[xantia_northampton]

Ah, that's one way of doing it!
Ooops, missed the obvious, it's a citroen so I need to use the hydraulics to my advantage of course!
OK, will try that tomorrow. The car is spending the night on axle stands.