I am going to be fitting a new contol arm (rear) bush and a new o?s handbrake cable this weekend and wondered if there were any pitfalls to look out for or any tips to make the job easier
thanks in advance
control arm bush and handbrake cable
Moderator: RichardW
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shaunthesheep
- Posts: 364
- Joined: 16 Jul 2002, 14:42
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars:
yes, replace both cables at the same time, as you will have to 'feel' in-between the heat shield & car frame to replace cables, as you can Guarantee that if you only replace one, give it a couple of weeks or so the other one will snap, plus on a xantia you will need a left hand & right hand ones.
raise the car on ramps or axle stands, remember to chock the rear wheels.
can't give you any pitfalls on the rear control arm, as have yet to have that job.
dom
raise the car on ramps or axle stands, remember to chock the rear wheels.
can't give you any pitfalls on the rear control arm, as have yet to have that job.
dom
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Dave Burns
- Posts: 1915
- Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars:
- x 2
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Dave Burns
- Posts: 1915
- Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars:
- x 2
I'll assume its a xantia then, the mounting holes in the "p" bush are quite large relative to the bolts and its lateral position can affect the fore and aft position of the wheel by a few millimeters, so before removing the arm it may be wise to take a measurement from somewhere that can be accurately repeated, a specific point on the inner wheel arch to one on the strutt for instance.
My big S/P ball joint splitter would not fit the swivel joint, so I used a simple two leg gear puller to seperate the joint.
When you get the arm off and before upsetting the old bush you must make sure you can reposition the new bush in the same orientation, it is an interferance fit and once started you will not be able to rotate it on the shaft, so either make a good mental picture of its position relative to the swivel end of the arm, or even take pictures of it especialy if you have a digital camera, or lay it on strategicly positioned blocks of wood and take measurements.
To get the old one off, use a drill and chew the remaining rubber away between the "P" shape casing of the bush and the inner sleeve, when its off cut an area of the rubber away right down to the sleeve, note the position of the sleeve relative to the end of the shaft, centre punch a line of drilling positions along the sleeve so that they will almost connect when drilling with a 4mm drill, then drill through the sleeve but don't drill into the arm, note how thick the sleeve is and only drill to that depth, start off with a smaller drill and increase the size untill the chain of holes break into each other, it helps if the drill is sharpened at a shallow angle as this will remove more metal for the same depth, the sleeve will then come off.
Lubricate the shaft and offer the new bush to it, position it as noted earlier and with a 3 to 4lb hammer give it a couple of light strikes, inspect its positon and if it looks ok get a flat piece of brass or similar to protect the sleeve, then drive the bush on to the same depth as the original.
On refitting ensure that the clamp over the roll bar rubber is correctly located and hooked in (the bolts holding the "P" bush are different lengths, note this before removal) remount the arm and position the bush with reference to the previous measurement, retighten the arm front bolt when the car is on its wheels and at the normal ride height.
If you have four axle stands, support both the front the and the rear and lower the suspension to minimum, this will allow you to raise the front strutt making it easey to get the swivel joint out and back in.
Don't lower the suspension with just the front supported, this will put the car at a steep angle on the stands and will be unstable.
Dave
My big S/P ball joint splitter would not fit the swivel joint, so I used a simple two leg gear puller to seperate the joint.
When you get the arm off and before upsetting the old bush you must make sure you can reposition the new bush in the same orientation, it is an interferance fit and once started you will not be able to rotate it on the shaft, so either make a good mental picture of its position relative to the swivel end of the arm, or even take pictures of it especialy if you have a digital camera, or lay it on strategicly positioned blocks of wood and take measurements.
To get the old one off, use a drill and chew the remaining rubber away between the "P" shape casing of the bush and the inner sleeve, when its off cut an area of the rubber away right down to the sleeve, note the position of the sleeve relative to the end of the shaft, centre punch a line of drilling positions along the sleeve so that they will almost connect when drilling with a 4mm drill, then drill through the sleeve but don't drill into the arm, note how thick the sleeve is and only drill to that depth, start off with a smaller drill and increase the size untill the chain of holes break into each other, it helps if the drill is sharpened at a shallow angle as this will remove more metal for the same depth, the sleeve will then come off.
Lubricate the shaft and offer the new bush to it, position it as noted earlier and with a 3 to 4lb hammer give it a couple of light strikes, inspect its positon and if it looks ok get a flat piece of brass or similar to protect the sleeve, then drive the bush on to the same depth as the original.
On refitting ensure that the clamp over the roll bar rubber is correctly located and hooked in (the bolts holding the "P" bush are different lengths, note this before removal) remount the arm and position the bush with reference to the previous measurement, retighten the arm front bolt when the car is on its wheels and at the normal ride height.
If you have four axle stands, support both the front the and the rear and lower the suspension to minimum, this will allow you to raise the front strutt making it easey to get the swivel joint out and back in.
Don't lower the suspension with just the front supported, this will put the car at a steep angle on the stands and will be unstable.
Dave
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Dave Burns
- Posts: 1915
- Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars:
- x 2
Yup......I know what a track control arm is, better read again cos' thats whats in front of you next weekend[:D]
They are handed by the way so be sure to have the correct one before you start, I'd do the front bush aswell while the arm is off, and there is only one front one per side, you may get told there are two, but there aint.
Dave
They are handed by the way so be sure to have the correct one before you start, I'd do the front bush aswell while the arm is off, and there is only one front one per side, you may get told there are two, but there aint.
Dave