Anyone able to help with front control arm replacement near Cambridge?

[COLVERT]

Quote:---Simon. Tourist is replacing the whole lower arm, not just the rear bush on an existing arm in situ. The rear bush will therefore be in correct alignment as soon as he fits his new arm to the sub frame so my method does "do what's needed".
Quote:.


TourerSteve has it correct.---Fitting it as an assembly which is what I did the rubber bush housing does not fit flat to the frame. The suspension leg has to be lifted as I said in a previous post or the bolt and hole will not be coaxial.

You must have been quite lucky not to cross thread yours.----

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Fitting it as an assembly which is what I did the rubber bush housing does not fit flat to the frame. The suspension leg has to be lifted ...

Hi Jon,

I'm puzzled. Can I just check that we are both singing from the same hymn sheet?

1. You have a lower suspension arm entirely off the car to which you've fitted a new rear bush.
2. You place the inner balljoint pin through its mounting hole in the subframe.
3. The arm now pivots on the inner balljoint. You can align the rear bush holes with one hand, easily!

So what's all this about "lifting" the suspension leg?

Originally Posted by COLVERT

You must have been quite lucky not to cross thread yours.

No Jon, not lucky. As I explained earlier, there is no risk of cross threading the bush housing bolts if the anti-roll bar is moved out of the way first.

Simon

[Ducati750cc]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Hi Jon,

I'm puzzled. Can I just check that we are both singing from the same hymn sheet?

1. You have a lower suspension arm entirely off the car to which you've fitted a new rear bush.
2. You place the inner balljoint pin through its mounting hole in the subframe.
3. The arm now pivots on the inner balljoint. You can align the rear bush holes with one hand, easily!

So what's all this about "lifting" the suspension leg?


No Jon, not lucky. As I explained earlier, there is no risk of cross threading the bush housing bolts if the anti-roll bar is moved out of the way first.

Simon

Luck gets things right most of the time.............skill gets them right all of the time.

[Mike Noc]

I find it easier to use a G clamp to lightly clamp the rear bush against the subframe and then with a small mirror and torch the bush can be tapped into place for the first bolt. Nip that up and then the second bolt can be fitted.

Don't use a spanner until the bolt is started and you won't risk cross threading it.

[Ducati750cc]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

TourerSteve has it correct.---Fitting it as an assembly which is what I did the rubber bush housing does not fit flat to the frame. The suspension leg has to be lifted as I said in a previous post or the bolt and hole will not be coaxial.

You must have been quite lucky not to cross thread yours.----

I don't faff about wrestling with the whole assembly, haven't done for years.


The first time one of mine needs a new arm, I unbolt the bottom drop link joint, then after unbolting and loosening both ball joints, I cut through the ' nose ' of the arm, leaving approx. 6 inches or so in the bush, simply lift off the rest of it and cast to one side, then remove the bush mount with just the remains of the arm nose attached.


Pull the ' nose ' out, remove the old bush from the mount, then most important, throw the old bush as far away as you can


Reach for the box with a new set of nice coloured Powerflex bushes, fit the outer bush into the housing, making sure it is the right way round, once in you will never push it back out, it will have to be cut out.


Then bolt up the mounting only, easily done without having to put up with the arm doing what it wants to do, you can line it up perfectly, even lift it up slightly to watch the bolts start in the holes and if you have cleaned up and lubricated the threads you should be able to run the bolts down the full length with your fingers, no chance of cross threading, then tighten.


Fit the inner part of the bush on the ' nose ' of the new arm, plenty of silicone grease in the outer bush and on the inner bush.


Then fit the ' nose ' into the outer bush, it might need a bit of a wiggle but that's all.


Drop the inner ball joint thread into its hole, pop the nut on a couple of turns, then push the arm down to it's full extent, dead easy due to the Powerflex bushes rotating within each other, unlike rubber bushes, where you are fighting the bushes.


The outer ball joint stud should now easily enter its hole in the hub, the leg may need to be lifted upwards ever so slightly, easily done by a bit of light levering, or as I have done, make a U frame out of three pieces angle, drill a hole in each leg to accommodate wheel studs, bolt it up, jack under the bottom and the leg can be moved up and down easily, leaving both hands free.


It can also be used where, when working on suspension items, a bolt needs to be tightened with the wheel on the ground, simply jack it up until that corner of the car just starts to lift.



Tighten the ball joints up, re-fit the drop link, job done.


One advantage of the Powerflex bushes is that they will out last two or three arms, next time an arm is needed, drop link unbolted, both ball joints unbolted and out of the holes, pull the arm out of the outer bush, swap over the inner bush and reverse the process, no piddling about with the various ways of removing and replacing those two pesky bolts.


I've got the last arm I removed to play about with, to see if grease nipples can be fitted to the two ball joints, something to do on a rainy day.

[COLVERT]

To be quite honest I can't really remember the details of fitting the arm as it was last year and my memory is no longer what it was. All I can remember was that I found it quite easy to do.

I have to say though that using a pit was, maybe, the thing that made the job easy.--A normal flat 18mm spanner with a 10 degreed angled head went straight onto the bolt heads.----

[Ducati750cc]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

To be quite honest I can't really remember the details of fitting the arm as it was last year and my memory is no longer what it was. All I can remember was that I found it quite easy to do.

I have to say though that using a pit was, maybe, the thing that made the job easy.--A normal flat 18mm spanner with a 10 degreed angled head went straight onto the bolt heads.----

Same here........... now what was I going to say.

[Mike Noc]

Even easier if you are fitting Powerflex bushes as you can rotate the bush housing with no resistance at all.

[Arctic]

Hi Bill.
What sort of time scale would you say the above would take or should take please, also would it be better if you obtained some old bush mounts and removed the bush for the powerflex to be added before doing the job ? are these the powerflex bushes you are referring too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352129933...Cclp%3A2334524

[Mike Noc]

Steve if you are going down the Powerflex route make sure the bushes slide far enough along the control arm as some pattern arms need filing down on the hexanogal or the bush gets side loaded.