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

[Arctic]

Hi Mike.
Cheers no not going down that route as i have these below ready if the NUK needs them, i was just wondering what the time scale was compared to fitting originals.

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[Tourist]

Thanks again for all the useful replies everyone. I feel well equipped to tackle the job, which I shall be doing tomorrow, with the help of my father.

Wish me luck - I'll report progress when some has hopefully been made.

[Tourist]

The current state of play is that the driver's side arm is out - it all came apart with little drama. A club hammer persuaded the inner ball joint to relinquish its grasp on the subframe, and once it was loose, it became clear that the rear bush was knackered.

Unfortunately, we are now a bit stuck. I can't get the ARB clamp undone as it seems that the captive nuts are no longer captive �� If they're nuts and bolts, I certainly can't get a spanner on the bottom bolts as far as I can see.

Plan B is to get the 18 mm bolts out with the ARB in situ, so it's a case of using a ring spanner and some way of extending it. We're just off not to Mackay's in Cambridge to buy a 18mm Allen key socket and another 18mm spanner.

I'll re-read this thread again if that doesn't work, to see if there are any other ideas I've missed.

The track rod will definitely also be undone from the hub to aid access.

[TourerSteve]

Originally Posted by Tourist

The current state of play is that the driver's side arm is out - it all came apart with little drama. A club hammer persuaded the inner ball joint to relinquish its grasp on the subframe, and once it was loose, it became clear that the rear bush was knackered.

Unfortunately, we are now a bit stuck. I can't get the ARB clamp undone as it seems that the captive nuts are no longer captive �� If they're nuts and bolts, I certainly can't get a spanner on the bottom bolts as far as I can see.

Plan B is to get the 18 mm bolts out with the ARB in situ, so it's a case of using a ring spanner and some way of extending it. We're just off not to Mackay's in Cambridge to buy a 18mm Allen key socket and another 18mm spanner.

I'll re-read this thread again if that doesn't work, to see if there are any other ideas I've missed.

The track rod will definitely also be undone from the hub to aid access.

Pleased to hear one side removed no problem
Sorry to hear you having problems with the ARB ,but perfectly achievable without removing the ARB . As long as your confident the rear bush housing is tight when finished will give you no issues. Access just a bit more awkward , I've never removed ARB yet to change arm although i have had ARB 's off to change bushes !
Again with old cars it doesn't always pay to remove parts that don't need removing as can cause other issues . IF ARB is loose , can you hold ARB captive nut with mole grips and retighten for time been or even backwards and forwards to undo ? Give it a good spray with release oil to soak it

[trikey]

You don’t have to touch the anti roll bar, fit the main ball joint, fit the pin into the lower hub and nip up the pinch bolt, put a jack under the front hub and raise the suspension until the rear bush becomes flat with the subframe. Simples!

[Tourist]

Cheers for the reply Steve - pretty much as you said - we left the ARB there and cobbled together a combination of two 18 mm ring spanners and an 18 mm allen key between them and with a bit of jiggling, got the bush bolts off.

Refitting was a bit of a pain - we had to use sash-cramps to fit the bush to the new arm and then it was a bit of a hassle to line up the bush to get the bolts back in. Jacking the brake disc right up enabled us to line it up in the end. I'll write up a better post detailing some of the things we found and did in case it helps others.

We got the MoT-failing side done in time for me to book in a re-test so with any luck, it will be re-tested and re-taxed by the end of the week. I plan to replace the other side next Wednesday.

All the best everyone - happy Rovering

[TourerSteve]

Originally Posted by Tourist

Cheers for the reply Steve - pretty much as you said - we left the ARB there and cobbled together a combination of two 18 mm ring spanners and an 18 mm allen key between them and with a bit of jiggling, got the bush bolts off.

Refitting was a bit of a pain - we had to use sash-cramps to fit the bush to the new arm and then it was a bit of a hassle to line up the bush to get the bolts back in. Jacking the brake disc right up enabled us to line it up in the end. I'll write up a better post detailing some of the things we found and did in case it helps others.

We got the MoT-failing side done in time for me to book in a re-test so with any luck, it will be re-tested and re-taxed by the end of the week. I plan to replace the other side next Wednesday.

All the best everyone - happy Rovering

Have you left your ARB clamp tight as that can be an MOT failure
Arms are a bit of a chew but not as daunting as been made out !
Main thing is on fitting is getting the arm up to approximate ride height to co- axial the housing to the subframe
Now done you will have a sense of achievement and fulfilment for the day !

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by Tourist

Cheers for the reply Steve - pretty much as you said - we left the ARB there and cobbled together a combination of two 18 mm ring spanners and an 18 mm allen key between them and with a bit of jiggling, got the bush bolts off.

Refitting was a bit of a pain - we had to use sash-cramps to fit the bush to the new arm and then it was a bit of a hassle to line up the bush to get the bolts back in. Jacking the brake disc right up enabled us to line it up in the end. I'll write up a better post detailing some of the things we found and did in case it helps others.

We got the MoT-failing side done in time for me to book in a re-test so with any luck, it will be re-tested and re-taxed by the end of the week. I plan to replace the other side next Wednesday.

All the best everyone - happy Rovering

Glad you got it finished OK.---I used an eight mm spanner with a 18" length of, scaffold tube size, aluminium bar.---Also jacking up the suspension leg a little lined up the bush housing bolts really well.

When you get to the second one you'll now do it in half the time. --

[Tourist]

I just got back from the MoT station with an MoT pass with only the other arm that I'm replacing next week as an advisory. That's pretty pleasing, and thanks in no small part to this forum and the kind people on it - so give yourselves a big pat on the back!

Here are the things that I found when doing this job, just in case anyone else reads this thread and it helps them. Admittedly this is pretty much a distilled list from all the previous posts by others above, but it's what I found when I tackled the job myself YMMV of course.:


-You don't need to follow the procedure in the Haynes manual - leave the Anti-Roll Bar alone

-Undoing the track-rod end from the hub will help you get access to the rear bush bolts later on in the job. You'll need a new 15 mm Nylock nut as they're not re-usable.

-A length of scaffolding bar and a stout chain is a great lever to get the bottom ball joint out of the hub - put the chain round the arm with the bar underneath it and join it in a tight loop with a nut and bolt. Standing towards the front of the car, locate the far end of the bar against the back of the subframe and then stamp on the front end.

-I detached the inner control arm balljoint from the subframe by slackening the nut (22 mm) and then swinging a lump hammer at it. This may have just been luck as I know they can be a pain to remove!

-Prior to removing the arm, make a mental note of the bush's mounting angle in relation to it - the end of the arm is octagonal (maybe hexagonal?) and you need to mount the new bush at the correct angle prior to refitting

-The bush was knackered enough that it split and I could remove the arm, complete with the inner part of the bush attached to it

-Use the location of the old bush on the old arm spigot to see how far you need to insert the new arm in to the new bush - this will help a lot with refitting later on as there's not much room for error

-Getting the rear bush out was the only difficult bit for us and I had to go and buy new tools. We used a Halfords Professional 18 mm ring spanner (with an open 18 mm head at the other end) on the front bolt, working from the wheel arch. The ring end is angled to allow the shank of the spanner to slope upwards. Into the open 18 mm end that's sticking upwards, insert a 18 mm Allen key, and the immediately above the other spanner, slot another 18 mm ring spanner, at an angle that gives you space to turn the nut. If you're strong, this will be enough, if you're a wimp like me, you may need to slot a knuckle bar over the outer spanner to gain enough mechanical advantage.

-The rear bolt is much easier - working under the car, get the spanner on the bolt head, this time with the shank angled downwards, this gives you enough room to get a knuckle bar on the spanner and not foul the exhaust. You should be able to get enough torque on it to loosen it.

-Both rear bush bolts, once loosened, came out by hand.

-The new arm and bush have to go in as a single unit - I used a sash cramp with a socket over the far end of the bush to seat the arm spigot in place. A bit of grease on each part will make this job easier. As said earlier also note the angle of the bush in relation to the arm.

-Negotiate the new arm into place and seat the inner ball joint first, loosely bolting it into place

-Get the other ball joint in to the bottom of the hub and loosely bolt it into place

-Jack the brake disc upwards to compress the suspension - this will rotate the bush into position so that the bolt holes are square with the subframe. This was the most tricky bit for us when re-fitting. It took ages and several attempts to get the holes lined up and the bolts in, starting with the front one - just keep aggling it and adjusting the suspension height. Oddly the bush seemed to be flush with the subframe when viewed from the wheel arch, but a good 5 mm rotated out of alignment when viewed from under the car, looking at the most in-board surface. We had to jack the suspension up as far as it would go to get the bolts in - and once they started, they could be tightened most of the way with the tips of the fingers.

-I couldn't get a socket onto the bolts to enable me to use a torque wrench so the bolts are in as tight as I could get them - approximately 150 NM. They're not going anywhere any time soon.

-Refitting the rest of it was easy enough and it all torqued up to the correct amount.

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by Tourist

I just got back from the MoT station with an MoT pass with only the other arm that I'm replacing next week as an advisory. That's pretty pleasing, and thanks in no small part to this forum and the kind people on it - so give yourselves a big pat on the back!

Here are the things that I found when doing this job, just in case anyone else reads this thread and it helps them. Admittedly this is pretty much a distilled list from all the previous posts by others above, but it's what I found when I tackled the job myself YMMV of course.:


-You don't need to follow the procedure in the Haynes manual - leave the Anti-Roll Bar alone

-Undoing the track-rod end from the hub will help you get access to the rear bush bolts later on in the job. You'll need a new 15 mm Nylock nut as they're not re-usable.

-A length of scaffolding bar and a stout chain is a great lever to get the bottom ball joint out of the hub - put the chain round the arm with the bar underneath it and join it in a tight loop with a nut and bolt. Standing towards the front of the car, locate the far end of the bar against the back of the subframe and then stamp on the front end.

-I detached the inner control arm balljoint from the subframe by slackening the nut (22 mm) and then swinging a lump hammer at it. This may have just been luck as I know they can be a pain to remove!

-Prior to removing the arm, make a mental note of the bush's mounting angle in relation to it - the end of the arm is octagonal (maybe hexagonal?) and you need to mount the new bush at the correct angle prior to refitting

-The bush was knackered enough that it split and I could remove the arm, complete with the inner part of the bush attached to it

-Use the location of the old bush on the old arm spigot to see how far you need to insert the new arm in to the new bush - this will help a lot with refitting later on as there's not much room for error

-Getting the rear bush out was the only difficult bit for us and I had to go and buy new tools. We used a Halfords Professional 18 mm ring spanner (with an open 18 mm head at the other end) on the front bolt, working from the wheel arch. The ring end is angled to allow the shank of the spanner to slope upwards. Into the open 18 mm end that's sticking upwards, insert a 18 mm Allen key, and the immediately above the other spanner, slot another 18 mm ring spanner, at an angle that gives you space to turn the nut. If you're strong, this will be enough, if you're a wimp like me, you may need to slot a knuckle bar over the outer spanner to gain enough mechanical advantage.

-The rear bolt is much easier - working under the car, get the spanner on the bolt head, this time with the shank angled downwards, this gives you enough room to get a knuckle bar on the spanner and not foul the exhaust. You should be able to get enough torque on it to loosen it.

-Both rear bush bolts, once loosened, came out by hand.

-The new arm and bush have to go in as a single unit - I used a sash cramp with a socket over the far end of the bush to seat the arm spigot in place. A bit of grease on each part will make this job easier. As said earlier also note the angle of the bush in relation to the arm.

-Negotiate the new arm into place and seat the inner ball joint first, loosely bolting it into place

-Get the other ball joint in to the bottom of the hub and loosely bolt it into place

-Jack the brake disc upwards to compress the suspension - this will rotate the bush into position so that the bolt holes are square with the subframe. This was the most tricky bit for us when re-fitting. It took ages and several attempts to get the holes lined up and the bolts in, starting with the front one - just keep aggling it and adjusting the suspension height. Oddly the bush seemed to be flush with the subframe when viewed from the wheel arch, but a good 5 mm rotated out of alignment when viewed from under the car, looking at the most in-board surface. We had to jack the suspension up as far as it would go to get the bolts in - and once they started, they could be tightened most of the way with the tips of the fingers.

-I couldn't get a socket onto the bolts to enable me to use a torque wrench so the bolts are in as tight as I could get them - approximately 150 NM. They're not going anywhere any time soon.

-Refitting the rest of it was easy enough and it all torqued up to the correct amount.

In other words, you've formed an even deeper bond with the car

Well done getting that job done!