Drop links: everyone's favourite!

[Phil th Barrow]

I think Steve is right. After taking on board his instructions i find i can now do them with ease. Also his guidence as given me confidence to move on and attempt other projects like pre loading a old Marina mk1 diff in a un light dark garage.... Thanks Steve. You inspire.

[bl52krz]

Some people are engineers by trade. Some people are engineers by experience. I can not remember it being a hard job changing drop links, just a damned nuisance trying to get at the top nut. Won’t happen again. I did what steve(Artic) does, and tells you to do.........cut 5 mills off the top threaded part of the drop link. Nothing is weakened by doing so. No extra stresses anywhere. Just do it. Doh. I also put some lubricant in the form of that which you use on the back of your brake pads, on the thread. No problems there either. When the rubbish Delphi link , after a short time, went bottoms up, it was still very tight, but came undone easier. Don’t make mountains out of molehills. People are put off by throwing angles, stresses, spanner adaptions into the mix. An engineer will adapt his tools to do any job if he is any good. Engineers have always ‘engineered’ tools to fit anything. Oh dear, I am losing the will to live.

[TourerSteve]

Originally Posted by SD1too

It's a wise move to read a member's whole thread to familiarise yourself with the detail

With no disrespect you asked the question and have been given a wealth of advice and information from others, who have experienced this task and its problems several times before. They are passing on the benefits of their experiences and often this is as informative as a workshop manual ,
All you have done is challenge and disregard most of the advice given.

Peoples advice on here is second to non and at times you can be overloaded with different option but all the experienced members here have the same goal , to help you and others keep their cars on the road ,

Some times we have to adapt and do things differently particularly now these cars are all over 15 years old and most if not all are pattern parts with very little manufacturer support
Some members have excellent theory knowledge , others have excellent practical ability and knowledge.
We all come from all walks of life and between us make this forum work .

None of the work you have done has been complicated , Awkward and a chew may be but encountered regularly by people in the trade or indeed enthusiasts on aging cars of any manufacturer

[Ducati750cc]

Lest we forget, cars and many other things are made to be assembled easily and quickly without a thought of access for repairs down the line, it appears.


How often have we all muttered unthinkable words and questioned the designers parentage when coming across that one last fixing to remove something, when finding that half the engine bay has to be emptied to get at a piddling 10mm bolt that could easily have been located 5mm to one side.


Front lower arm rear mount bolts anyone !

[Mike Noc]

Very true Bill. I'm just doing a water pump on the diesel, an easy enough job in a BMW but a right pain with the engine turned 90 degrees.

As with many things, the designers never have to service what they design.

[Ducati750cc]

I've built up two legs for the Freebie in the last couple of days, fitted the O/S one yesterday, used the original 15mm nuts, cleaned up and given a coat of paint, they always appear to be in good condition compared to similar ones lower to the ground.


The upper threads were too long, so I shortened them to around 20mm from the ball joint which left around 5mm protruding, on purpose, just right for filing a couple of flats on to give an 8mm openender a nice snug fit, a light coat of my blue grease, gave a spare 15mm combi a gentle ride on the grindstone so it just slid in, positioned the flats so that there was access to them when the leg was mounted, torqued it up to about two to three fingers , a dab of paint, all sorted for if I ever need to remove them again whilst in situ.


I know how you feel Mike, I've got the N/S arm to do, there is virtually no play in anything, but I've got one knocking about somewhere and a spare rear mount with poly bushes in so in for a penny.............. nice thing is it's a do what you want when you feel like doing it car at the moment.

[clf]

Originally Posted by SD1too

To clear up a potential misunderstanding resulting from the critical comments by a very small number of contributors to my thread, the job I have being doing is not just fitting new drop links. They were an unexpected addition to a much bigger task, namely replacing two broken front springs, removing both lower arms to fit new rear bushes and new outer balljoint rubber boots, cleaning and greasing the suspension bearing and fitting a new damper dust cover. This has given me a new insight into some of the things I read on the forum about the front suspension.

Simon

Am just processing in my mind, the work you have had to do. Surely it would have been easier, more straightforward to remove the subframe, with hubs and struts still.attached. possibly even replacing the bearings whilst it was all out?

This way it could have been tackled away from.the car, and even torquing the rear bushes too (an impossible task at the best of times). As well as that,you could have descaled and refurbished the subframe too. It would have taken less time, and been more complete, and you could have torqued the drop links without issue too.



Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by TourerSteve

With no disrespect you asked the question and have been given a wealth of advice and information from others, who have experienced this task and its problems several times before. They are passing on the benefits of their experiences ...

I did not ask for advice on how to change a droplink Steve! You'll see from post number 1 that I already knew the difficulties with the redesigned part and was asking if any manufacturer is selling a better version.

Originally Posted by TourerSteve

... all the experienced members here have the same goal , to help you and others keep their cars on the road.

As an experienced member that was my goal too; to explore suitable standard tools that will do the job. There's nothing wrong with Arctic's tool grinding solution but I wanted to see if the job was possible without resorting to that.

Originally Posted by Ducati750cc

How often have we all muttered unthinkable words and questioned the designers .... Front lower arm rear mount bolts anyone !

Hi Bill,

The solution to that one is to remove the anti-roll bar saddle clamp and move the bar forwards. You can then use a socket on the lower arm rear mounting bolts and even tighten them to the specified torque! That's much better than messing about with two ring spanners linked together as frequently documented here.

Originally Posted by clf

Surely it would have been easier, more straightforward to remove the subframe ... This way it could have been tackled away from.the car, and even torquing the rear bushes too (an impossible task at the best of times).

Tightening the rear bush bolts to the required torque isn't impossible Alan, I've done it (see my reply above). I also did fit the bushes to the arm on the bench which is far easier than trying to do it in situ as most posts recommend. Removing the subframe is definitely not more straightforward and it's unnecessary but I detect a little sarcasm when you typed those words.

Simon

[clf]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Tightening the rear bush bolts to the required torque isn't impossible Alan, I've done it (see my reply above). I also did fit the bushes to the arm on the bench which is far easier than trying to do it in situ as most posts recommend. Removing the subframe is definitely not more straightforward and it's unnecessary but I detect a little sarcasm when you typed those words.

Simon

It is not a task I have had to tackle ....... yet, but when I do need to, I will. I will look at the job in hand, with my mind to do it as recommended, however like you I will look around to see if I can attempt it in an easier way (not often such things happen in cars as old as ours). But if I do come up with an idea, it will be borne from experience and not by asking the question, dismissing qualified reason before even attempting it. I will certainly look at the method you have described, however, I would be wary of damaging the bolts that hold the ARB brackets onto the subframe . I would also be wary of my knuckles too .

With the subframe out, you could do the bushes on the bench too.

It was not sarcasm, it was exasperation.

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by clf

It is not a task I have had to tackle ....... yet, but when I do need to, I will. I will look at the job in hand, with my mind to do it as recommended, however like you I will look around to see if I can attempt it in an easier way (not often such things happen in cars as old as ours). But if I do come up with an idea, it will be borne from experience and not by asking the question, dismissing qualified reason before even attempting it. I will certainly look at the method you have described, however, I would be wary of damaging the bolts that hold the ARB brackets onto the sub-frame . I would also be wary of my knuckles too .

With the sub-frame out, you could do the bushes on the bench too.

It was not sarcasm, it was exasperation.

As you say--I think---Lateral thinking and preplanning can nearly always save time and money---and gashed knuckles.--