That front lower arm ball joint - #%&!

[Retap]

Colvert that is a great idea i dunno why didnt see that hole before maybe got distracted by all the other holes!




So tell me, is a nail bar where trendy rust goes to drink? i'll get me coat...

[planenut]

Originally Posted by Retap

So tell me, is a nail bar where trendy rust goes to drink? i'll get me coat...

No it's one of five dives near here where people on the dole sit in until their appointment at the tattoo parlour, of which there are two.

[Retap]

Originally Posted by planenut

No it's one of five dives near here where people on the dole sit in until their appointment at the tattoo parlour, of which there are two.

Im told regulars to these tatoo parlours dont need to book ahead they can get walk ins such is there privilege.

[FLYING BANANA]

Stay on the subject people. No need to down the playground antics route, otherwise the thread will get closed.

Very interesting read by the way.

[Retap]

Guys thanks for the input and support im pleased to report after having to resort to improvising a press to get the bush on the arm!!! it was that tight, its back on and no probs getting the bush bolted on as it lined it up great using the magic hole "snigger" and some manipulatin of th ehub with the jack then the front bolt went on first time, got that tight and the rear bolt followed suit no messing about but i did use fresh bolts from rimmers. On a side note decided to use a new moog bush rather than the second replacement rimmer oem one but they both look to have equal rubber in them i really think the arm was machined badly.


Heres a photo of the improvised press used to get the bush on it was very tight but went on without damage using 32mm oil filter socket and bottle jack with assorted wood lol

[COLVERT]

[QUOTE=Retap;2910462]Colvert that is a great idea I dunno why didn't see that hole before; maybe got distracted by all the other holes!




Like I said in a previous post I discovered the hole through the casing by accident.--It is very difficult to see from under the car.

I've never seen it mentioned on any previous posts on the forum.--- Lots of folks have tried to fit G clamps but with some difficulty.

Not even MARINA Brian who did a write up on it.--It obviously escaped his attention too.

Would have helped Simon too.


It seems that pattern parts have tolerances that don't work.--However the aluminium arm is easy to carefully reduce in size, the part that the bush slides on to.--It needs to be a good fit but be possible to slide the bush housing along by hand.---

Press or hammer----No, No, No.

When a tight fit it will induce loads in the rubber that it was never designed to take. It will quite quickly tear or break.--This is why there have been a number of posts where people said the new bush didn't last very long.-

These folk have actually caused the short life of the bush by having it too tight on the arm.----

[Retap]

It seemed to press on ok with plenty of fairy liquid, the inner sleeve of the bush needed pressing onto this arm there was no other way without recking the bush or trimming the arm a bit.



A 32mm socket was a perfect fit for the inner sleeve to push it on without using a harsh impact force that would damage the main bush rubbers. The 32mm oil filter socket was perfect size to push that sleeve in and not damage anything doing it, it was even the perfect depth! And no rubber from the inner bush sleeve has come out that bush sits snug on the arm nice and tight in the right place proper geometry etc and the main bush material is in pristine condition never been stressed by pulling the bush on with it. No damage occurred to the bush anywhere during pressing it was straight forward tiny bit at a time.



Will say pressing it on like this was a delicate operation took a bit of setting up to get right. Certainly dont want to be a poor soul who might have to cut that bush off one day lol.

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by Retap

Success! Nothing like the sound of separating ball joint in the afternoon chill.



see photo of how i did it but it amounts to using the cheapo threaded splitter in combination with the hydraulic jack under it and the hammer head stuffed between arm and sub frame with pressure on from spring. The outer joint was back in the hub to allow the spring to provide some down force pivot in the arm.








First place jack under outer joint to lift hub up and provide room to insert splitter then put hammer head in for pivot. Tension up the splitter and release jack moving it to under the splitter where it presses on the 22mm arm nut. Then jack up as far as almost starting to lift the car off the stands then add more tension on the splitter using foot on spanner as to much resistance for hand alone with threads of splitter very greasy, bit more jack keeping eye on stands for movement and then crack it separates .

Just dashed in to cancel the splitters ordered yay.







Light fails now so i get to rest before refitting the new arm n bush. On a side note the moog bush fitted less than a year ago is properly and unexpectedly mashed up see below.

That MOOG bush fitted less than a year ago in your second picture is typical of a bush fitted not quite in the right place on the alloy arm. It has been trying to cope with axial loads which would not be there if the arm was just sufficiently loose to move into the correct place to receive only vertical loads.

It has torn itself apart.--

[TourerSteve]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

It seems that pattern parts have tolerances that don't work.--However the aluminium arm is easy to carefully reduce in size, the part that the bush slides on to.--It needs to be a good fit but be possible to slide the bush housing along by hand.---

Press or hammer----No, No, No.

When a tight fit it will induce loads in the rubber that it was never designed to take. It will quite quickly tear or break.--This is why there have been a number of posts where people said the new bush didn't last very long.-

These folk have actually caused the short life of the bush by having it too tight on the arm.----

Exactly that , the bush should be able to slide to centralize
I recently fitted an SKF lower arm and bush and when fitted a firm push would allow the bush to slide along the arm , On other arms I have had to file the corners on the arm for satisfactory fit
Quality of parts is a big issue it seems
As for centring the housing to the subframe I drop an Allen Key through the bush housing into the subframe on the other hole to the one I'm working on

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

... I discovered the hole through the casing by accident ... Would have helped Simon too.

Thanks for the thought Jon but I'm happy to say that my replacement bush housings didn't require any rotation to align properly. They were from X-Part and my suspension arms were the originals.

Originally Posted by COLVERT

It seems that pattern parts have tolerances that don't work.

Perhaps that's the cause of the difficulty you've all been having. My recent thread sought to draw members' attention to the X-Part option but it was met with significant reluctance.

Simon