You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Car failed MOT on a number of things but the biggest problem is the 'excessive ply in the Rear Nearside Anit-roll linkage'. I've got the part ready for fitting.
Now, i've taken the wheel off to have a look at what i'm dealing with and it looks a relatively simple affair though I am undecided; is it best to fit with the car jacked up or on the ground?
Can you even get to it with the car on the ground?
Drop links on my cars are all ball joints so doesnt matter either way - I just use a jack under the front hub to get it in the right position while that side of the car is on a stand. Things like wishbones with rubber bushes should normally be tightened up with the arm approximately in the right angle for normal stance. If you don't you can get premature failure as you tighten them up with the wishbone drooped so it has to twist a lot just when you get the car back on it's wheels.
Expect bolts to be seized etc so I would give myself plenty of room to get in - hence wheel off, on stands etc.
It is a simple job where bolts will be a little stubborn to get off. Give them a spray of wd40 before you take a socket / spanner to the bolts.
Taking the wheel off makes the job 10 times easier....a couple of tips, get a second jack and with the car on an axel stand and the old linkage bolts undone use the second jack to jack up the lower suspension arm as it will take the stress off of the anti-roll bar, also allowing you to fit the new on without any bother. Also ensure you have a selection of spanners with you, as the last ones I did on the mrs Corsa used a 16mm spanner on the ball joint bit of an odd size for cars.
Mark.
With both rear wheels at the same height there should be (note [u]should be[/u]) no tension in the ARB, so do whatever is easiest access wise.
In addition to the WD40 tip, leaving it overnight after a thorough spray works wonders.
My mondeo scraped through its mot for this very reason - told it'll be a £50 fix before the next one so it can't be that big a job.
It's certainly not the most expensive thing it failed on - two new tyres due to damaged sidewalls! Thanks for the advice. i have 10 days to return it so I plan to do it this weekend before I pluck up the courage to go and get some new tyres @ £60+/tyre!
16mm spanner on the ball joint bit of an odd size for cars
First thing to do before working on a peugeot is go and buy a decent 6 sided long 16mm socket. All of the M10 nuts on them are 16mm - I think it is so you can use a 17mm spanner on the bolt head and 16mm on the nut...then again they could be doing it to be awkward.
No one has mentioned snapping off the drop links yet so I am guessing that mondeo ones are nicer than 306 ones. If you have the type with a torx or allen socket in the end of the thread on the same side of the nut then be prepared to have trouble as they rust and strip. One tip on the 306 is to cup the bottom of the drop link with a trolley jack and jack it up to try and stop the ball spinning. Other than that split the nut or snap the plastic drop link off and get some mole grips on the ball itself!
Citroen driver here, don't mess about angle grinder,dremmle or hack saw first as last.
What year Mondeo ?
If its the Mk3 (when TDCi engine came out) then I have a Haynes manual.
I could copy the relevant bit if its any use.
And as above. I do the drop links on our Galaxy every year, & dont mess about with spanners. Angle grinder from the off.
If its the Mk3 (when TDCi engine came out) then I have a Haynes manual.
I could copy the relevant bit if its any use.
That would be great. it is indeed the Mk3 TDCi estate.
If it's the drop link then another tip is to get another nut of the same thread and run it up and down the exposed thread before you start taking it apart. Helps stop the existing nut binding too much and increases the chance of getting apart. Worked a treat on my mazda. (assuming yours is similar.
Pics just sent.
Good luck...!!!
I replaced the droplinks on my Mk3 Mondeo Estate earlier this year. It's an easy and cheap job to do. Parts are around £12 each, buy good parts i.e mine are Delphi from Andrew Page.
Make sure the rear of car is on axle stands and in gear or chocked at the front. The nuts will probably be rusted solid so plenty of penetrating fluid. The OEM ones on my car didn't have a nut on the inside so they just spun when trying to remove the outer nut so I had to resort to mole grips.
When the old droplinks are removed ARB doesn't drop much when the wheels are off and you'll be able to fit one side easily and the other side you will need to push the suspension up either by hand or use the car jack.
You could cut the bottom nuts off as suggested by someone else but you'll find the top ones hard to get to.
I replaced the droplinks on my Mk3 Mondeo Estate earlier this year. It's an easy and cheap job to do. Parts are around £12 each, buy good parts i.e mine are Delphi from Andrew Page.
Make sure the rear of car is on axle stands and in gear or chocked at the front. The nuts will probably be rusted solid so plenty of penetrating fluid. The OEM ones on my car didn't have a nut on the inside so they just spun when trying to remove the outer nut so I had to resort to mole grips.
When the old droplinks are removed ARB doesn't drop much when the wheels are off and you'll be able to fit one side easily and the other side you will need to push the suspension up either by hand or use the car jack.
You could cut the bottom nuts off as suggested by someone else but you'll find the top ones hard to get to.
Thanks folks (esp Takisawa for the pics) managed to replace the part after shedding minimal blood. The bolt attaching to the swing arm came off no troubles but the ARB nut was stuck proper. managed to get a hacksaw behind the nut and hacked it off. The new one went on very easily and only had to take one wheel off.
Just hope it passes now!