front control arm bush refit
Okay, second attempt and as we all know the sequel is never as good as the first version.
Safety first.
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Chock the rear wheels. loosen the front roadwheel bolts. Jack up and support at the recommended support points with axle stands. Now remove the front road wheels. I kept the handbrake on and car in gear.
Next loosen off the drop link securing nut.
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Also the balljoint plate capture plate and bolts.
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Mark the position of the balljoint plate relative to the control arm with marker or paint before you do this.
I found it necessary to detach the strut from the hub carrier to get the balljoint plate to clear the end of the control arm.
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Reattach the strut temporarily once the plate is clear of the arm to take stress off the gearbox output flange and C.V. joints.
Loosen and remove the control arm pivot bolts. I had to use a pry bar to get them to come free of their resting places.
And arms out.
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Does this look like a bit of rot in the subframe? The hole opened up when I was rubbing it down with a wire brush wheel in a drill.
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Arms on the bench/doggy kennel.
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The rear bushes were in good working order and deemed fit for purpose so were masked off with masking tape. The front bushes virtually fell out of the arms.
I used the drill with a wire brush wheel to rub down scale, grime and rust.
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I also used a medium file and fine wet and dry sandpaper to remove rust scale deposits at the bush holding ring where the metal had swollen/scaled up. This was also performed on the subframe bush mating faces. I then put a few coats of hycote mat black on the arms and the subframe and allowed it to cure for twenty four hours.
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I then made a tap out of an old bolt and dressed the threaded holes that secure the arm pivot/securing bolts. This is not pictured.
The control arm bushes are worn.
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But I believe the majority of the movement was caused by the worn front pivot bolt. I suspect it was eaten away by a step on the inside of the steel sleeve that goes through the centre of the bush. The step isn't pictured.
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Of course a new compliment of bolts and nuts is used on re assembly.
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There are some photos for some stages not present due to usual time constraints and greasy hands etc.
The next step is to put the new bushes into the arms. Use copper grease when sliding the bush halves into the arm. I put grease on the faces of the bushes as well for when it rests in the subframe. I used threaded stud, washers and nuts to pull the centre sleeve in to the bush, greased of course, because all other methods resulted in one or the other bush halves sitting proud and potentially fouling on the subframe.
Prepare the subframe aperture for refit of the arm. What I mean when I say this is to create space for the arm to be inserted into its' resting place level or you'll be there all day and forever. To do this, disconnect the brake line securing bracket and detach the strut from the hub carrier and undo the strut top securing nut. Now remove the strut from the space and tie off or bungie the disc/caliper and hub carrier up out of the way. A rope up through the strut turret around the wing and through one of the hub carrier bolt holes and tie off. Put clothes between the wing surface and rope/bungie to prevent marring of the paint. I used a trolley jack and pry bar combination to force the anti-roll bar up out of the way also which had to be done delicately and with care but it will stay put if done correctly.
Make sure all spacer washers and collars are in place as per powerflex fitting instructions and the arms should now go in to position with relative ease by using a soft faced mallet and a podger. Insert the arm pivot/securing bolts and tighten loosely.
Release the hub carrier and locate the balljoint plate back in position with securing plate and bolts put in finger tight. Reattach the strut loosely. Reset the balljoint plate to it's previous position as marked up and torque up the securing bolts. Torque up the strut to hub carrier bolt/nuts. Now torque up the strut top securing nut. Reattach the brake flexy hose support bracket, tightened fully (no torque value available so use your common sense). Release the tension on the anti-roll bar. Do this for both sides.
Now locate the drop link and associated bushes and washers. Torque up the retaining nut.
Torque up and angle tighten the control arm rear securing bolt.
Put the front roadwheels on and tighten the securing bolts as much as possible. Remove the axle stands and
lower the roadwheels onto a firm surface that permits access to tighten the front pivot bolts. Torque up the road wheel securing bolts. Shake the car to settle the suspension components. Now torque up the front pivot bolts and then angle tighten them. Recheck the strut top nut is torqued correctly.
That should be you good to go. Don't forget to remove the chock and tidy away your tools and equipment and check off that all securing fixtures have been torqued up. The wheel alignment will now need to be checked and adjusted. My steering wheel will need to be checked to see if it's centred because it was removed and repositioned when doing the steering column refurbishment. I set my camber at full negative for a laugh since I knew it would be getting reset and it looks like one of the Australian touring cars front camber. Grip in the dry seems better but the wet is possibly worse but no matter as the sports setting (camber/alignment) and new tyres will be getting done next weekend.
Torque values:-
Roadwheel securing bolts 110 Nm
Anti-roll bar connecting link retaining nut 25 Nm
lower arm balljoint plate retaining bolts 35 Nm
Lower arm front pivot bolt 50 Nm then angle tighten a further 90 degrees
Lower arm rear mounting bolt 70 Nm then angle tighten a further 90 degrees
strut to hub carrier bolt nut 95 Nm
strut upper mounting nut 60 Nm
I think that's all, hope you enjoyed.