Evening all!

 

After some terrible weather and a fused on tie rod end I finally managed to get the nearside front suspension changed. New shock, new spring, new top mount, new tie rod end.

 

As I need the car for work, decided to try and get it all back together and do the offside another time, but getting the ARB back in place was an absolute bitch!

 

Took three of us to wrestle the arb in to place and bolted down, but managed it. Now I can't get the TCA ball joint in to the bottom of the strut.

 

Don't suppose you guys have any tips on refitting?

 

Cheers :-)

TCA both ends, inner nuts torqued but with the big nuts on ARB ends loose. Then I do the ARB block mounts last with car on axle stands - I use a trolley jack on a flagstone to lift the ARB into place, a large part of weight of the car is pushing down.

And finally fully tighten the outer ARB end nuts after lowering to floor.

 

But now with state you are at you will need to raise the strut and spring, say using a big block of wood on the strut steering linkage protrusion and a trolley jack to get the clearance  to get the ball joint nose in and then the locking bolt. It's not impossible, but the trolley jack  will try and roll away  so a wedge might be needed. A bottle jack might work.

 

 

Edited 2 May, 201610 yr by dvderlm

I always have both ends of the ARB loose to where the nut is only on a few threads. That usually give you enough room to move things about. If you need more then unbolting the ARB from the body will help, then just bolt it back in place after. That seems to be the easiest way to tackle them.

Nothing lines up until the car's on the ground. This is a bit of a bitch because you then can't access anything..

 

I rarely have problems but i've done it so many times i've taken to certain protocols. The ARB must be in both TCAs first (you'll never get it into fitted TCAs), and the ball joints must be in both struts first. Then you can bolt one inner TCA, leaving you with the other inner to do. This will not reach.. But if you lower that side down, the weight of the car will take the TCA into where it needs to go. You'll just need some messing about with levering a screwdriver to get the hole for the bolt.

 

Lastly, once all the back's done, you do the front ARB mounts to the body. This is done with most of the weight of the car on the ground because this moves the ARB into place. For those of us with ARB castor blocks, a scissor jack in the wheel arch will place the wheel precisely where needed. In any case, jacks are your best tools here - just a quarter turn of a handle can mean the difference between a bolt never going in, or going in with ease.

Thanks guys! Much appreciated. Using the weight of the car makes a lot of sense, I'll try doing that. Really has some force behind it!

 

Definitely would rather get the whole lot done so may as well just attack it again tomorrow after work. Can get a lift in the mean time :-)