Bent Wishbone???
Bent Wishbone???
Why is it you to try to repair one thing and always manage to mess something else up. Jacking the car up this morning, i think ive managed to bend the O/S wishbone by doing it too close to the inner edge, it only seems to be the first inch or so from front to back but im sure ive knackered it. Is it likely to affect my tracking as the car at the minute seems to run straight.
I dont have the time or the patience really to do it myself, what sort of time are we looking at to do one side if i supply the part which i can get for £14.
Cheers
I dont have the time or the patience really to do it myself, what sort of time are we looking at to do one side if i supply the part which i can get for £14.
Cheers
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richardworrall
will it need to be tracked up afterwards or can it br relied upon to be exactly the same as the original. In theory it sounds so easy to do, literally 3 bolts and thats it but with my luck recently i can see it all going pear shaped!!
Anyone local to the Burton on Trent area willing to earn themselves a few :beer2:
Anyone local to the Burton on Trent area willing to earn themselves a few :beer2:
-
richardworrall
Fitting Calibra Wishbones
The wishbones, or lower/bottom suspension arms as they are sometimes knows are a vital part of a Calibras front suspension, and as our cars age, the bushes and ball-joints that are part of these arms deteriorate and need replacedThe arm is a pressed-metal L-shape that attaches the hub to the car.
The hub is joined to the arm by a ball-joint and the arm is bolted to the car via 2 rubber bushes. These components are subjected to high stresses during normal driving so wear and tear is a very common occurrence, This is usually discovered when the car fails the MOT due to "bushes split to excess" or "excessive play in balljointIt is entirely possible to replace either the bushes or ball-joint or both, but this is a very tricky operation and it is easier by far to replace the whole arm, as the replacement will come with these parts already fitted As for costs, well, I can get these arms for under £30 each from my local motor-factor. These are after-market brands but are the revised, strengthened style fitted to most cars Fitting is quite straight-forward.
I have now got this down to a fine art and can do each side in about 15 minutes (presuming something isn't seized!)
To do the job you will need a ball-joint splitter, various sockets and spanners (13, 16, 18, and 19mm), pliers, a jack and axle-stands, a hammer, a piece of wood, a flat screwdriver and a small torch. A garage is nice but not always available. Make sure wherever you are doing the job is level, solid groundThe ball-joint splitter is the only tool you might not have to hand. There are various types available, and I use the cheaper "fork" type which is hammered into the joint to separate it. This can sometimes damage the rubber boot of the ball-joint, but in this case they are getting replaced anyway so damage isn't a concern. "Scissors" type tools are available that will not damage the rubbers if the ball-joint is to be re-used, i.e. if you are removing the hub from the car The most common problem with this job is snapping the bolts holding the anti-roll bar pendulum link to the arm. These bolts are a notorious weak point on many Vauxhalls. If this happens you will have to replace the link, which I will detail in a separate article
Slacken the wheelnuts and jack up the relevant side of the car. Support it with axle-stands as you will be lying under the car and tugging it around a bit.
Remove the wheel Undo the anti-roll bar pendulum link from the lower arm. This is held by a 13mm nut to the bottom of the arm. Not the orientation of the rubber bushes and washers as you remove them. These links are very prone to snapping on Vauxhalls and if this happens, then replacement will be necessary. New joints are available for between £3 and £6 from my local factors depending on the type needed best getting new ones as well before you start
Undo the nut holding the bottom ball joint, this will be 18mm if its still the original castellated nuts so you will fist need to remove the split pin which is like a circle with the pins going through the joint and the circle part goes over the nut itslef thus locking it. If its not siezed its simply lift up over the nut and pull it clear with pliers, hopefully it comes off all in one, if not then don't worry too much just get the nut off as your replacing it anyway so even if it does damage the threads you are not going to reuse it
Use the ball-joint splitter to split the ball-joint. This will take a few heavy hammer-blows. Don't be afraid of hitting it hard, your suspension endures much worse shocks every time you drive the car. Once the joint separates, pull the lower arm downwards to free it from the hub. a large bar would be handy to do that, simply push through so it is under the car floor and then leaver the arm down
Undo the 2 bolt securing the lower-arm bushes to the car. These are 16mm bolts. The rearmost bolt goes vertically into the subframe and the front bolt goes horizontally through the subframe. Note, you may have to remove the engine under-tray splashguard to get at these bolts if your car still has this fitted. If so, this is just held in place with some 8mm bolts and some plastic clips- Pull the arm from the car, this is easiest to do by pulling the front bush out and swivelling the arm round towards the rear of the car and tugging on it. If it is very reluctant to come out, lever the bush out of place with a large flat screwdriver
Place the new arm into place on the car. Do this by inserting the rear bush first. If it doesn't slip easily into place, hit it with the hammer, using the piece of wood to cushion the blows. Use the torch to peer up the mounting hole and check it is all lined up. Careful adjustment of the arms position can be done with either small taps of the hammer or levering with the screwdriver- Once the holes are lined up, loosely fit the bolt to hold the arm into placePush the front bush into place, again tapping with the hammer and wood if needed. Once this is lined up, loosely do up the boltIf you have difficulty aligning the holes, the bolts are slightly tapered at the ends so GENTLE tapping on the bolts can force them into place. Be careful doing this as if you damage the threads on the bolt or, worse, the threads in the holes, you will have serious problems, as the nut is captive and will then mean making a hole in the inside of the car to gain access to it so you can reweld or do a repair
Raise the arm until it as is close to horizontal as possible and tighten the bushes to the required torque. The correct torques are given in the Haynes manual, but most diy mechanics wont have access to a torque wrench, so just make sure the bolts are very tight Guide the ball-joint into place on the hub and tighten the nut.
The new nut supplied with the arm is usually a 19mm. If the ball-joint just spins without tightening, then use a jack to raise the arm (place the jack directly under the balljoint, not on the arm itself) This jams the balljoint and allows the nut to be tightened. Some arms come with nylock nuts, which require nothing else to hold them, but some come with castellated nuts which will need a split-pin to hold them
Re-fit the rubber bushes and nut holding the anti-roll bar link to the arm. If you find the bolt wont pass through the arm fully, again, raise the arm with a jack under the ball-joint until the nut can be tightened Refit the wheel, lower the car to the ground and tighten the wheelnuts
That it, you have successfully replaced the lower suspension arm on your Calibra! If necessary you will now have to do it all again for the other side Once you get the hang of it, the second side is usually easier than the first as you learn from your experiences on the first
Good luck
The wishbones, or lower/bottom suspension arms as they are sometimes knows are a vital part of a Calibras front suspension, and as our cars age, the bushes and ball-joints that are part of these arms deteriorate and need replacedThe arm is a pressed-metal L-shape that attaches the hub to the car.
The hub is joined to the arm by a ball-joint and the arm is bolted to the car via 2 rubber bushes. These components are subjected to high stresses during normal driving so wear and tear is a very common occurrence, This is usually discovered when the car fails the MOT due to "bushes split to excess" or "excessive play in balljointIt is entirely possible to replace either the bushes or ball-joint or both, but this is a very tricky operation and it is easier by far to replace the whole arm, as the replacement will come with these parts already fitted As for costs, well, I can get these arms for under £30 each from my local motor-factor. These are after-market brands but are the revised, strengthened style fitted to most cars Fitting is quite straight-forward.
I have now got this down to a fine art and can do each side in about 15 minutes (presuming something isn't seized!)
To do the job you will need a ball-joint splitter, various sockets and spanners (13, 16, 18, and 19mm), pliers, a jack and axle-stands, a hammer, a piece of wood, a flat screwdriver and a small torch. A garage is nice but not always available. Make sure wherever you are doing the job is level, solid groundThe ball-joint splitter is the only tool you might not have to hand. There are various types available, and I use the cheaper "fork" type which is hammered into the joint to separate it. This can sometimes damage the rubber boot of the ball-joint, but in this case they are getting replaced anyway so damage isn't a concern. "Scissors" type tools are available that will not damage the rubbers if the ball-joint is to be re-used, i.e. if you are removing the hub from the car The most common problem with this job is snapping the bolts holding the anti-roll bar pendulum link to the arm. These bolts are a notorious weak point on many Vauxhalls. If this happens you will have to replace the link, which I will detail in a separate article
Slacken the wheelnuts and jack up the relevant side of the car. Support it with axle-stands as you will be lying under the car and tugging it around a bit.
Remove the wheel Undo the anti-roll bar pendulum link from the lower arm. This is held by a 13mm nut to the bottom of the arm. Not the orientation of the rubber bushes and washers as you remove them. These links are very prone to snapping on Vauxhalls and if this happens, then replacement will be necessary. New joints are available for between £3 and £6 from my local factors depending on the type needed best getting new ones as well before you start
Undo the nut holding the bottom ball joint, this will be 18mm if its still the original castellated nuts so you will fist need to remove the split pin which is like a circle with the pins going through the joint and the circle part goes over the nut itslef thus locking it. If its not siezed its simply lift up over the nut and pull it clear with pliers, hopefully it comes off all in one, if not then don't worry too much just get the nut off as your replacing it anyway so even if it does damage the threads you are not going to reuse it
Use the ball-joint splitter to split the ball-joint. This will take a few heavy hammer-blows. Don't be afraid of hitting it hard, your suspension endures much worse shocks every time you drive the car. Once the joint separates, pull the lower arm downwards to free it from the hub. a large bar would be handy to do that, simply push through so it is under the car floor and then leaver the arm down
Undo the 2 bolt securing the lower-arm bushes to the car. These are 16mm bolts. The rearmost bolt goes vertically into the subframe and the front bolt goes horizontally through the subframe. Note, you may have to remove the engine under-tray splashguard to get at these bolts if your car still has this fitted. If so, this is just held in place with some 8mm bolts and some plastic clips- Pull the arm from the car, this is easiest to do by pulling the front bush out and swivelling the arm round towards the rear of the car and tugging on it. If it is very reluctant to come out, lever the bush out of place with a large flat screwdriver
Place the new arm into place on the car. Do this by inserting the rear bush first. If it doesn't slip easily into place, hit it with the hammer, using the piece of wood to cushion the blows. Use the torch to peer up the mounting hole and check it is all lined up. Careful adjustment of the arms position can be done with either small taps of the hammer or levering with the screwdriver- Once the holes are lined up, loosely fit the bolt to hold the arm into placePush the front bush into place, again tapping with the hammer and wood if needed. Once this is lined up, loosely do up the boltIf you have difficulty aligning the holes, the bolts are slightly tapered at the ends so GENTLE tapping on the bolts can force them into place. Be careful doing this as if you damage the threads on the bolt or, worse, the threads in the holes, you will have serious problems, as the nut is captive and will then mean making a hole in the inside of the car to gain access to it so you can reweld or do a repair
Raise the arm until it as is close to horizontal as possible and tighten the bushes to the required torque. The correct torques are given in the Haynes manual, but most diy mechanics wont have access to a torque wrench, so just make sure the bolts are very tight Guide the ball-joint into place on the hub and tighten the nut.
The new nut supplied with the arm is usually a 19mm. If the ball-joint just spins without tightening, then use a jack to raise the arm (place the jack directly under the balljoint, not on the arm itself) This jams the balljoint and allows the nut to be tightened. Some arms come with nylock nuts, which require nothing else to hold them, but some come with castellated nuts which will need a split-pin to hold them
Re-fit the rubber bushes and nut holding the anti-roll bar link to the arm. If you find the bolt wont pass through the arm fully, again, raise the arm with a jack under the ball-joint until the nut can be tightened Refit the wheel, lower the car to the ground and tighten the wheelnuts
That it, you have successfully replaced the lower suspension arm on your Calibra! If necessary you will now have to do it all again for the other side Once you get the hang of it, the second side is usually easier than the first as you learn from your experiences on the first
Good luck
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well finally did it, think i need a bit more practise though, took about 3 hours, ball joint came apart dead easy with a hammer, it was the putting together that was a complete nightmare, the front bolt would just not go through the bush and appear out the other end in the right place for the hole, took about half hour to do that bit, almost gave up at one point but im there finally. Thanks for giving me the confidence to do it, saved myself a few quid to, one place wanted £90 for supply and fit. Finally got the bit for £17 so im now a happy man again!!!!
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richardworrall
<!--QuoteBegin-richardworrall+--><div class='quotetop'>(richardworrall)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->do i need to get it tracked?, surely if its a direct replacement it should be exactly the same, plus i noticed it is driving dead straight and perfect as it was before i bent it<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Glad to see you got it sorted Rich [img]/smile.gif[/img]
As for tracking i change both my wishbones and did'nt touch the tracking and she drives fine.
Glad to see you got it sorted Rich [img]/smile.gif[/img]
As for tracking i change both my wishbones and did'nt touch the tracking and she drives fine.
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richardworrall
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