General DIY Wishbones!

Clivvy · Jul 18, 2014

sooo, they haven't been very helpful then? either way, doesn't matter because the shop didn't order the correct part, despite them saying the correct part was the more expensive one, but I got the cheaper one anyway :/

well, I am down there tomorrow at 9am to see what they can do, I just hope they will do me an exchange for the correct ones though I expect I will have to pay the difference which is fine..

fingers crossed...!

sussexa · Jul 18, 2014

cant be 100% sure but these look like the bush ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEYLE-Con...Parts_SM&fits=Model:Stilo&hash=item2c841ea88e
its only the front bush that's got the larger 14mm bolt that rear bush was 12 I think it was.
id let them price the other arm and see if they can get quickly enough as your looking at another £30 for a pair of bushes and the grief of pressing out and in.
when I was looking I think the pressed steel arms were cheaper than the cast arms but don't know if 14mm bush, has advantage of replacable ball joint though.

Clivvy · Jul 18, 2014

yeah thats the correct bush I think. I am going to see what they say first, for all I know they will be cool about it and not charge me for the return (items are unpacked) and just charge me the extra difference which I think will be about £70

but i'd rather that then mess about trying to press the bushes in and out - that said it would have been a nice job to try so I might see if I can devise a way of extracting the old bush...

sussexa · Jul 18, 2014

see if they can confirm if the pressed steel are 12mm or 14mm bush as that looks to be the latest version and is also listed for the bravo also.
shop4parts had them around £44 each
I personally didn't go for them as I don't do big annual milage so would probably rust long before they wore out(plus no confirmation of that bush size)
if theyre in the catalogue get them to cross check the bravo as they may be cheaper due to number of sales?

Clivvy · Jul 19, 2014

ok, slightly unexpected result..

Went to the shop first thing and explained the situation. The chap started looking into it, then called his boss who assisted. They found that their system doesn't list the parts correctly, and so when they placed the order they based it on the year of the car only, not by cross referencing the part numbers.

they apologised, found the correct parts and ordered for Tuesday. The boss man said that the cost was significantly higher, I knew that and was prepared for it but then he said to the man on the computer "just do it the same price"....!! so essentially they have given me the new wishbones for around £70 off....!

I have to say, I did not expect that, but that's probably the best customer service I have ever come across. I didn't have to fuss or complain, I quite literally just said "i bought these in Thursday but they aren't the right size, I needed 14mm, can you help" and I didn't say much else after that!!

amazing. This is AtoZ motor spares

Davren · Jul 19, 2014

Good result.

.

sussexa · Jul 19, 2014

good to hear.
you don't get to hear enough if any of this sort of customer service, hopefully it will pay off for them with you as a long term customer.

Clivvy · Jul 22, 2014

got the correct wishbones today, and fitted the nearside one tonight - nice and straight forward. Will be doing the drivers side tomorrow evening (the one that has a lot of play in it)

quite enjoyed the work, though it was HOT!!

Clivvy · Jul 23, 2014

bloody hell. Was hoping to finish the job tonight but only managed to get the old wishbone out in about 1 hour - damn tight bolts! Will finish the job tomorrow though. The wishbone I removed was very far gone to be fair, and judging by the squeaking rubber it may be the source of the odd noise I had a few weeks back.

Kinda hoping that when I get the new wishbone on, my tracking will pull into line, but I doubt it, so its off to the garage again for the tracking doing...

sussexa · Jul 24, 2014

I havnt had tracking checked yet, to be fair my bushes were all far from gone also and noticed little difference in steering wheel position or feel on a straight road . What did feel strange was when on full lock it almost felt like the wheel was trying to tuck under, almost felt like city button was on again.
Anyway dont notice it now a few weeks on, ill get my tracking checked on next new set of tyres as these are near end of life just need to last past sept mot.

rat20v · Jul 24, 2014

i have new springs to put on, so was thinking about replacing the shocks and lower arms and drop links all in one go, i don't have any noise or knocks or bangs but thought whilst its apart seems sensible. what do others think, is it worthwhile, and is it really as easy as i am led to believe? i have a pretty extensive toolkit, and have tackled most jobs in the past (apart from timing belts and headgaskets)

Clivvy · Jul 24, 2014

I'd say do it, the end result benefits will be immediately felt. If you can afford the bits, then do it, it is pretty easy I'd say. The only "problem" I have had doing the job, is stubborn bolts but that is to be expected and even then it was only the knuckle bolt. The drop links even easier to do - the last time I did my drop links I did it with the wheels ON, that's how easy it is!!

Davren · Jul 24, 2014

rat20v said:
i have new springs to put on, so was thinking about replacing the shocks and lower arms and drop links all in one go, i don't have any noise or knocks or bangs but thought whilst its apart seems sensible. what do others think, is it worthwhile, and is it really as easy as i am led to believe? i have a pretty extensive toolkit, and have tackled most jobs in the past (apart from timing belts and headgaskets)

If you're replacing springs and shock absorbers, it would be prudent to replace the top mountings and bottom rubber seats at the same time.

Stilo springs are not the easiest to replace. Because of their uncompressed length and varying top and bottom coil diameters, normal DIY spring compressors are not suitable. They're OK if you're just replacing the shock absorber, so don't need to remove the spring from the compressors, but the compressor screw thread is usually not long enough to take the spring out of them.
.

rat20v · Jul 24, 2014

Davren said:
If you're replacing springs and shock absorbers, it would be prudent to replace the top mountings and bottom rubber seats at the same time.

Stilo springs are not the easiest to replace. Becaise of their uncompressed length and varying top and bottom coil diameters, normal DIY spring compressors are not suitable. They're OK if you're just replacing the shock absorber, so don't need to remove the spring from the compressors, but the conpressor screw thread is usually not long enough to take the spring out of them.
.

Hi Davren, thanks for the info the bottom rubber seats, what do they look like?

also does any one have a rough price on the top mounts, i may aswell build the shocks up off the car and then fitting wont take long.

cheers
Robin

Davren · Jul 24, 2014

rat20v said:
Hi Davren, thanks for the info the bottom rubber seats, what do they look like?

also does any one have a rough price on the top mounts, i may aswell build the shocks up off the car and then fitting wont take long.

cheers
Robin

They're a rubber ring that's shaped to fit the bottom of the spring and the top of the spring mounting plate on the shock absorber. They form an insulator between the two. You can just see one fitted in the picture below from when I replaced my shock absorbers, and are item 11 in the diagram below.

The top mountings consist of two parts for each side, a top part (item 5) that fits into the suspension turret under the inner wing, and a bottom part (item 10) that incorporates a needle roller bearing and fits on to the top of the spring. Fiat price for them is about £100 per side, but when I did mine about a year ago, I bought a SKF (I think) kit for both sides for £47 from Shop4Parts. It was Shop4Parts part number S4P6684 but they don't list that now. They show a top front suspension mount kit as part number S4P9191 for £27.54 here: http://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Details&ProdID=9191&sku=184036 but I don't know how much is included in that kit. Perhaps it's just one side.

The shock absorber and top mounting parts have to aligned correctly when you assemble them, and also need to be aligned with a hole next to the suspension turret. I've posted about that several times on the forum already, but can post it here again if/when you decide to to the job.

The spring clamps shown in my picture below are not suitable for fitting a new spring because the thread on them is too short to fully release the spring from the clamps. I was only replacing the shock absorbers, top mounting parts and bottom rubber seats, so the spring stayed compressed in the clamps while I did it.

Removing a suspension spring can be very dangerous. Don't attempt it unless you are competent to do the job.
.

Clivvy · Jul 24, 2014

well guys, the job is done! Wishbones changed both sides. Only been for a quick spin around the corner, but it feels a lot better, nice and tight - but I need to adjust the disc guards as they are scraping a little bit on full lock. Also, I think its sorted my tracking out, because now the car seems dead straight, though I will know for sure tomorrow when I drive to work in it.

All in all, good job I wont have to do again hopefully, but if I did, its not a bad job to do on a driveway.

Davren · Jul 24, 2014

Clivvy said:
All in all, good job I wont have to do again hopefully, but if I did, its not a bad job to do on a driveway.

Everything is easier when you've done it before.

.

Clivvy · Jul 25, 2014

just to add - fitting new wishbones has affected my tracking (I have read about this somewhere recently).

Before new wishbones my steering was off to the right, meaning to drive straight I had to push to the left. After new wishbones, the steering is almost straight, but now a bit to the left (so I pull right a bit to be straight) so I am well pleased.

I will get the car booked in for the tracking sorting but its driving way better now, also I had a knock when setting off quick in first or second #(I thought it might be a gearbox mount or something) but looks like it was the wishbones. I also had a creaking sound, again, wishbones.

Only problem now Is I had a new tyre fitted prior to this work and it needs fixing (loosing air, probably needs re sealing)!

rat20v · Jul 29, 2014

Davren said:
They're a rubber ring that's shaped to fit the bottom of the spring and the top of the spring mounting plate on the shock absorber. They form an insulator between the two. You can just see one fitted in the picture below from when I replaced my shock absorbers, and are item 11 in the diagram below.

The top mountings consist of two parts for each side, a top part (item 5) that fits into the suspension turret under the inner wing, and a bottom part (item 10) that incorporates a needle roller bearing and fits on to the top of the spring. Fiat price for them is about £100 per side, but when I did mine about a year ago, I bought a SKF (I think) kit for both sides for £47 from Shop4Parts. It was Shop4Parts part number S4P6684 but they don't list that now. They show a top front suspension mount kit as part number S4P9191 for £27.54 here: http://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Details&ProdID=9191&sku=184036 but I don't know how much is included in that kit. Perhaps it's just one side.

The shock absorber and top mounting parts have to aligned correctly when you assemble them, and also need to be aligned with a hole next to the suspension turret. I've posted about that several times on the forum already, but can post it here again if/when you decide to to the job.

The spring clamps shown in my picture below are not suitable for fitting a new spring because the thread on them is too short to fully release the spring from the clamps. I was only replacing the shock absorbers, top mounting parts and bottom rubber seats, so the spring stayed compressed in the clamps while I did it.

Removing a suspension spring can be very dangerous. Don't attempt it unless you are competent to do the job.
.

thanks Davren, i was looking at buying a spring clamp hydralic press as there not alot of money, although i did do my supsension on my marea myself which was fairly easy but springs on that was super long too, i also have read you posts on the allignment of the top mount although i am sure i will be asking when i come to do the job lol

sussexa · Oct 2, 2014

my bushes and arms have had plenty of settling in time so, tracking time.
just received a trakrite which supposedly checks the tracking by just driving over it.
my drive isn't dead flat but flat enough for a quick check I think.
so n/s went well over 2deg toe in
o/s went just over 2 deg toe in
erm that's a lot I thought as its been driving reasonably well.
so decided to do old school string line as a double check .
the rear wheels looked to be just under 0.4deg toe in when worked out
the fronts were at least 8mm toe in(on 17inch alloy) which worked out 1.6deg plus on online calc
so cleaned up the track rod threads ,cracked the nuts coppaslipped and wound in a few turns, refitted wheels and redid the string job.
took 3 gos and took toe out 2-3mm at a time until nearly parallel and left at that for now.
will recheck with stringline in daylight again tomorrow, test drive and then attempt the trakrite again to see if its accurate around zero toe.
the idea being quick and easy rechecks regularly and for free from now on.

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