Technical Front hub/upright/steering arm?

[davidhackett]

Hi.

I have a Punto with a dead steering arm (long story).
I've not seen it with my own eyes so just trying to work out - is the steering arm all the same part with the hub/upright/bearing? Garage say it is which means I need to replace the whole thing?
If so, is the hub the same across all Punto models? So one from a standard car will fit a Sporting (which I believe runs the GT suspension)?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

 

[newportz]

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure my Punto has a Rack and Pinion steering system which means that there is a tie rod end that attaches to your hub assembly and you would either have to replace just that or the hub but not necessarily both. Not quite sure what a dead steering arm is?

 

[davidhackett]

The steering arm is the bit which is attached to (or part of) the hub, which the end of the steering rack uses as a lever to turn the hub left or right. The track rod end is the balljoint which does the job of attaching rack to hub/arm.
I guess some people call the ends of the steering rack assembly 'arms' so that could be confusing. Basically I mean the bit which is part of the hub which the taper part of the track rod end fits into.

Dave

 

[newportz]

Ok, I think I gotcha. I'll check my car later today but I'm pretty sure that's one piece. You separate the bearing and brake stuff and are left with the hub assembly. You may as well replace the bearing unless the car has low mileage. By the way, how does that part break/go dead?

 

[davidhackett]

I'm told it went dead by a garage fitting a track rod end with a taper which was too large and it has cracked the steering arm around where the taper fits in.

Dave

 

[Coshstar]

is to mend a snapped sterring arm hard and costley? mine has broken on the left hand side betweeen the balljoint and the big center bit of the arm?

Punto 1.6 Turbo

 

[dave]

Originally posted by davidhackett
I'm told it went dead by a garage fitting a track rod end with a taper which was too large and it has cracked the steering arm around where the taper fits in.

Dave

If they broke it its down to them to fix it surely.

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[newportz]

I looked at my car and it looks like a one piece unit as in most cars.

Dave's got a point. You don't really describe how the garage determined the problem, but if it occurred while they were taking the tie rod ends out and they didn't use a removal tool then perhaps they caused the cracked hub. The alternative to using a proper ball joint removal tool is, of course, to strategically bash the hub with a hammer until the ball joint separates. That's actually normal as I have yet to see a mechanic use a remover but in this case it may have cracked the hub?

Coshstar, if I understand correctly your tie rod end has snapped. This is an easy fix, the part shouldn't be too much and count on having to get a wheel alignment.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[newportz]

Ooops, actually you do say how it happened:I Anyway, If they were putting in new ends that had a taper bigger than the one on the car's hub then all the more reason to have them pay for it. That's incompetant! Even so, consider my previous theory as they could have cracked it taking the old ends out.

 

[davidhackett]

Hi.

Yep I'm being a bit light on the facts, cos to be honest, what's done is done, and I'm done arguing about it. The only thing that is certain is that it has got to be fixed, life's too short and all that.

Coshstar, the quote to fix is about £300. It's a good few hours labour to disassemble and reassemble the front upright and replace with a _new_ part. You could probably DIY it in a day, and pick up a second hand part from a scrapper.
Actually I may well have found a second hand part if you are interested? Have a look here:http://www.puntoabarth.co.uk/phpBB2...start=45&sid=db1b5ffa36d460967d8794c3d0498500
You are welcome to nab it as a new part has already been ordered for me so it's too late [8)]

Dave