General How easy is a radius arm kit to replace

[Elxpunto90]

I've recently been getting a clonking noise coming from the rear of car I thought it was the slam rubbers under the rear coil springs as they where shot to pieces I replaced them but still have the annoying noise when going over bumps and slowing down and pulling away also is it easy to replace bushes on wishbones or is it easier to just replace them completely

 

[dumbledore]

Radious arm bearing is getting damaged causing the noise. As they use bearing there is no need for any bushes. You can get the repair kit and replace the bearing, or you can buy the whole arm which will have a new bearing installed.

 

[maggers]

Depends on your mechanical ability but they're not too bad a job, main thing to watch out for is the bolts holding the anti roll bar to the suspension arm - the rear one usually snaps off so from that point of view an exchange arm would work out best.

 

[dumbledore]

Was planning to do one of mine this weekend but the repair kit I ordered did not arrive in time. I am tempted to cut corners and attempt to just replace the bolt and the bearings but keep the old bearing racers in the arm. In this way nothing will need to be removed from the arm as the job could be attempted with the arm in the car. Not expecting to last but if is good for another couple of years that could be a choice.

 

[maggers]

Worth a try but you usually find the outer races are chewed up. i've known people change them with the arm still on the car, you'll need a (strong) mate to hold it while you hammer them in & out.

 

[Night Crawler]

I actually did mine last week.
The hardest part is getting the outer race out because there isn't much of a lip behind it.
You'll find that you will have to replace the lot. The bearings wear down and start knocking because they have dried out and are no longer being lubricated.
Well, that was the case in my situation. So all the inside of the outer race were chewed and pitted.

No professional tools are required. I did this with a hammer, blunted chisel an impact socket and my back door step.
Oh, also whatever tools are required to remove the arm from the car.

 

[dumbledore]

Agree there is no much of a lip on the race to allow me to take it out. If the arm is out then I discovered last time that my MIG welder does the best job. I tried to weld a blob to make a lip on the race and then while doing so the race started to disintegrate which made it come out easy. Pressing the new racers in I remember was a bit of a pain, I ended up using the fixing nut, bolt and washers as a press to make it go together. Looked a bit messy but was OK in the end. Wonder if there is a better way to do this.

 

[Pink192]

Hi
I done mine over a month ago.

1. lift car and axle stand both sides.
2. take wheels off.
3. take off brake hoses on drum cylinders (be carefull) and clamp pipes.
4. take off anti roll bar (three bolts boths sides), leave it accross underneath.
5. using jack support radius arm, disconnect shock (at bottom only, leave hanging).
6. lift radius arm with jack and clamp spring with spring clamps, drop radius arm and remove spring.
7. undo nut and remove bolt on raduis arm, remove and drop raduis arm.
8. using a hammer and long strong flat end screwdriver, knock out old bearings (a bit of force and patience) from other side.
9. remove inner plastic tube.
10. clean area for new parts.
11. replace plastic tube with new one.
12. carefull place new bearings in one at a time (not forgeting to put after first bearing the metal tube in), and with a peice of wood (so not to damage the bearing)and a hammer, or a copper hammer (directly using the copper head), knock bearing in, be very carefull to ensure the bearing keeps level, hit bearing at 12 , 3 , 6 , 9 o'clock (around bearing) to stop it cocking.
13. replace raduis arm and parts.
14 repeat on the other side.

should take less than a day (about half a day), well it did with me and my 15 year old son, so that in it self was good work (teenagers! lol), unless you have problems, like I did, in the rear brake system, had to get new shoes and cylinders and pipes, which then took most of the weekend, not having a car to get those parts, public transport takes the time there.

hope this helps.

Steve

 

[dumbledore]

Attempted to do my radius arm today. Almost finished. Followed the above but after removing the arm it looked a bit bad as I was using it for too long with bad bearing and the outer edges looked eaten up and will likely to leak causing new bearing to die quickly. Also managed to snap one of the ARP bolts. So had to get another new arm. Almost done it now but I need to fit the new brake cable. The new cable looks much longer then the old one so a bit puzzled. With a new arm I decided to get another wheel bearing and brake cylinder, so quite a bit more expensive after all to change it just in parts.

 

[dumbledore]

Finished off the job today, the cable was just right. Did not noticed that the entry into the car was further forward then what it seems when you look at the cable from the side of the car. The other cable looks like will need replacing soon though as it looked much more stretched when I was adjusting the cable from inside the car.

Took if for spin and now speed bumps are an attractive proposition, no knocking from the rear any more.

 

[Pink192]

Good to hear that, apart from the extra work, I know I had extra work upon starting and finishing the job, but you may have found that it was easier than first thought, I know mine was.

I also found that the bumps are a thing of the past, LOL.

remines me I also have to do the handbrake somewhen, mine is also sreatching, so no more ajustment soon !

hope my instructions helped.

Rgds Steve.