Technical Suspension Drop Links

[Slowco]

Hi everyone.

Ive had terrible luck with the front suspension droplinks, needing to replacing almost every year. we live up a fairly rough track, but its not long, and its noithing a 4wd should even notice. its a 2013 4x4.

In less than 3 years ive swapped 4 droplinks. Ive tried Bilsteins and generic ones, and theyve all failed, making the knocking sound from underneath.

Have i just had bad luck, or are all droplinks just a bit rubbish?? Luckily its an easy job, but id rather not do it so often!

thanks everyone

 

[jrkitching]

Luckily its an easy job, but id rather not do it so often

At least if you're doing them every year, you should be able to get the nuts undone!

 

[FiatMatt94]

Maybe try genuine Fiat ones as some aftermarket parts aren't very good, I remember when I was running a Classic Mini as a daily driver I was changing top & bottom ball joints twice a year & the lower arm bushes were a regular thing every MOT time

 

[Slowco]

thanks guys- and yes, the nuts are nice now! had to cut them off the first time, but pretty easy now

Front Drop Link 52148016

www.shop4parts.co.uk

a very big price difference from after market to FCA (genuine?)... hmm!

is this common for everyone else?

 

[Panda IIs]

thanks guys- and yes, the nuts are nice now! had to cut them off the first time, but pretty easy now

Front Drop Link 52148016

www.shop4parts.co.uk

a very big price difference from after market to FCA (genuine?)... hmm!

is this common for everyone else?

Can't comment re drop links but my experience of wishbones is that I bought EuroCar Parts pattern part for an MOT advisory that then had to be replaced at the next MOT so I went OEM (at not too much extra cost wise) from Shop4Parts and they are have been OK for 2+ years now (doing similar mileage year on year) so I would say definitely improvement in quality, certainly looked better!

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

To some degree, the drop links are there as a sacrificial element that’s easy and not too expensive to fit. The alternative is all the impact and wear being taken direct by the ARB and its mounts, as well as being transferred to the shock mounts, which would be a real pain to replace. My 4x4 has a mix of on and off road driving, and the road bits are mostly the pothole forest that is Hertfordshire… and on 55000 miles still seem to be ok.

 

[Panda IIs]

To some degree, the drop links are there as a sacrificial element that’s easy and not too expensive to fit. The alternative is all the impact and wear being taken direct by the ARB and its mounts, as well as being transferred to the shock mounts, which would be a real pain to replace. My 4x4 has a mix of on and off road driving, and the road bits are mostly the pothole forest that is Hertfordshire… and on 55000 miles still seem to be ok.

Well as we share the same pothole fest in Herts I've not had to do the drop links for 40kmiles in my ownership and I've no reason to think they aren't the originals. That's a total mileage of 84k miles (4x4TA).

I have however just had a second DMF/clutch which is another story...

 

[koalar]

There's play in the hole that allows the bolt to make a single lound bang over larger bumps unless they are very tight

Usally takes about a year to work loose enough to became noisy

It's very very common

When the ball joints wear out, they normally make a jinglely sound on rough surfaces

Be careful if you only replace one side, I have seen slight variation in length about 5mm

Even the cheapest £5 plastic ones last a few years of rough driving

Bent anti roll bar, parking with one front wheel up a curb, as will letting the centre spin while fitting will lessen its life

The original ones usally last an easy 40K of normal driving

 

[The Panda Nut]

Can't comment re drop links but my experience of wishbones is that I bought EuroCar Parts pattern part for an MOT advisory that then had to be replaced at the next MOT so I went OEM (at not too much extra cost wise) from Shop4Parts and they are have been OK for 2+ years now (doing similar mileage year on year) so I would say definitely improvement in quality, certainly looked better!

Mirrors my experience of ECP drop links. They seem frgaile in general though and they take an awful lot of hammer.

 

[Big gerry]

Hi I’ve a 2013 4x4 and I changed my droplinks and they only lasted 6 months I’ve now bought genuine hopefully they last a bit longer at the price I paid £80 all in from the dealership my mechanic said the droplinks are a right length which doesn’t help them

 

[Greasytrucker]

Maybe try genuine Fiat ones as some aftermarket parts aren't very good, I remember when I was running a Classic Mini as a daily driver I was changing top & bottom ball joints twice a year & the lower arm bushes were a regular thing every MOT time

Did you also take a grease gun with you to the MOT centre, stop round the corner and fill the rear radius full of grease to take some of the play out? Nobody wanted to replace rear radius arms!

 

[FiatMatt94]

Did you also take a grease gun with you to the MOT centre, stop round the corner and fill the rear radius full of grease to take some of the play out? Nobody wanted to replace rear radius arms!

We used to grease all the grease nipples on the car regularly anyway as my dad's a mechanic & has had loads of Mini's over the years, I'm not surprised no one wants to replace them though, they were near on £300 a side when I had my old one, luckily I've always had a spare pair from my dad's old 1275 GT which he had in 1986 & their still in really good order

 

[AAB1992]

Hi everyone.

Ive had terrible luck with the front suspension droplinks, needing to replacing almost every year. we live up a fairly rough track, but its not long, and its noithing a 4wd should even notice. its a 2013 4x4.

In less than 3 years ive swapped 4 droplinks. Ive tried Bilsteins and generic ones, and theyve all failed, making the knocking sound from underneath.

Have i just had bad luck, or are all droplinks just a bit rubbish?? Luckily its an easy job, but id rather not do it so often!

thanks everyone

Not too sure what brand earlier models came with but latter 2016 models come with Lemforder ones. My car is on 110k and still has the original links, whilst being driven fairly hard. Early models had issues with the ARB rubber mounts being substandard. Check those also, as they can contribute to knocking sounds.

 

[Slowco]

thanks everyone! ill have a snoop around and see if there are any lemforder ones too. as you say, sacrifical seems to be an appropriate description. still very poor longevity though.

 

[lambou1d]

You can get uprated drop links for all the 4x4 Pandas from (https://rialzi4x4evo.it/it/16-kit-professional) .Probably need to uprate all the other suspension components otherwise everything will become sacrificial except the drop links!!