JohnnyG
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2009
- Messages
- 224
I just thought I'd throw this up as they are a wear and tear item,and can need replacing,so if you're in two minds about attempting it,here is whats involved!
First of all,I was getting a clunking noise out of my front suspension,only seemed to be pulling into my gate or onto raised surfaces,so with the weight on the car,I noticed the slightest bit of play in one of the links,very slight,but it would be amplified by normal driving.So thats why they are being replaced!
From past experience,anti roll bar links,not just on EK9s but all cars,can be very straight foward,or a nightmare!This time is was a mix between the two,not a nightmare,but what can go wrong,did go wrong on one side
So here are a couple of tools I used
A 14 mm Ring Spanner
A 14 mm Rachet spanner(not essential but a big help)
A 5mm Allen Key
A 10 mm spanner(to act as a lever on the 5mm allen key)
Rachet and 14mm socket
Wirebrush(to remove some of the dirt and rust off the threads of the links)
Vicegrips(when things dont go to plan...)
Can of penetrating oil
I had two ramps in work for this but it can easily be done on the ground on jacks and axles stands!
Once on the ramp,I brushed some of the dirt and rust off the threads on the original links,they were fairly mucky so it helps for getting the nuts off the thread
There are 14mm nuts holding the links on,and 5mm allen key counter hold holes at the end of the threaded bar,as the bar can move with the nut when loosening.So you hold the bar with the allen key(I used a 10mm spanner on the end of the allen key for leverage),and loosen the 14mm nut off
This is the nut at the anti roll bar end I am currently doing in this pictures
It is quite slow and tedious so the 14mm rachet spanner is a good job for this
They are a small bit awkward to access,and the counter hold hole is a bit fragile,so make sure the hole for the allen key is clear of dirt and in as best it can be.
Now unfortunately,as above,the 5mm hole isnt very strong,so the D/S side nut got fairly tight to the thread,and the counter hold hole rounded off,and the nut and bar were now spinning as one,this is the worst case scenario,so after making 100% sure I had the right new ones,I put plan B into action!!
Its a bit heavy handed,but you can hold the bar with a vicegrips to stop it spinning,once this was done,thankfully the nut threaded off with relative ease
Now,the other nut on the end of the link is a small but more difficult to get,as the fork off the shock runs close to the counter hold,so the vice grips were out again...
But both sides came out easily enough
So thats both sides out,no major drama except the bar on one of the links getting tight to the nut and having to use the vicegrips
Here is the old compared to the new
The new links are courtesy of Andy and the guys at the Tuning Factory,They are Race Series links like the ones which will be used in their Nippon Integra this year,and they were inexpensive compared to the OEM ones
The best thing about the is they have a 14mm nut integrated onto the threaded bar as oppossed to the flimsy 5mm at the end of the OEM links,if they ever need to come out again it'll be made a lot easier!
So 5 minutes later the new parts were in
I only tightened the bolts a small bit for the moment,as I want the weight of the car on them to preload them.
What is preload??It is in the case tightening the links in the position where the car would usual sit,as if the weight is off the car,the position of the links might be a couple of mm off and cause premature wear
This can be done on the ground by putting the front wheels down on something raised enough to slide under car and tighten the bolts(safely of course),but the main job for this is a 4 post ramp,if you can tighten the bolts up and bring the car to a local garage with a 4 poster or pit to get it preloaded,Try and do that!
So I raised my Championship Brown Civic up...
I loosened the nuts off a thread or so,and retightened them,and thats it,job done
So,road test,no major differnce until...I get to my gate and no annoying clunk coming into my house,thats good enough for me!
First of all,I was getting a clunking noise out of my front suspension,only seemed to be pulling into my gate or onto raised surfaces,so with the weight on the car,I noticed the slightest bit of play in one of the links,very slight,but it would be amplified by normal driving.So thats why they are being replaced!
From past experience,anti roll bar links,not just on EK9s but all cars,can be very straight foward,or a nightmare!This time is was a mix between the two,not a nightmare,but what can go wrong,did go wrong on one side
So here are a couple of tools I used
A 14 mm Ring Spanner
A 14 mm Rachet spanner(not essential but a big help)
A 5mm Allen Key
A 10 mm spanner(to act as a lever on the 5mm allen key)
Rachet and 14mm socket
Wirebrush(to remove some of the dirt and rust off the threads of the links)
Vicegrips(when things dont go to plan...)
Can of penetrating oil
I had two ramps in work for this but it can easily be done on the ground on jacks and axles stands!
Once on the ramp,I brushed some of the dirt and rust off the threads on the original links,they were fairly mucky so it helps for getting the nuts off the thread
There are 14mm nuts holding the links on,and 5mm allen key counter hold holes at the end of the threaded bar,as the bar can move with the nut when loosening.So you hold the bar with the allen key(I used a 10mm spanner on the end of the allen key for leverage),and loosen the 14mm nut off
This is the nut at the anti roll bar end I am currently doing in this pictures
It is quite slow and tedious so the 14mm rachet spanner is a good job for this
They are a small bit awkward to access,and the counter hold hole is a bit fragile,so make sure the hole for the allen key is clear of dirt and in as best it can be.
Now unfortunately,as above,the 5mm hole isnt very strong,so the D/S side nut got fairly tight to the thread,and the counter hold hole rounded off,and the nut and bar were now spinning as one,this is the worst case scenario,so after making 100% sure I had the right new ones,I put plan B into action!!
Its a bit heavy handed,but you can hold the bar with a vicegrips to stop it spinning,once this was done,thankfully the nut threaded off with relative ease
Now,the other nut on the end of the link is a small but more difficult to get,as the fork off the shock runs close to the counter hold,so the vice grips were out again...
But both sides came out easily enough
So thats both sides out,no major drama except the bar on one of the links getting tight to the nut and having to use the vicegrips
Here is the old compared to the new
The new links are courtesy of Andy and the guys at the Tuning Factory,They are Race Series links like the ones which will be used in their Nippon Integra this year,and they were inexpensive compared to the OEM ones
The best thing about the is they have a 14mm nut integrated onto the threaded bar as oppossed to the flimsy 5mm at the end of the OEM links,if they ever need to come out again it'll be made a lot easier!
So 5 minutes later the new parts were in
I only tightened the bolts a small bit for the moment,as I want the weight of the car on them to preload them.
What is preload??It is in the case tightening the links in the position where the car would usual sit,as if the weight is off the car,the position of the links might be a couple of mm off and cause premature wear
This can be done on the ground by putting the front wheels down on something raised enough to slide under car and tighten the bolts(safely of course),but the main job for this is a 4 post ramp,if you can tighten the bolts up and bring the car to a local garage with a 4 poster or pit to get it preloaded,Try and do that!
So I raised my Championship Brown Civic up...
I loosened the nuts off a thread or so,and retightened them,and thats it,job done
So,road test,no major differnce until...I get to my gate and no annoying clunk coming into my house,thats good enough for me!
