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MisterC1501
Saturday 24th January 2009, 17:16
well not really, hopefully, but even the smallest job can become troublesome.

Stripping the front struts tomorrow to try and sort out the annoying "rattle" coming from the front. Have already sourced the top mounts, both lower and upper, for both sides.

Also, I will be replacing the lower arms, since the left one is worn, but will do both sides.

Simple tasks in theory....will let you know!!

Quicksilver
Saturday 24th January 2009, 21:05
Let us know how you get on, i've got a strange squeeky rattle from the N/S front sometimes and I think it might be top mounts!!.

t5 stealth
Saturday 24th January 2009, 22:15
anti-roll bar drop links ara a common fail that give a knocking noise....

MisterC1501
Monday 26th January 2009, 00:24
Stripped the struts today and yep, lower top mount (rubber top hat shape) was worn, more so on the left strut. The rubber had split allowing the metal bush to separate, so, I believe, allowing the strut shaft to rattle. I replaced both the upper top mount bearings too, since the left showed signs of play.

First strut took awhile; first hurdle was trying to remove the drop link from the strut (16mm open ended spanner behind the bush) then loosen the 15mm nut. Strut itself was made easier by having some supa dupa spring clamps, but we had to have a think on how to remove the X - shaped nut holding the lower mount. We managed by using a peg spanner. Once apart, assembly was simply the reverse. Second strut only took half the time to do, funnily enough.

Lower arms were both replaced (only 4 bolts plus the ball joint pinch bolt). Sounds easy, but you can only withdraw one of the 4 bolts holding the lower arm due to the gearbox on the left. Right side again only one of the 4 bolts could be withdrawn, the heads of the bolts fouling on the subframe structure. Luckily for me , the bolt threads were all good, otherwise it would have been in major strip down.

Onlly thing left to do now is to have a geometry check carried out, since after the car was put back together, and I drove home, I noticed the steering wheel was not centred. I know what I did for this to happen. This was when I was wrestling with the right lower arm that was solid in the ball joint socket.

The car feels really different now driving, in a more assured kind of way, and gone are the rattles from the front end!!

Big thanks to my brother and his fabulous collection of tools, I couldn't have done it without him!!

I managed to take some pictures with my mobile, so when I upload them to my pc, then I will post them on here.

MisterC1501
Tuesday 27th January 2009, 10:12
Had the tracking checked and adjusted yesterday. The tracking was off the scale! Its obvious that the previous tracking was compensating for the wearing components and now that I have fitted new stuff, what a difference it has made.

MisterC1501
Tuesday 27th January 2009, 10:25
Let us know how you get on, i've got a strange squeeky rattle from the N/S front sometimes and I think it might be top mounts!!.

I took my car at first to a local Volvo dealer who had "never heard of top mounts wearing on the Classics" and would not commit to a diagnosis without having to strip the struts first. Fair point really, but you would expect the dealer at least to be aware that the lower mounts are a common wear item. Or are they common??

Basically I had the car put on a ramp and all the steering and suspension components checked for play, so really it was by a process of elimination that pointed to the struts. It was only obvious after stripping the strut to find the lower mounts cream crackered and play in the upper bearing.

If you have the tooling, and the facilities to tackle the job yourself, then its not too bad, otherwise you may be at the peril of the dealer labour charges :frown: