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Trailing Arm Bolt


TargaWayne

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Putting my rear suspension back in, everything has gone in fine. The only problem is that I can seem to get enough grip on the head of the bolt that hold the trailing arm to the chassis. 

The mount is countersunk and the head fits in it, this prevents the socket going on all the way. The nut is of the locking variety so the bolt soon starts spinning. I've tried sockets, Deep ring spanners, normal spanners etc and it just keep slipping. 

Any thoughts? Should I put a washer under the head to make it more proud? There isn't one in the exploded diagrams.

 

Screenshot_20220920-123525_Drive.jpg

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26 minutes ago, Nige said:

Do you mean 4, 5, 6?

Yes, It was a bugger to take off, for the same reason. I cut the nut off in the end. 

The diagram indicates that there is a washer in the nut (inner) side. But none on the head side. 

Edited by TargaWayne
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Are you sure that ‘3’ is supposed to be countersunk ?  I can see no point in that, so if you can’t straighten the bush end, then (fwiw) I would use  a washer.

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26 minutes ago, PeterK said:

Are you sure that ‘3’ is supposed to be countersunk ?  I can see no point in that, so if you can’t straighten the bush end, then (fwiw) I would use  a washer.

It's not the bush, it's the mount. I'll take a picture when I get home.

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35 minutes ago, Nige said:

The mounting point on the chassis is recessed, which make access tough.

 

You mean this right

 

arm.jpg

That's the baby. The recess (arrowed in my pic) stops the socket from getting a good grip. Maybe I can get a 22mm box spanner to hold it. 

 

ta1.jpg

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15 minutes ago, Jonny Hart said:

Isn't it because the nut is meant to be on the outside of the car but nobody does that because the gearbox then stops you removing the bolt?

I've put it back the way it was when it came off. And judging by the condition and fight the old bolt put up, I don't believe they've been removed before. The Torsion bar tube has a recess to help put the bolt in straight so I would have thought that was the factory way. 

ta2.jpg

Edited by TargaWayne
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42 minutes ago, Jonny Hart said:

Isn't it because the nut is meant to be on the outside of the car but nobody does that because the gearbox then stops you removing the bolt?

I agree with what Jonny says.

Mark

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Well this is odd as the parts diagram posted above seems to show the nut on the inside.  

That can't be right for all cars since the torsion bar didn't always have the notches In it so you could not have fitted the bolt from the outside - angle of mount would not allow it.  Plus, there are lots of threads about reversing the bolt direction (so nut is on the outside) so you don't have to take the engine out to change the arm.

My (untouched) SC defo had the nut on the outside but maybe they changed it on the 3.2

Sorry, I know this doesn't help with the issue - I would put a washer under it.

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26 minutes ago, SilverWT said:

I agree with what Jonny says.

Mark

 

3 minutes ago, Jonny Hart said:

Well this is odd as the parts diagram posted above seems to show the nut on the inside.  

That can't be right for all cars since the torsion bar didn't always have the notches In it so you could not have fitted the bolt from the outside - angle of mount would not allow it.  Plus, there are lots of threads about reversing the bolt direction (so nut is on the outside) so you don't have to take the engine out to change the arm.

My (untouched) SC defo had the nut on the outside but maybe they changed it on the 3.2

Sorry, I know this doesn't help with the issue - I would put a washer under it.

Possibly a G50 thing. I know the G50 box is longer and the torsion tube is very different.  So maybe they flipped it to make it theoretically possible to remove the trailing arm without dropping the transmission. 

 

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3 minutes ago, Ruskiedog said:

20mins in, he makes it look easy! 😂

 

It's always easy on Youtube 😄. I think you must have to have very straight edge sockets, because you only have a couple of mm exposed to grip onto. Most sockets are flared so they go on easier. 

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9 hours ago, TargaWayne said:

It's always easy on Youtube 😄. I think you must have to have very straight edge sockets, because you only have a couple of mm exposed to grip onto. Most sockets are flared so they go on easier. 

Agreed, like magic!  He has some good videos though and I was interested to see his transmission discs were concave up to chassis not down to ground?  Mine are down to ground with Super Pro. Do you know what the difference is by chance? 

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33 minutes ago, Nige said:

Yeah, like what's the problem! 😉😄

It's a bit like workshop manuals when they tell you to just  "remove the slotted nut from the ball joint using porsche special tool...". Nowhere do they say it'll be so corroded on that you'll need a breaker bar extension the length of a cricket pitch or in most cases an angle grinder.🤣

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25 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said:

You can get the socket to grip well if you grind flat the open end of the socket to remove the radius, 1-2mm usually suffices.  This then means the socket grips from the start if that makes sense

I think that's the issue. I just about managed to get enough grip on the the drivers side to torque it up yesterday. However I've replaced the bolt on the passenger side, and although it's a OPC part, I think that the design is slightly different and the head has a bit of a 'radius' to it. Combined with the radius of the socket, the bolt just slips passed when you apply torque.

I've got some box spanners coming today, because they don't have any radius to them. I'll need to cut it down to get it in, but can use a slightly larger spanner on the outside to hold it firm.

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1 hour ago, Ian Comerford said:

I’m pretty sure I still the socket I ground down if you would like to borrow it?

Thanks for the offer, Ian. Luckily my cut-down box spanner did the job. A 2-minute job with the right tool, Both sides were easily torqued to 100NM. Hopefully, I won't have to remove the trailing arms for a while, so I need to label the tool as I'll find it in my toolbox in about 6 months and wonder why I've got half a box spanner and chuck it out.  

 

tatool.jpg

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20 minutes ago, Leicestershire said:

£42 for a socket. Not likely.

Wouldn't work anyway, still flared and too long to get in the space.

£10 set of doubled ended box spanners did the job.

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12 minutes ago, TargaWayne said:

£42 for a socket. Not likely.

Wouldn't work anyway, still flared and too long to get in the space.

£10 set of doubled ended box spanners did the job.

No problem, I gave up on cheap tools years ago.  

The aim was to suggest a thin wall socket. Size, length and drive is all down to selection. Having done more than once I can assure you they do work.

The standard suspension bush is a metalastic type. The only rotation is provided by the movement in the rubber.

Getting the torque set correctly (with the suspension loaded) to ensure that the metal parts of the bush don't rotate is the most important part of this job.

If you are happy with your £10 box spanner - please crack on.

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