Xsara suspension leg pinch-bolt siezed

[Skull]

I heard a story once that these were renowned for being prone to seizing - but thought I'd learn the hard way.



Snapped spring on osf so I intended to strip down the suspension leg including the hub assembly but the hub nut wasn't budging with my breaker bar which... er ... broke

Decided to try and split only the top half of the leg and try and remove it from the car via the pinch-bolt which in theory is the easier option as long as you don't encounter any problems ....

Loosen wheel bolts, raise car onto axle stands allowing the suspension arms full movement, remove wheel, wheel arch liner for improved access, clean and soak all fastenings with penetrating fluid including the head of the pinch bolt and top nut on suspension rod, allow to soak ... in the vain hope that some finds its way into the seized joints ... repeat etc ...

Undo upper tie bar mount (T30 in the recess holds the ball joint), under the bonnet to slacken top suspension nut (22mm) 2 turns whilst stopping the damper rod (7mm Allan head) rotating.

Nylock nut (16mm) on the pinch bolt undoes easily enough normally, undo enough so it protects the threads on the tip of the bolt, if you are lucky a tap on the nut with a hammer will loosen the bolt ..... if this happens more than a month after you've removed it before, you are blessed the bolt head flat is locked against the leg and is the next point to concentrate on, I used a cutting disc on an angle grinder to ensure there was no rust holding the head in, a few more taps just in case you have freed the bolt off, then I tried easing open the clamp joint to try and let some more penetrating fluid into the bolt recess next try some heat on the bolt, I used a plumbers gas torch on the bolt followed by some more taps on the nut. So far I have no movement in the bolt at all ... getting serious now ...a point of no return .... use your angle grinder (with a cutting disc fitted) on the inside of the leg to cut the bolt in half where the pinch gap is on the inside of the suspension leg ....this should release the threaded part of the bolt, this confirms that it's the smooth part of the bolt that has welded itself to the suspension leg and you are facing a real battle.



My next idea was to try drilling out the bolt from both sides to try and weaken the grip of the stud part of the bolt .... it's hard to drill in the confines of the wheel arch accurately as you can see from my efforts .... ground the bolt head off and as flat as possible, last few taps with the hammer in vain hope ... no luck for me so out with the drill ...... initial drill point was going well until I snapped the small bit, so then had to offset drill to avoid the drill bit stuck in the stud ....I'm not overly worried yet as there is no thread to re-tap and a little bit of slack on the bolt should help avoid a re-occurrence with some lubricant actually staying on the bolt when reassembled ....




Currently waiting for some sharper drill bits as I seem to be going off-centre the deeper I go ... CV boot popped off - needs cleaning up, greasing and re-clipping on reassembly ....

[chinkostu]

i've never had them sieze in before, thats really odd. usually you can welly the living death out of the bolt to get it loose as long as you have a replacement. otherwise i tend to try and pry something in the gap the pinch bolt goes through and open it up a touch.

last resort is a heavy hammer knocking the hub downwards.

I would see if you can borrow an impact and a decent socket, undo the hubnut and wishbone pinch and then undo the 3 bolts on the top mount. i'd take the whole assembly out then (remove caliper of course!) and get it on a bench so you can use a decent drift to knock the stuck parts out.

[Skull]

chinkostu cheers,

Whilst waiting for parts to drill out the pinch bolt I've done what I can to try to get the job moving. The upper leg has finally come out with the help of a neighbour, spring compressors on and suspension top nuts removed, it then needed the pinch gap holding open with a claw hammer whilst lifting / twisting the upper leg both at the same time top bearing (503527 £19.40) was knackered so replacement ordered off ebay for £9.50, spring (5002 RZ £69.77) managed to get one for £20 off ebay, cv boot kit also ordered off ebay, including a new hub nut for £5.49 ....

It does look likely that I will have to invest in another breaker bar for the hub nut and take the whole leg out, partly because of the siezed pinch bolt and partly because of the cv boot spliting during this job, out of interest I've had a probe at the nearside leg and that also appears siezed ....

Already in hindsight I can see that buying a new bar to get the hub nut off would have been the easier way to tackle this job ....

[chinkostu]

It's usually a good idea to slacken the hubnut off with the spare tyre on and the wheels on the floor. Took a 2' bar and a scaffold tube to loosen the Xantia one!

[Skull]

chinkostu Yes that's the way I've loosened the hub nut on other cars before with the brakes applied and in a forward gear for the offside nut, where necessary to prevent rotation, so as it now stands I have started reassembling the strut, with the new spring and bearing on I've managed to get the top leg back into the hub (although the pinch bolt is still siezed and resisting drilling ... cobolt drill bits ordered).

With the new spring (unbroken) and bearing on the top leg, it was a very tight fit getting the top leg back into the hub, only way I could do it was to reverse the spring compressors so that the long thread end was pointing to the floor as they fouled the wheel arch / suspension turret preventing the top leg engaging correctly. Once the top leg was inserted in the hub leg, the top mount was then located and the 3 bolts loosely fitted to the top mount, then unwinding the spring compressors was a pain due to lack of space again ... managed it but it was a very long job just getting the spring compressors off

Next stage is to get the wheel back on and some weight on the hub so I can have another go at the hub nut with my new breaker bar ... it's a Metre long you know

Should have just bit the bullet and bought a new one last week

[RichardW]

I reckon with the hub off the car and the back of the bolt supported properly, some heat and a big hammer will fetch the remains out.

To help the hub nut if it's stubborn, apply load to it, then hit the back of the breaker bar in line with the nut - this will often shock it free.

[Skull]

Sorry not getting updates on replies ... update tomorrow

So .... new breaker bar arrived before my cobolt drill bits .... whilst I realise it's a bit of a strange way of doing the job I refitted the upper leg so I could get some weight on the hub and with the spare wheel fitted (steel with a centre whole) the car lowered, the engine running for some servo assistance and the foot brake applied the hub nut finally released it's grip I believe the reason it was so tight was the use of thread lock which you might be able to confirm from the photo? Just visible on the inner threads to my eye is a yellow film.





CV boot also arrived (universal stretchy type fitted with the aid of a cone CV BOOT KIT ) so I decided to fit that.... I've used one of these before but don't recall the life of them as I sold that car after a year, they are a lot thinner than the originals but saves splitting the driveshaft. So I had to release the driveshaft from the hub* by removing the lower arm ball joint and tying the driveshaft to prevent it popping out of the gearbox before swinging the hub out and pulling the driveshaft out of the rear of the hub, straight forward enough normally but I needed to use a 2 leg puller to release the driveshaft which was tight in the hub, also needed an extra pair of hands to stop the hub falling off the upper leg (due to the pinch-bolt being half removed remember I know ... I know I don't make it easy for anyone). Fitting the boot was easy enough compared to the job so far but very messy with the cone lube and I used a ceramic tile nibbler to tension the clips after tightening in situ by hand. Cleaned up and refitted driveshaft into hub .... all loosely connected for now as I still have the pinch-bolt to solve .... job would have been completed by now if I'd persevered with undoing the hub nut .... more drilling to follow .....

* cv boot supplier states 2 year guarantee / no special tool required / driveshaft needs to be removed and held in vice (I fitted mine on the car) kit comes with a new hub nut but doesn't look compatible as it's a castle type nut.

[Gibbo2286]

You know of course that for the best results you fit new coil springs in pairs.

[Skull]

Yes Gibbo .... but one thing at a time .... when / if I do I will KNOW the best way to tackle it and I have all the right tools for the job

[RichardW]

Stop buggering about, and get the hub off - now you've got the hub nut undone, you were only the track rod end, lifting off the brake caliper and unplugging the ABS sensor away from it. The 20 mins or so it takes you get it off will result in that bolt coming out in a couple of minutes, rather than hours scrabbling about on the floor.

When the rear strut went on my Xantia I spent about 6 hours trying to get the blasted pin out before I caved in and removed the arm. Took maybe 2 hours to get the arm off, but after that the pin fell out in about 30 seconds - had I done that first, I would have had it back together and been on the 3rd pint in the pub in the time I spent trying to save time!

[chinkostu]

Have to agree, aswell i'd have undone what rich has said, popped the nut onto the driveshaft a few threads and with the hub loose from the wishbone i'd have wellied the driveshaft nut to loosen the grib between the splines. then with the hub off you can try drifting the bolt out, or seeing as it's off the road you can set it up in the vice/on a bench so when the drill bits arrive you've no messing to do and can crack straight on!

I know the struggle though, the balljoint bolt on my Xantia wouldn't come out and I spent a good hour cutting through it to get the hub off. thinking back given I was replacing the bearing i could have been less brutal and blowtorched the nut to get the nylock off, and would have been quicker!

[Skull]

RichardW / chinkostu (still not receiving notifications )

I know you are both right so tomorrow I will take the hub off and try and drift the bolt out .....

[Skull]

Opps another tool shortage

Anyone know if the brake caliper bolt is a torx or a star key or are they in fact the same thing Any idea what size

This one looks a little mangled but bigger than any I have .....

[chinkostu]

T55 usually, can you not remove the caliper and leave the carrier on the arm?

[Skull]

Jeez I thought they were for the caliper .......