Front Anti Roll Bar Fitting Tips

[TomSmith123]

Can anyone help?

Just had the arb and subframe painted. Really struggled today to get the arb back on. I have bought black power flex bushes in and out to replace the previous ones.

Have got them in place but can't get enough pressure on them to tighten up the bolts.

I noticed the bushes came with grease but they both slipped on quite easily without me having to use them

Any fitting secrets or tips would be great.

Cheers


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[Louis]

I'm going to be doing this tomorrow! I believe a crowbar with the pivot on the bush bracket and then the other end on the bulkhead/floor curve really helps get it into position.

 

[Ads29]

I found using a drift/punch through the holes of the bracket and subframe/wishbone along with a bit of swearing worked wonders, used the punch to pull the bracket over the bush, once in place it held pretty well in order to get the bolt back through. Swearing was optional but I find it generally helps in any situation

 

[AdamCup]

I used slightly longer bolts :up:

 

[JP83]

Slightly longer bolts and swearing.

 

[Tommo.]

Are you doing it off the car?

If so - I did mine that way using mole grips. Takes no more than 30 seconds per bush!

I use two mole grips. A larger one to pull the clamp towards the subframe and then a smaller one to the side of the bolt hole to hold it in place. Once held in place I then remove the larger mole grips and put the bolt through the hole.

 

[172Oz]

I used a hefty breaker bar to squash the clamps down as mentioned above. Not before working up a rage and threatening them.

 

[scotiamr2t]

The black series bushes are a PITA. longer bolts and swearing, also helps if you trim the bushes down a little as they are slightly too large. Im sure @Tomotek has pictures of it in his project thread

 

[Ads29]

The black series bushes are a PITA. longer bolts and swearing, also helps if you trim the bushes down a little as they are slightly too large. Im sure @Tomotek has pictures of it in his project thread

I didn't think they were too bad to be honest, once I'd put the inner bushes in the right way round. As I said I used a long punch to pull the bracket round and over the bush and then used the standard bolts. Admittedly I had the subframe off the car so I had plenty of room, may well be a different issue with everything still on the car

 

[TomSmith123]

Thanks all massive help. I will get on it tonight put the subframe loosely on yesterday but happy to take it off to get it done right


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[bearne1]

Tempted to have a go at replacing my inners with OEM but this looks a right pig of a job on the drive, any idea how much a decent garage would charge (have experience with RS Clio's)? The inners have been on the car since new and they looked very split looking from the side of the bush.

 

[bearne1]

Slightly longer bolts and swearing.

If you fit with a larger bolt can you put the bracket in place, remove the bolt and refit with the original sized bolt without the bracket moving out of place?

 

[TomSmith123]

If you fit with a larger bolt can you put the bracket in place, remove the bolt and refit with the original sized bolt without the bracket moving out of place?

That's what I though. I'll give that a go. Cheers bud


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[bearne1]

That's what I though. I'll give that a go. Cheers bud


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Be grateful if you can let us know, some other forums for other cars seem to think this works for similar setups.

 

[TomSmith123]

I used slightly longer bolts :up:

Adam any idea what bolts you used?


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[Budgie]

No reason the longer bolts can't stay there. No need to swap them over again.

 

[bearne1]

No reason the longer bolts can't stay there. No need to swap them over again.

This man knows his stuff!

 

[AdamCup]

Adam any idea what bolts you used?


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I think they we 10-15mm longer than the standard ones. Flanged head bolts :up:

No reason the longer bolts can't stay there. No need to swap them over again.

I've kept mine in as you can see :up:

 

[JP83]

If you fit with a larger bolt can you put the bracket in place, remove the bolt and refit with the original sized bolt without the bracket moving out of place?

Like Budgie said, no need to replace them. It was a b*****d of a job whilst on the car too.

 

[bearne1]

Like Budgie said, no need to replace them. It was a b*****d of a job whilst on the car too.

Is it that difficult but using the longer bolts?

 

[JP83]

Is it that difficult but using the longer bolts?

It's not impossible but I seem to recall some mild abusive language.

 

[TomSmith123]

Got it done. Had to drop the subframe out again. Also noticed that the subframe was bent which made getting the ARB back on 100x worse. Got a mallet on it and now its fine. Manage to use the original size bolts for inner but had to use longer bolts on the outers.

When I put it back together, I noticed that the dogbone mount wouldn't go back on. I suspect this is because I noticed that one of the bolts on the gearbox mounts was missing so I replaced it. Because I've done this I think its moved the engine forward so the dogbone doesn't quite join with the subframe.

Not a problem for me to remove the same bolt, but will this make putting the gearbox bolt back in an impossible job?

 

[hipwell]

Put the front bolt in first and then give the engine a little rock until you can get the rear upward bolt in.