Well I thought I'd replace my lower arms and drop links like everyone else does with no too much agro.

It was tragic.
Applied WD40 over the last week.
Had to use a hammer to force the socket on to get a couple of the wheel nuts off.
Jacked up with my new 3 tonne Sealy jack and axle stands.
Wheel off.
Start with the top drop link which unbolted easy, bottom bolt didn't.
Deployed my size 9s and it shifted BUT the thing is just spinning.
Broke the sealed side to see if there was anyway I could apply leverage.
Didn't see any ready to quit.
Tried to lift the jack so I can get the wheel on, but the jack expired in a puddle of its own oil and it was caught on the jacking point so wouldn't come down. Double
Luckily had space to use the the cars own scissor jack to lift and got the wheel back on.
I was also sweating buckets in the 28 degree heat.

Any ideas before I to my local garage?

Click image to enlarge

Hacksaw through the nut to remove the outer bit where its binding, leave enough of the hex to get a spanner on though, then put an axle stand under the drop link so as to bind the threaded bit in the hole through the anti-roll bar.

Chrali wrote:

Deployed my size 9s and it shifted BUT the thing is just spinning.

*most* have the possibility to put a wrench on them (14-18mm mostly) to avoid this issue

Just one of those simple jobs that turns to Rat S***.

As Pysta, has mentioned, see if you can get a thin spanner in by the rubber seal. As you've been soaking it in WD 40, it sould come undone.

Indeed Thanks for the advice, yes I'll see if I can get a spanner on it, I forgot that! It it requires more than that, it can go into the garage as I need the car this week. That's the downside of it being our only car. Encourage alternative fuels, use all the petrol!
2012 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 TDV8
2006 Mercedes GL420 CDI
2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
2006 Jeep Commander 3.0 CDI with GDE HOT Tune
1997 Nissan Patrol 4.2 GRSE
1995 Vauxhall Monterey Diamond 3.2 v6
1994 Range Rover 4.2 LSE Beluga Black, Softdash, Brooklands Body Kit - Loved it!
1993 Range Rover 4.2 LSE ended up converted to 300tdi

I ended up putting a reciprocating saw through the threaded part. After hours trying to free it wish i had done that to start with.

Cheers guys,

I didn't see it originally, but I was able to get a 18mm spanner on it and remove the nut. To me it wasn't obvious as its not a bolt as such, more a couple of barely noticeable flat edges.

Ok next problem. How do I get the drop link off, as the threaded bolts are at an angle? I tried using the jack to lift at various points but didn't see any improvement. I'm just concerned if I knock it out, I'll not get the new one on.

Click image to enlarge

You'd need to have both wheels off the ground to not have a ton of pressure on the link .. then it just needs a prybar (which you'll need to insert a new one too) and a whack.

Ah ok, I've got a wheel on the ground. How much of a pry bar do I need? All I have is my breaker bar, that sounds a bit small. I'll jack up the other side and see if that improves things. Encourage alternative fuels, use all the petrol!
2012 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 TDV8
2006 Mercedes GL420 CDI
2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
2006 Jeep Commander 3.0 CDI with GDE HOT Tune
1997 Nissan Patrol 4.2 GRSE
1995 Vauxhall Monterey Diamond 3.2 v6
1994 Range Rover 4.2 LSE Beluga Black, Softdash, Brooklands Body Kit - Loved it!
1993 Range Rover 4.2 LSE ended up converted to 300tdi

With both wheels off the ground it's 1-2cm you need to take care of, for which a breaker bar is ok

I managed ok with the opposite wheel still on the ground just using a length of wood to persuade the antiroll bar to be in the correct position


Good luck

Ps I handed the control arms that have the removable ball joint located in the knuckle to a garage and he had a bit of a job with them, they can be somewhat problematic

"they can be somewhat problematic " Dinng1 - That's a bit of an understatement

I would say that they can be an absolute - Mine didn't want to come off with two ball joint spliters, in the end I beat the out of it before it moved. The bolt & nut removal were easy though

[quote="dingg1"]I managed ok with the opposite wheel still on the ground just using a length of wood to persuade the antiroll bar to be in the correct position

+1 from me - I recently replaced both fronts drop links with the opposite wheel still on the ground! Cheers, Steven.

2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8.

Lifting the other wheel helped me enormously, although I still had to use my jack handle to lever the bolt threads fully through. The other wheel also had swollen nuts and took some weird and wonderful prying and levering to get the drop link nuts off.

The drop link om that other wheel slid straight into position without any effort. Here's the first one I did. Thanks for your help guys, as I was going to quit. Not sure when I'll try the lower arms now, as I'm broken and sweaty enough for now, especially using a scissor jack in 28 degrees heat!

Should the drop link nuts be tightened on the ground?

Also the old links had a washer on the upper nut, that the new Delphi parts didn't, so I didn't reuse it. Is that ok?

Click image to enlarge

Quote:

I managed ok with the opposite wheel still on the ground

Quote:

Should the drop link nuts be tightened on the ground?