The front end of the Mk3 was a bit rattly over uneven surfaces and it tended to oversteer badly on RH corners ...
I suspected worn ball joints and bushes in the front suspension arms and/or worn steering components (tie rod ends, steering links). The oversteer on right-handers was dangerous as the car tended to dive into the corner just as you turned in to it. This meant something loose in the steering or suspension components - the steering geometry was effectively changing as the cornering forces were applied.
As you can see, the front BJ boots were in a sad state and this always suggests wear in the BJs because of grit, etc. getting in them and poor maintenance.
A lever or crowbar between the control arm & the strut will quickly show up any play. The left side was completely knackered and the right had some play in it, so I was after kits for both sides.
For this reason, I sourced a left side LCA with the grease nipple so I could rebuild both and have a matching pair.
The used LCA I got had obviously been rebuilt before. The writing on it says "needs ball joint ....
..... this turned out to be something of an understatement.
Once I got the cap off, the interior was full of rust & scale.
Fortunately, all the wear surfaces in the BJ are replaced with the new kit, so even an arm in this condition is rebuildable.
The new upper seat installed and greased ..... followed by the ball stud and the lower seat & spring
The retainer and its circlip are assembled in the housing , then the spring is compressed (tricky without the special tool - I used a valve spring compressor) and the clearance between the retainer and circlip measured by feeler gauge. The the retainer cap is removed and shims added to bring this clearance to spec. (.003 - .010"), then a new cap is popped into place. I was unable to get the cap to seal properly on this LCA because the sealing face had been damaged & distorted - it's okay for now, but I'd like to get a better arm at some stage - anyone have a left LCA for Mk3 (greaseable) in the back of a shed?
There are bushes on the inner end of both arms that were replaced. Likewise the track control arm (TCA) bushes and the stabilizer bar bushes. This is just a straight "old one out, new one in" job, so I won't detail it here.
Stabilizer bar (swaybar) bushes were very perished and were replaced with polyurethane. I'm not a fan of this material. I prefer rubber bushes if available - especially on main suspension arms, where polyurethane can tighten up the ride to the point that it feels quite harsh. This is fine on a sports or race car, but not so much on a family sedan.
The newly rebuilt arms in place with the LCA-to-strut bolts wirelocked for safety.
I had previously replaced the tie rod ends on this vehicle. It just remains to take it to a good wheel alignment workshop - I recommend Wairau Suspension & Alignment on the North Shore
One side of the car had a Lower Control Arm (LCA) with the grease nipple on the ball joint and the other side had a sealed unit. Both types are rebuildable, but not interchangeable and I prefer the type with grease nipple as they will last much longer if properly maintained. And I'm a demon on the grease gun!
For this reason, I sourced a left side LCA with the grease nipple so I could rebuild both and have a matching pair.
The used LCA I got had obviously been rebuilt before. The writing on it says "needs ball joint ....
..... this turned out to be something of an understatement.
Once I got the cap off, the interior was full of rust & scale.
Fortunately, all the wear surfaces in the BJ are replaced with the new kit, so even an arm in this condition is rebuildable.
The new upper seat installed and greased ..... followed by the ball stud and the lower seat & spring
The retainer and its circlip are assembled in the housing , then the spring is compressed (tricky without the special tool - I used a valve spring compressor) and the clearance between the retainer and circlip measured by feeler gauge. The the retainer cap is removed and shims added to bring this clearance to spec. (.003 - .010"), then a new cap is popped into place. I was unable to get the cap to seal properly on this LCA because the sealing face had been damaged & distorted - it's okay for now, but I'd like to get a better arm at some stage - anyone have a left LCA for Mk3 (greaseable) in the back of a shed?
There are bushes on the inner end of both arms that were replaced. Likewise the track control arm (TCA) bushes and the stabilizer bar bushes. This is just a straight "old one out, new one in" job, so I won't detail it here.
Stabilizer bar (swaybar) bushes were very perished and were replaced with polyurethane. I'm not a fan of this material. I prefer rubber bushes if available - especially on main suspension arms, where polyurethane can tighten up the ride to the point that it feels quite harsh. This is fine on a sports or race car, but not so much on a family sedan.
The newly rebuilt arms in place with the LCA-to-strut bolts wirelocked for safety.
I had previously replaced the tie rod ends on this vehicle. It just remains to take it to a good wheel alignment workshop - I recommend Wairau Suspension & Alignment on the North Shore
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