Drag strut poly bushes ( Which way round??? )

[zee1]

I know this thread is old now.... Is it a difficult job changing the drag strut bushes? What should i look out for?
Thanks Steve

[stag8manod]

To you Guys changing Dray Strut bushes. Check the front fork where it goes around the radius arm. They have been known to fracture with many years of suspension oscillations.
Cheers Ian A

[Mike Stevens]

Especially on cars with front ARB - like the Stag. Not all the Triumph big saloons have the ARB and those don't seem to be less prone to cracking. It's easy enough to weld some strengthening bits onto them.

The only thing I've found with replacing the drag struts is getting the inner nut back on when the wheels are hanging down. The angle of the drag struts is such that there isn't enough room inside the 'chassis' hole. Jacking up the wheel/hub seems to fix that!

Cheers,
Mike.

[Stag therapy]

Especially on cars with front ARB - like the Stag. Not all the Triumph big saloons have the ARB and those don't seem to be less prone to cracking. It's easy enough to weld some strengthening bits onto them.

The only thing I've found with replacing the drag struts is getting the inner nut back on when the wheels are hanging down. The angle of the drag struts is such that there isn't enough room inside the 'chassis' hole. Jacking up the wheel/hub seems to fix that!

Cheers,
Mike.

I too found the inner nuts lacking room, but in my case, for some reason, jacking up the wheel didn't make much difference. (Contrary to my expectations). So I disconnected at the track arm and then tightened up the nuts, before reconnecting the track arm.

Barry

[ant]

I'm currently replacing my drag strut bushes as the offside polybush one has disintegrated. All went well until I came to undo the inner nut that attaches the drag arm to the bodywork. It's awkward at the best of times, but neither side would budge, even after using an air wrench to try to loosen it. I broke a socket wrench and a universal joint trying.
it suddenly occurred to me that it might be a left hand thread and I was simply tightening it up further!
Please tell me it's a right hand thread?
Has anybody experienced these nuts being extremely tight? If so how did you eventually loosen them?
Thanks and regards
ant

[Lingen]

Ant. They have the usual right hand threads, and I have never heard of them being that tight before. Are they nyloc nuts? All you can do really is to soak them with penetrating oil and try again. Perhaps a plain wrench and no u.j.might do the trick.
I suggest you use (good)! rubber, or soft polybushes, as hard ones have been known to cause the anchorage there to fatigue and fracture.
Mike.

[dasadrew]

Due to the geometry of the chassis, I found it was very difficult to get a socket on the nut fair and square and not wedging itself against being turned. Once I ensured that a socket was correctly and squarely on the nut, the nut was easy to undo.

Drew

[ant]

Thanks guys. I've put everything back together, so I'm thinking I might put her up on ramps, get underneath and try to loosen the nuts/use penetrating oil before taking off the anti roll bar and the nut on the other end. I should be able to reverse off the ramps with the inner nuts loose, yes? Then jack it up and remove the wheels. The struts should be horizontal and easier to get a straight go at with the socket!
Ive never had nuts so tight. I'm afraid of shearing the thread ( although that would solve the issue, just mean buying a new strut)!
Any other suggestions welcome!
BTW, I've got Polybush everywhere, but I'm putting rubber bushes here.

[ant]

Ok I did the above and it worked. Managed to get the nuts nearly all the way off with the front of the car on ramps so that the drag struts remained horizontal. They were Nyloc nuts but came off ok once loosened.
only one of the four bushes was destroyed, the other three were like new. Offside outer bushing was the one that was disintegrated.
Very difficult job putting the arms back, they just did not want to be reattached, but got it eventually.

Thanks again for the help and advice.
��

[dasadrew]

Good for you. It's always nice on the forum to know how a problem worked out.

Drew