collapsing rear suspension

jwthwaites96 · Post by **jwthwaites96** » Thu May 29, 2008 12:39 pm

Hi guy's,
just really wanting to varify what the garage has said. my rear passenger side wheel/suspension keeps on collapsing when wieght is put on it, so that the wheel collapses down to rub on the inside of the wheel arch, evenly rubbing. the garage said that the hydraulics is ok, its that one of the bearings has collapsed so these need replacing.
The car runs fine with no weight on the rear wheel, and it rises fine, i have recently just had to drive it 250miles and there was no rubbing, as there was no weight on it. does this sound like what the garage has recomended? and can i just follow the procedure that its talked about quite recently with the sqeaky rear sus?
Any advise would be great.
Cheers
J

Rob_e (UK) · Post by **Rob_e (UK)** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:26 pm

I am not completely clear what you mean by it collapsing when there is weight on it, do you mean when you push down on that corner of the car? How can you drive the car with no weight on the rear wheel?
I think the garage is probably right that the hydraulics are ok. Even if the suspension is fully lowered the rear wheels should turn without rubbing on the inside of the wheel arch (not that you should drive it with the suspension lowered).
Also the two rear suspension cylinders are hydraulically connected so if there is a hydraulic problem ususally the whole rear end would collapse, I don't think it is possible for a hydraulic problem to cause one side to collapse and not the other.
If it is rubbing on the wheel arch then I would imagine the bearings in the suspension arm is very worn and the wheel is at quite an angle; assuming you have not got really wide wheels or tyres fitted

Hope this helps,
Rob

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:31 pm

Are you talking about the rear arm bearings? If you are, its quite easy to see if they are knackered or not, put the car on a level place & stand behind it, the rear wheels will bend outwards at the bottom, this can cause it to rub on the inner wing....

There is a diy section on the clubsite on how to do this if you are mechanically minded....

You can run the car like this, however over time it will cause the tyres to wear out prematurely, so i recommend you get them done....again with extra weight in the back it accentuates the bending out problem....

Kits can be purchased at a few places (GSF), however quite a few club members dont bother with the full kit & just replace specific parts which works out quite a bit cheaper, again there is a thread somewhere on this.....

jwthwaites96 · Post by **jwthwaites96** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:32 pm

Hi thanks for that, good advice,
when i say no weight, I just mean that there is no weight in the boot, the weight is more arranged over there other wheels. the suspension arm also squeaks, is this another symptom of this?

how easy is it to change the bearings, is it something a novice can do, is there a way of seeing from the outside if it is the bearings have gone, what equipment would be advisable to have before starting the bearing change. Is the bearing kit from GSF standard for all citreon BX/cars or is a specific one needed.

Just don't want to get to a stage where i dont have the tool or the bit, and everything goes abit pete tong!!
Cheers
J

jwthwaites96 · Post by **jwthwaites96** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:35 pm

Hi again, the wheel rubs on the inside, so the bit that on the otherside of it is the boot, if that makes sense.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:58 pm

Squeaking or creaking is apparently the classic sympton of rear arm bearings that have seen better days. So unless its something else??? you wouldnt need to visually check the wheels as i've mentioned before....

Depends how good a novice you are??? This was beyond my capability, but then again i'm very new to doing any work on cars....

Use the search function on the site, that should hopefully yield the answers that you need in order to make a decision on what to replace & whether you can do it or not....

Alternatively, if there is a local friendly member near you, for some beer vouchers i'm sure they could instruct you on how to do them....

The GSF kit will do all the variants (possible exception is the 4x4???)

The more experienced members should be able to elaborate on what tools you will need in order to do the whole shebang....

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Thu May 29, 2008 4:47 pm

jwthwaites96 wrote:how easy is it to change the bearings, is it something a novice can do

I'd be inclined to say no. You need reasonably good tools to get the rear arm off (the anti-roll bar clamps are notoriously tight/siezed, and the arm nut/bolt is quite a bit larger than most people's toolkit range) and then an array of tools to get the old bearings out. Sometimes they come out easily, and other times you need to run a line of weld around them to shrink them out.

Granted, you may be lucky and it all come apart, but if it doesn't you've then got an immobilised BX and still need to get the bearings out.... which means (if it's your only car) you can't drive off somewhere to have them do it.

Also, if the bearings have collapsed really badly, you may find that you need to "recover" the arm before re-using it, which does require a bit of understanding as to how it works and what needs to seal where etc. And some chemical metal to fill in the holes.