Has my rear sphere replacement gone wrong?

[richard]

Hi

This is my first post on this forum. I have enjoyed looking through the topics on it so far.

Anyway, This morning I decided to replace my rear spheres as they had not been done in a while (7 years ago). I loosened them off using the on high, wheels on ground method. both seemed to undo 1/4 turn no problem.

System depressureised, RHS sphere unscrewed by hand a dream! new sphere fitted. Now the problem started, went to LHS sphere and the suspension cylinder were very loose. The cylinder did not appear to rotate during the loosening procedure.

System re pressureised ok and stands removed. The car seems ok, rises & falls ok. I now have two odd spheres at rear! (poss dangerous)

What has happened? What have I done?

Sorry for the long winded post.

Cheers

Richard.

BTW great site!

[Stewart (oily!)]

Hi Richard, so are you saying that you couldnt remove one of the old spheres? or that you replaced an odd one? I know theres not a lot holding the cylinder in place with the whel off the ground which is why we loosen them with load on them (my personal best was a Xantia with three people sitting in the boot!) If the cylinder did rotate the biggest danger is that the hydraulkic line could have been damaged, in which case you would be looking at a fast LHM leak leaving you in no doubt as to where it was, if the car is rising and falling as it should then it sounds like you were successful but is it softer?
Stewart

[richard]

Hi Stuart.

Yes I have so far only replaced one sphere. The cylinder that I replaced the sphere on was not loose when no weight was on the cylinder(wheels off ground system depressureised) and sphere / cylinder assy did not shake about like the LHS does. This is why I did not remove the sphere on the LH side.

Do you think this 'shaking about' is normal when the back of the car is off ground & depressureised? Bearing in mind The RHS shpere/cylinder did not shake about.

If so I may not of loosened this sphere enough with the tool whilst under pressure.

Thanks

Richard.

P.S this is my first time doing rear spheres and no the pipe is not damaged!

[Stewart (oily!)]

Richard
Looks like its time for another try, you probably didnt loosen it enough first time, there very little holding the ram in place without the weight of the car so they can wobble about alarmingly, if the sphere is fully knackered there may be LHM behind the diaphragm which will piss out for some time after removal, your procedure was right, theres no need to depressurise the system, dropping the ride height to the bottom will let all pressure out of the rear end, just have the car UP with some weight on the rear wheels to loosen the sphere (holding everything in place), lower the car onto its stops and the sphere should unscrew by hand, if the sphere is very tight just put more weight in the boot.
Stewart

[richard]

Hi Stuart,

I had another try, loosened mr sphere off a little more and hey presto! sphere changed.

Car is now riding a lot better now all 5 spheres have been replaced.

All I need to do now is replace my shitty montana tyres with Michelins.

The Montana's are the worst tyres I have ever had. No grip in wet and every stop is a nightmare! The only reason I have them is that they came with the Alloys. They have almost full tread and give less grip than bald michelins, yes they are THAT bad!!!

Cheers,

Richard.

[Stewart (oily!)]

Excellent news, bad rear spheres set off my whiplash injury within minutes! its a hell of a diagnostic tool:D I bought a set of Uniroyals to fit my GTI rims a few weeks ago, the difference is amazing especially in the wet, some of the so called tyres out there seem to be made of vinyl or something .
Stewart