Rear arm - too far gone?

[Phil Peters]

Hi all,

I picked up a set of used rear arms a little while ago so I could rebuild them and then swap them over with the ones on my car.

I finally had a chance to take a look at them today and I spent a few minutes removing the metal tube and bearings on the first arm. One side in particular is looking pretty nasty:





Notice in the above photo how the rollers have left imprints on the inside of the arm. Do you think this arm is too far gone? It seems to me that the damage is confined to the area where the dust shield goes but a second opinion would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Phil

[rutter123]

If the seats for the outer bearing races are still intact then you may get away with rebuilding them, seen worse.

[mat_fenwick]

So long as you can get the race in OK (filing away any burrs if needs be) then I don't see a problem. Mine were similar the first time I did them at 145k miles, so what I did to provide a water seal was to squirt in some (non atoxy) silicone sealant. They needed doing again at 190k miles, and it seemed as though the silicone had failed and let water in, although I caught them before they'd gone too far.

That time I filled the damage with JB Weld after I pushed the seal in, making sure the surface was grease-free. I was interested to see how it was lasting, so checked it a couple of years ago at around 220k miles. All seemed intact, so on that basis I'd say JB did a better job of sticking to the metal and sealing.

[Tinkley]

It's a long time since I've done them but if the inner race piece is still in one piece and you can drift it out, I don't see a problem. The lower photo makes it look as if the inner part (tapered) is still there and the needles have gone outboard of it. I could be wrong. Be thankful they are cast iron arms, the XMs' have alloy ones....
In the worst case a sleeve could be machined along with the arm and inserted into the end of the arm. BTW keep the spacers, which are specific to each side. When I did mine the rollers themselves had just disintegrated inside the bearing sleeves giving a wonderful creaking noise with the suspension rise and fall and when you got in the car!. But they were bone dry on dismantling.

[citronut]

as all / \

the area that is damaged is only the seal seat, so as long as you pack loads of grease between the bearing and seal this will be fine, like other replys i have seen much wore than that arm

regards malcolm

[themildbunch]

My offside one was worse than that but the bearing seat was ok just and I filled it with masses of Mobile marine type grease several years ago and it's been fine since....

[Phil Peters]

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone.

There wasn't much left of that original bearing. It had totally disintegrated on one side:



I've kept the spacers and put them to one side. However, the spacer on the 'bad' side has been worn away between the 12 - 3 o'clock position in this photo:



I suppose that needs to be replaced?

I started dismantling the second arm and it's in much better condition than the first one. The bearings were in (comparatively) good condition and there was still lashings of grease in the arm which no doubt helped to keep things in good shape.

@themildbunch - I think it must have been your recommendation I saw before about the Mobil XHP 220. Got it on the shelf here ready to go!

[citronut]

all those bits are inner race and seals, as long as the outer race are not worn through you will still be ok to use those arms

regards malcolm

[Tinkley]

The rear arm repair 'kit' contains not just the bearings but spacers and seals too. Might be worth seeking one out as I believe they are still around. The Berlingo too, I think had the same arms at the rear.

[citronut]

The Berlingo too, I think had the same arms at the rear.

nop the Bling go has that orible torsion bar suspenders,
the Xant, C15 and CX do use the same arm kits as the BX though,

be careful of the non branded kits GSF are selling these days, they dont look very good to me,

its best to either look for SKF kits or buy the SKF bearings and seals ( only use Corteco seals ) from GSF, as they still sell those,

here is price and part No.'s of the spacer tube, seals and spacer bush from citroen

Part Number Description Quantity Price excl. VAT Price incl. VAT Total incl. VAT Selection
0000513252 SUSPENSN SPACER 8.13 GBP 9.76 GBP 9.76 GBP

0000513320 BEARING BUSH 2.39 GBP 2.87 GBP 2.87 GBP

0000515414 SUSP ARM SEAL 3.33 GBP 4.00 GBP 4.00 GBP


regards malcolm

[Tinkley]

Yes I'd second the SKF kit(s) as that is what I used before, and it was all decent quality. Ironically the kits came from GSF who seem to sell both good and poor stuff these days so caveat emptor!. Any half decent bearing factor will have a choice of bearings in quality terms, and any of the better names can generally be trusted.

As in I got some Bendix pads from GSF - good, but previously could only get the Mintex ones from them. Likewise the now rubbish front strut returns which 10 years ago were better ie original quality. Last Octopus I bought from them a couple of years back was a genuine Citroen one and so on.