27 replies to this topic

[nicksuth]

have a look at this video also - Video

[sheepy89]

just been out to buy a ball joint splitter and it doesnt fit over the ball joint enough to screw the screw down onto it to split it. are all ball joint splitters the same size?

It may need a little persuasion with a hammer to knock the open end over the ball joint, leave a nut on the thread of the ball joint to help locate the bolt of the splitter.

can you post up a photo of what you bought?

I assume you have bought this one - link

yeh its that one i bought. we decided just to leave it connected and take the top arm out and swing it round.

managed to do the drivers side today but took us from 11:30 till 5:30 lol. 6 hours of fiddling and only got the one side done.

to take the passenger side top arm out do we need to take the radiator out of the way or not?

cheers sean

[nicksuth]

.............to take the passenger side top arm out do we need to take the radiator out of the way or not?

Umm, surely not, well I don't think so (but then again I had an MPi with front mounted radiator), I would just try first and see how you get on?

[glyn]

sean you can take the top arm out with out touching the rad! glad you managed to get one side done (who is 'we'?)

[sheepy89]

haha me and dad lol. we had fun tho was good to get hands on experience. took us ages tho because we had no idea what we were doing. was like the blind leading the blind.

o well not sure when we are gunna do the other side tho.

[minilee94]

off your topic abit but im pooing it because iv gota do the same thing and iv heard of all the stories of things getting stuck etc lol

[ibrooks]

The second one is always faster as you've got an idea what you're doing. You also tend to have the confidence to pull all the necessary things off rather than looking at it and dithering because you're wondering if you really need to take this or that bit off.

Iain

[bcjames]

off your topic abit but im pooing it because iv gota do the same thing and iv heard of all the stories of things getting stuck etc lol

It's not a hugely difficult task, it's just access is really awkward. I've done it on my Mayfair and mpi, and the access in the Mayfair was so much easier! Ratcheting spanners help massively. Working from the wheel arch you should be able to get to all the bolts on axis. Failing that, and how I did the passenger side first time, was with a long extention through the grill area. Having the top ball joint split can make it much easier when trying to reassemble. The top arm needs to be in situ for the shaft to slide home, and lining it up with the weight of thr hub plus the suspension components above can be awkward. It's a good idea also to clean the engine bay just infront of where the shaft goes in. Because you have to pregrease the shaft before fitting, any muck will stick to it and go inside the arm. Getting it cleaned around there takes a bit of worry away and you can rest the arm there ready to poke through once the top arm is in situ.

[jbone68]

I just did the drivers side (left hand drive car) and used the manual and advice all work ok.

I put it back together and did not yet attempt the passenger side as the access point under the hood is covered with other engine equipment. Does any one have tips to remove this? It might be a wiper motor mounted on top of master cyclinder. Also I took the grill of last time and had great access to thrust plate for arm using a long extension.

['74 Mini 1000]

Have been through this myself, it is tricky but all can be done via the wheel arch. When you do get the top arm off be sure and give everything a good thorough clean, and a nice squirt of grease. Your in there now so now is the time to do it. It is a pain but when you get motoring again you will have a big grinning from ear to ear.

[mcbowen]

Hi I've been attempting to change the cones on my mini, I managed to remove the old cone by taking the upper arm off, but I really struggled to get the retaining plate off, now i'm trying to refit the upper arm and am really struggling to get the furthest bolt back on the retaining plate as I just cant get at it properly to start it off. How do other people do this? Thanks

[rodandtom]

Hi I've been attempting to change the cones on my mini, I managed to remove the old cone by taking the upper arm off, but I really struggled to get the retaining plate off, now i'm trying to refit the upper arm and am really struggling to get the furthest bolt back on the retaining plate as I just cant get at it properly to start it off. How do other people do this? Thanks

Hi

 

I've recently had to do this. It was a nightmare until someone told me to build up the spindle with the retaining plate before you slide it through the top arm. The key factor was also putting the rubber seal over the top of the arm ready to slide back down one everything was seated correctly. Having done all of that I found that the rear nut was too close to the body to get started which is what I suspect you are finding too. The answer is to not slide the spindle through all the way. This pulls it back from the body enough to allow you to get the nut started. Then you can wind it on as you slide the spindle further though.

 

That should do it for you.

 

Rod

[Tamworthbay]

You don't need to remove the rad, and for some reason there is a nice access hole on the passenger side (a cut out in the inner wing) that helps a lot. Why there isn't one on the drivers side I don't know.