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Drop arm

 
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romanrob



Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 258
Location: SW London

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:39 pm    Post subject: Drop arm Reply with quote

Hi all. I'll put up a foto (camera battery flat) but for now will rely on my descriptive powers...

The boot on the swivel joint fitted into the end of the drop arm was damaged so I thought I'd get a replacement for the MOT. It arrived as a full swivel joint kit - so I gave it to the muppets around the corner to fit the whole thing plus the replacement boot.
All well - apart from the fact that the new boot apparently has no "lip" on the drop arm casing over which to grip (and then be locked down by the next to useless spring).
When looking at the ball joint end of my drop arm casing in cross section ... instead of a lip protruding outwards there is just a machined surface where it looks like perhaps a metal ring (with an interference fit) used to sit to make the lip.
If anyone is under their 50th in the nearest future could you curl up the boot on the drop arm and see - or posta photo? I can't believe the 50th's have special drop arms... so probably the muppets pulled the ring off - though I had expected that the lip would be cast as a part of the housing.

No parts/ service manuals show the drop arm in enough detail. I'm sure there must be a clever solution to this - some kind of plastic crown I can fix to the drop arm before putting the boot over the top - but it has evaded me until now.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Rob
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Rob

GB065 - since 2002
Currently on my 2nd 50th RR V8 GEMS
Nanocom unlocked for GEMS


Formerly a 50th RR, 200TDi CSW, and a SIII 2.25 Petrol
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PARBS



Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 452
Location: Cambridgeshire

PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Rob

You won't believe what I've just done this evening.

I've changed the drop arm on my 110 to replace the incorrect one supplied with a new box.

After reading your post last night I thought I'd take the old one apart to see. There should be a recess which the rubber boot sits in and then either the useless springie thing or like in my case a stiff coil of wire.
I then had a look at the 50th and that is exactly the same although the boot has popped off but hasn't split luckily (there's another job for the weekend). There's also a tight ring on the top of the boot to hold it in place.

Steve.
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PARBS
GB209 4.6 Supercharged / SOLD
Vogue 50 No62
1990 110 3.5 V8
Ex MEB 130 Quadtech
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romanrob



Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 258
Location: SW London

PostPosted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply...

The recess... on your original drop arm... is there any sign that the lip was actually a steel ring which was fitted onto the drop arm casing - or does it look like it was all cast together?

Cheers

Rob



PS I have a great photo, but no idea how to attach it unfortunately !![/img]
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Rob

GB065 - since 2002
Currently on my 2nd 50th RR V8 GEMS
Nanocom unlocked for GEMS


Formerly a 50th RR, 200TDi CSW, and a SIII 2.25 Petrol
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PARBS



Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 452
Location: Cambridgeshire

PostPosted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its all cast as one on both drop arms.

No I don't know how to post photos either, give me a spanner any day Laughing

steve
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PARBS
GB209 4.6 Supercharged / SOLD
Vogue 50 No62
1990 110 3.5 V8
Ex MEB 130 Quadtech
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romanrob



Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 258
Location: SW London

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Answering my own post of 13 years ago !!

Apparently on the earlier drop arms there was no cast retaining lip for the rubber boot covering the ball joint, rather there was a circular metal retainer included in the ball joint kits which fitted on the drop arm. The retainer is no longer supplied in the ball joint kits (you could sometimes make it out in the photos of the earlier kits. I used a small cable tie to hold the boot down for years, but not brilliant tbh, altho' it kept the MOT man happy

After a recent MOT fail for wearing of said ball joint (after 13 years, so not bad), I decided to replace the whole drop arm.

I was dreading the job, after reading some of the postings on LR forums (and given that 13 yrs ago the repair garage at the time failed to remove my one themselves and elected to change the ball joint in situ), but I successfully used:

a Laser drop arm removing tool, done up with an impact wrench, and then another 1/2 to 1 turns on the Laser tool using a breaker bar.

Then I put a blow torch on the middle of the drop arm for a minute or two, enough to melt the underseal that was on the arm (ie warm to hot finger touch) - and doing this all on a cold (5 degree) day (ie the splined shaft of the box was cold).

Popped off without a whimper...

I then used a ball joint splitter to break the ball joint - couple of minutes.

It's taken more time to bend the new washer back on though - I thought the washer looked a bit thin, but turns out it must be armoured plate Smile

Anyway... just thought i'd update the search history in case it's of use to anyone in future (or me in 10 yrs)

Rgds, Rob
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Rob

GB065 - since 2002
Currently on my 2nd 50th RR V8 GEMS
Nanocom unlocked for GEMS


Formerly a 50th RR, 200TDi CSW, and a SIII 2.25 Petrol
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V8GPC



Joined: 03 Apr 2016
Posts: 265
Location: Manchester

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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V8GPC



Joined: 03 Apr 2016
Posts: 265
Location: Manchester

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

better to upgrade arm to later type with lip, as the little metal retainer doesn't really fit properly. On mine the arm had gone slightly oval and could not get the small retainer to fit.

Then you can just replace the internal bits next time.

Agree with the puller - i had a few goes and no luck; then got a cheap spare steering box for £25 with the later arm - in the vice i wasn't afraid to give it a bit more - it went with a bang... applied the same to the vehicle and again i hadn't been giving it enough - another bang and it was off Smile
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