Rear arm bearings

All aspects of tuning,modification and repairs to the BX 16valve.
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furyd
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Rear arm bearings

Post by furyd »

Hi all,

Need to fit new rear arm bearings on to the valver.

1. How difficult a job is this?
2. How long would it normally take to do?
3. What tools are needed?
4. Method - Is there any documentation, tips or good advice on how best to do this?

Detailed explanations appreciated :wink:
Fury D
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Current: BX GTi 16V PhII - Grey [Gunmetal]
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Vanny
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Post by Vanny »

If you have a set of spare arms then your looking at doing the job in less than 2hours, assuming you have the tools and experience to do it.

There are loads of guides kicking about, so i won't go into it, but its reasonably straight forward. There are no specific tools required, but i have bought 2 big spanners (think there 24mm) specifically for doing the job, and i have a couple of Citroen tools to make fitting the bearings easier. You'll probably need a strong heat source (ie blow torch), and a decent lump hammer and vice!
surjit25
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Post by surjit25 »

Quite simple if you are mechanical inclined,
Jack body, support body with stands, remove wheels,
depressurise hydraulics, jack up one side arms to return
hyd fluid to tanks. disconnect brake pipe(or brake caliper), remove 2 bolts
holding clamp for anti roll bar, remove 24mm bolt holding arm,
remove clip at the end of susp. cylinder, and you can remove the arm out.
There is a kit by SKF suspension bearing kit with evrything in it.
or buy a used arm from a Xantia like I have done.
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furyd
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Post by furyd »

Thanks for the replies/tips chaps.. have found a few step-by-steps - one on a japanese site and of course Aussiefrogs' late AlanS's brilliant guide. :)
Fury D
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Post by Vanny »

Japanese site
http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~ynar/bxorg_a ... /m07e.html

Its okay, but a not the greatest descriptions in the world. I'm pretty sure this would help as a reminder if you had done it before, or got a little stuck with the Haynes description.

French Car Forum
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... php?t=9972

This is a 'Miracle' cure from AlanS. I have great issues with this guide, mostly in that the mod described is totally unnecessary and potentially dangerous. I certainly wouldn't like to be thinning out a 20mm bolt that holds the rear wheel onto the car, and i know that no stress analysis has ever been done on this method. Also the drilling of the bolt and support tube will induce a fail bit of stress into the system! This is the second miracle cure, and devised after the first miracle cure was deemed to be pointless!

Aussie Frogs
I can't find the Aussie Frogs guide of which you talk (and i'd like to add the link here if you can find it again). There was once long ago a very good straight forward simple guide by AlanS without any amazing miracle cures, but i can't find it. It was a pretty good guide.


As a general rule of thumb, if you do the job correctly and carefully, with the correct grease and shim the arm up correctly when fitting, then the bearings should last for a good 7 years/35,000 miles. Its not a difficult job once you get the hang of it, and i must have done 30+ arms by now on both BX and Xantia.
There is no need to disconnect the hydraulic line to the brakes, and i strongly recommend against this. If you disconnect the pipe or split the calipers then you will have to bleed out the brake lines, significantly increasing the time required to carry out the job! Simply unbolt the caliper and string it up out of the way (typically i run light string to the wiper arm).

Something else i dont see listed in these guides, Disconnect the ABS sensor from under the back seats FIRST!!!! I've come very close to mullering the sensor and only realising last minute that it was still attached.
surjit25
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Post by surjit25 »

Ya ,sorry no need to remove hyd pipe but just remove caliper and hang it aside. and ABS sensor (we don't have many versions with ABS here).
ollie
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Post by ollie »

The important one is the abs sensor, if youre using youre old arms then unthread the wiring and leave the sensor in the arm, if youre getting new arms then you will almost definately wreck the sensor and they cost £70 plus last time I got one - do you're old arms!! best trick if youve got access to a welder is to run a bead of weld around the old bearing running surface then, as the weld cools the bearing comes loose and falls out which is nice as the amount of crap and rust in the outer housing will be impressive :)

to get the caliper off without braeking it leave the pads in with the little 8mm headed bolt holding the halves together, then you can remove the 17mm headed main bolts without loosing fluid( and hence not having to sort out bleed niples....) once youyre all back together, if you need to get at the pads you can do this with the caliper refitted and held together in the normal way.
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