My Bongo (ELMO) was clunking from the front from day one and so required attention.
I am no mechanic but relatively hands on. I diagnosed the clunks to be coming from the front anti roll bar bushes AND the drop links. The bushes were very loose and the rubbers on the drop links perished. One of the drop links was also bent??!!
Well anyway... thought i would post these observations for anyone doing the same job:
1) There is a bloke that sells heavy duty drop links on ebay... They cost £38.50 (for the pair) delivered and appear very good quality. They came with everything needed to fit and seem to work a treat.
2) Undoing the old drop links was a bitch. You will need a 17mm spanner to stop the inner bolt turning as you loosen the main bolt. If yours refuses to completly undo like mine did you can secure the drop link to expose the bolt section and cut it off wsith an angle grinder... This was easy and took seconds! Depending on you ratchet depth you may need to invest in a deep set.
3) The bolts for the bush brackets are quite thin and break easily. I used LOADS of eas-it and other tricks and nothing worked! The result was one of the bolts sheering. Something worth knowing is that the bolts cannot be replaced. They are 'studs' that are part of the sub-frame and are difficult to repare... Especially the top ones!
4) Note that the nuts for the bush brackets are 10mm fine threaded. I would suggest finding a couple of spares before you start this job as normal nuts wont fit!!
5) The bushes are very easy to replace by hand. I sprayed them with some TT oil to help the process and this worked a treat. Also good if you need to move the rubber collars for whatever reason!
Hope this helps someone out there. I know its not the techie but it does raise a few points of note for the non-mechanics out there!!
Happy bongoing!
Lloydy.
and not Mazda originals?
