Front drop Links

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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georgey
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Front drop Links

Post by georgey » Sat May 05, 2012 12:20 pm

Hi Guys, decided to change my front drop links and ARB bushes any tips on how to get old nuts off? Thanks Geoff.
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westonwarrior
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Re: Front drop Links

Post by westonwarrior » Sat May 05, 2012 12:43 pm

soak in penitrating fluid (wd40) and use an extension on the spanner/socket set

Or in extremes an angle grinder
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lazyb5
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Re: Front drop Links

Post by lazyb5 » Sun May 06, 2012 9:49 am

Brute force and swear words also an extension bar on your ratchet helps
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Simon Jones
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Re: Front drop Links

Post by Simon Jones » Sun May 06, 2012 9:54 am

Drop links sometimes require use of angle grinder to chop the nut off. Roll bar bushes can be tricky: I managed to shear a bolt on mine, so had to have the captive nut drilled out and new nut and bolt fitted.
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Northern Bongolow
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Re: Front drop Links

Post by Northern Bongolow » Sun May 06, 2012 5:49 pm

just done all mine today and new wishbones as i had a ball joint rubber split.
be prepared to cut off the droplinks, and a good tip from lazyb5, lubricate the anti rollbar bushes with grease when reassembling as per the manual.
Blueskai
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Re: Front drop Links

Post by Blueskai » Thu May 10, 2012 12:46 am

If the old ones are self locking, the locking is caused by having plastic in the thread, you can tell by the presence of a coloured ring around the bolt. I removed mine by getting a blowtorch on it, repeatedly heating the nuts and loosening them until they gave up. It worked a treat.

Unfortunately the new Bongo I have doesn't have this and so it was angle grinders at dawn and a very happy son who watched the fireworks from the opposite side of the road. Note to self - wear a hat for the nearside one!
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