My sister has a Y reg 206 and she recently had her MOT done, it passed but it had warning on it, the front dampers were leaking.

As I have changed the dampers on a few cars without any problems so I thought that I would do it for her to save some money. The car has now been on axle stands in the driveway for about 5 days . Thankfully she has just started a new job in London and commutes on the train to work so she has no use of it during the week.

I got the dampers of with some difficulty, changed the springs and fitted everything together as far a I could. I have followed the Haynes manual to the letter but I cant get the lower ball joint back in. I looked easy in the book!

The top of the ball joint and the bottom of the hub need to be parallel so it can slide in. This just won't happen. The hub needs to move in about the width of the ball joint but if it does the damper will be hitting the inner wheel arch. I cant push the drive shaft in any more so there is no more movement available. I have also loosened up the top mount nuts to give more moment but it still wont fit.

The dampers are correct,I have checked this, but now I am getting a bit pi$$ed of with it all . I have told her that this will be the last thing I do on her car except for simple servicing.

Hopefully someone has had some experience changing dampers on a 206 and can offer some advice.

Regards

Rhod

any chance of some pics or a drawing?

Is it the same on both sides of the car?

Just a thought, but are the top mounts in the right orientation. From memory they're held into the turret with 3x M8 studs/nuts. As the struts are offset to angle the damper and allow the lower spring seat to clear the wheel, having them offset/rotated could cause what you describe.

Alternatively a CV joint may have popped open hence why you can compress the drive shaft enough. They should have circlips to prevent this, but a damaged or missing clip could let the joint open too far.

Some photos would help a lot!

Have you tried it on full lock to see if that allows the movement to locate the balljoint. I did a Fiesta many years ago and remember it was a PITA.
Steve

quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
Is it the same on both sides of the car?

Just a thought, but are the top mounts in the right orientation. From memory they're held into the turret with 3x M8 studs/nuts. As the struts are offset to angle the damper and allow the lower spring seat to clear the wheel, having them offset/rotated could cause what you describe.

Alternatively a CV joint may have popped open hence why you can compress the drive shaft enough. They should have circlips to prevent this, but a damaged or missing clip could let the joint open too far.

Some photos would help a lot!

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I've done this on a 206.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH, good luck.

Its a bitch to do. The only way we managed it, and all those people that like doing things by the book, look away now....

Get a trolley jack under the brake disc (with a nice thick bit of soft wood under it) and raise the suspension up. When its up as far as you dare, then using a long pry bar you can manouvre the suspn arm and ball joint peg to line up. But be bloody careful doing it this way.

Not a nice job, but its possible. I would love to see the Pug service sheet to see how it is meant to be done.

And yes the drive shaft may well pop out when doing it, but a bit of gentle inwards pressure when wiggling it will keep it in.

[Edited on 20/1/09 by balidey]

It would probably been easier to connect the balljoint...then jack up the hub lifting the damper up into the mounting hole and bolt it down.

Nope, we looked at all possible ways, brute force and ignorance was the best. Was a couple of years ago now, but pretty sure you have to put the ball joint pin in last.

yep its a right bugger doing them i have a great big bar so i can lever the lower arm down to line up the ball joint easy when you have the knack

The top mounts are are in the correct position, there is a locating pin so they will only fit in one way. I did slightly pull out one of the drive shafts but I have checked that the CV joints on both sides and they haven't come apart.

I have tried the jack on the disc but the damper kept on moving outwards so the ball joint would never be able to fit. I will try that again and see what happens. I think I will have to carry on going down the brute force and ignorance route.

Thanks for all the advice

Regards

Rhod

Ratchet strap to stop the damper moving out?

Good plan will give that a go

Regards

Rhod

big pry bar and the arm will come down far enough to get it in ,done hundreds of them

I'm certainly not disputing peoples experience here, but this does not sound right to me. From what's described, this would leave the lower ball joint (and the top mount) under constant outward force and IMHO cause premature wear.

Having done the same operation a number of times on both 205s and 306s it was never that difficult.

Is there a rubber cushion as part of the top mount assembly? if so then this may be misaligned or squashed forcing the damper out at an angle.

Hi Froggy just wondering where you position the pry bar? Do you use the block of wood under the lower arm mounting to act as a pivot point or position it somewhere else? Are there any other tips you could give.

Regards

Rhod

Hi Nick, I have just thought about what you have said and when I changed the springs over I made sure that mounts at the top were sitting square. They didn't seem crushed or misaligned in any way. This is getting to be a bit of a major pain .

I used to work in a garage so I will see if I can get one of the mechanics to pop over and give me a hand.

Regards

Rhod

[Edited on 20/1/09 by rodders]

from in front of the arm slip it through and get it in near the rear bush ,i do this on two post ramps and you need a good pull to get the arm down far enough. im sure other people do it other ways buts thats the fastest way for me and my staff to do them and we do plenty
when i say big pry bar i mean a 5ft snap on monster not a 3ft one

Cheers for the reply froggy, got a mechanic mate coming round to give me a hand and he will bring his 5ft snap-on pry bar known as the “uber persuader” . Hopefully I will get this sorted in the next few days! Might have to jack up the car a bit more.

Regards

Rhod