I need to renew my 225 suspension top mount. Has anybody got pics or link to removal procedure. I had it jacked up on axle stands on the drive today & changed both drop links & outer track rod end. I was going to do the top mount bearing aswell but I needed the car to be driveable in the morning & I couldnt see a 'quick' way of doing it other than stripping hub & taking the shaft out, splitting the 13mm bolts on bottom ball joint. I read that it can be done without taking it out of the hub & without spring clamps but I wouldnt fancy doing that. I undid the hub nut holding the strut into the hub & tried to lever it off with a bar but there was still at least an inch of the strut still in the hub. So I'm seeing if anybody has a tutorial/pics or advice (other than take it to a garage,lol, which I usually do if I havent got time or I cant do it)
Ive never found it possible to remove the shocker with the hub etc still on the car. Easiest way i found is to remove the bottom arm/hub/shocker assembly as one. (As it so hard to get the 13mm bolts out by the ball joint) Seems a big job. But is easier! U have to remove the radiator subframe aswell before you can get the bottom arm out. Took me about 1/2 hr to remove the full assembly. Much easier if you have a battery impact gun too. You will still need spring compressors for when you remove the top mount tho.
Thanks for the advice pal,Ive got a impact gun & clamps so looks like thats going to have to be the way to go. Sometimes removing that bit more does make things easier. How many bolts are holding in the rad subframe?
Can you jack the strut/hub assembly right up then add spring clamps to keep it short. Then undo all the nuts drop the jack to see if the top mount can be lifted out. I changed my springs in a similar way so didn't have to touch anything else. Would of thought if there's enough room to pull the strut out there should be enough room to remove the top mount. I did use both clamps. Removed one before I took the pic.
Cheers James thats an idea, will give that a try first, my only concern is if I can get a good enough hold with my spring clamps, mine are the 1 hook type whereas yours are the 2 hook type.
There is a groove on the underside of the strut. You should be able th lock it into there. I only had to undo two nuts, one on the drop link and the clamp bolt holding the strut into the hub.
[SOLVED] Top mount removal For anybody else who is interested I managed to get it sorted. I did what you said James. I tried just undoing the strut drop link & jacking the strut up (attached spring clamps) but I couldnt get the strut out of the hub & it felt like I needed a bit more movement on the hub. So I undid the track rod end & short drop link to enable me to twist the hub & get more movement on it. I then jacked up the strut again (placing jack under ball joint) & to help keep the strut up I measured the distance from ground to the cleat on the strut & cut a piece of wood with a V notch in it (you could also use some spreader clamps) & placed it under the cleat, then lowered the jack & twisted off the hub, then knocked wood support away & then undid the 3 13mm bolts in the engine bay which hold the strut in. I tried using the impact gun of the nut on top of the shocker but inevitably it started spinning,some people put grips on the strut to stop it spinning but I found it was easy enough to undo using a ring spanner & allen key, put the new mount in & re-did the nut. Putting it back on was obviously just a reversal procedure except after re-fitting the shocker & tightening the 3 13mm bolts, I had to jack up the strut to put the wood support back under. All in all it was piece of cake. Placing that wood support under made things so much easier. By doing that you could probably get away with just undoing the long drop link & hub nut but I found by undoing the track rod end & short drop link just gave that extra movement with the hub. When you put it all back together,just make sure when releasing the spring clamps that the spring seats back correctly in the plastic bearing on the mount (I did have to place some sockets on the spring clamps to reduce the length of the threaded bar) (Place wood support under the cleat) (Undid the 3 13mm bolts) (Undo the strut nut to remove old mount) (I did have to place some sockets on the spring clamps to reduce the length of the threaded bar)
Had to change a spring on my Wifes car (Meg 1.5 dCi). Went all horribly wrong when the hub pinch bolt sheared at the head. Ended up removing the whole hub and damper from the lower arm. Still need to sort that pinch bolt out though.
Yeah I alway wire brush threads & spray releasing oil to help prevent that kind of thing,also better if can get in with a impact gun. If theres no head left on it then you need to be keeping an eye on it,nothing stopping it from vibrating out,the pinch bolt itself is quite a loose fit.
