Perished rubber on suspension...

[sternal]

Had a look under the van at the weekend and noticed that the left hand side one of these ? is perished


No idea what its called, it looks like you unscrew nut and fit new one is it that simple ?

Whats its purpose ? And I guess both side would need doing.

Many thanks in advance

[itchyfeet]

Called drop link, looks like its rusted through so new link needed not just bushes, best to do bushes both sides id say but if the other link is ok leave it

search brickwerks for drop link

http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php/a ... -late.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

purpose it connects to the antiroll bar that errr stops the van rolling

i can reccomend a Haynes manual its all in there with diagrams and stuff, diesel is not covered but suspension much is the same

[sternal]

Other side is okay ie the rubber has not come away.

The drop link bar hasn't rusted through that's the inside of the bush.

Thanks for the link

http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_parts_Type ... ID_356.htm

What parts bushes would I need ?

[Oldiebut goodie]

I would do both and check your other bushes as they will likely as not need doing. That one has the washer rusted away so that it has ridden up over the shoulder on the link.

[sternal]

That sounds right as other side washer is still attached ie not ridden up the link.

Silly question is it dangerous ???

[Oldiebut goodie]

Not if you know about it and adjust your driving to suit. You will wallow a little!

[itchyfeet]

Mot fail though and so driving it means you have an illegal unroadworth vehicle..... technically

[CovKid]

Trying to find the link but I recently bought a brand new pair of droplinks (straight like yours) for £100 complete - ie both sides, all bushes and washers and the metal sleeves which have rusted out on yours. They came from B&B on ebay and were well made. Your handling on corners will be El-crappo - it'll nose down too much.

These are the guys: http://www.bandbcomponents.com/page/parts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Oldiebut goodie]

He doesn't need new drop links though.

[CovKid]

He will do once he starts taking them apart. The sleeves have gone for starters. Definately MOT failure. My place would fail that.

[CovKid]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Group-114040030 ... w+t25+link" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There you go. Took ages to find where they'd listed them (not on ebay this week). Honestly you won't beat that on price and believe me I looked. Just change the pair and be done with it. By the time you've faffed with them, bought all the bushes and washers and discovered theres not enough metal left to hold the washers square, you might as well get complete units. Ask me how I know.....

And before anyone asks, yes they do the cranked ones too - complete. http://www.amazon.co.uk/CAMPER-TRANSPOR ... w+t25+link" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sternal]

Wow thanks for that link ! will order in the morn.

this is from the haynes


I dont have any axle stands and I guess I need them to do this job, and if Im reading it correctly in order to change one(left) you have to take off the other one(right) to do so...

Im happy to give this job a go... or is it more for the expert ?

[CovKid]

I can only tell you my experience of this job and with the same droplinks you have.

As you have correctly summised, the sleeve has rusted through. Basically the droplink is a long bolt with a shank that is slightly thicker than the threaded part. Assembly consists of sliding on a cup washer against the shank, then a rubber bush, the sleeve, another bush, then the last washer and a nut. Its a sandwich essentially. However , when the sleeve rusts through, its a devil to remove the remains of the sleeve without an angle grinder and invariably the threaded part is already damaged, much weaker than it was when new and more liable to snap. This is why I suggest buying them as units and giving them a fighting chance by starting with fresh steel.

When I approached the job first time, I too just replaced the washers and bushes (local VW commercial outlet ordered them in for me). It worked for a while but a month or so after, the threaded part snapped and bottom washer and bush departed and are on the roadside somewhere. What a waste of time that was. I therefore ended up fitting units because I figured they were already 30 years old and rusty droplinks make bush fitting (especially uppermost ones) much harder. It was just simpler (and cheaper) to replace them complete and get it over with. When you tot up buying all those parts on their own (including droplinks which can be £50-ish each on their own some places) its a fair bit of money.

Fitting new droplinks isn't a complex job (more grunt and cussing) but you'll need to remove antirollbar. Getting droplinks on to the end of the antirollbar is a bit testing but once the job is done, you can pretty well forget them. Worth buying poly antirollbar mounts but I stuck with stock rubber droplink bushes as I don't like such a hard ride (personal preference).

Theres a knack to getting the droplinks on as I say. My internet is so slow tonight I'm unable to load youtube vids but I think this is what you need to know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oXY68F8Uwo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - if its the wrong link I'll correct it later.

Oh, and some say that the cup washers should face away from the bushes (ie not cupping them). I'm not quite convinced on this and it seems a bit of a water trap on the top ones if fitted like that. On mine they are the other way around (ie cupping bushes) - in common with other vehicles. My reasoning is that if they faced the other way, most of outer top surface of the bush would be doing nothing if its not in contact with anything (think about it) and the washers, once the nut is tightened up, are hard against the sleeve and do not and should not move about . Seems to perform fine anyway. I'll leave others to come up with a really plausible reason for having washers face away from bushes. I just don't see it personally. I did try it both ways.

Finally, you'll only really appreciate how bad the droplinks were when you replace them. Sharp corners especially put droplinks through their paces and when they're shot, the front behaves like a cosy armchair that has lost its firmness when leant over in a curve. The front will dip down on the outside corner making it unstable at times. When in good order, the antiroll bar can do its job properly and i'll handle more predictably when cornering rather than you (unconsciously) having to slow down just to negate even a moderately sharp turn. Its very much a progessive deterioration that you compensate for without actually realising until one of them breaks or it all starts clonking around.

If you try to just change bushes etc on old droplinks, they don't last long in my experience. They're often too weak after the rust has got in. You can cut off the threaded part and drill out and fit a long stud but I'd only do that in an emergency to be honest. Its more work than its worth.

[sternal]

Thank you for all the help great video.

Parts ordered...

will let you know the outcome working for the next two weeks with only a day off so it wont be for a while.

Thanks one and all

[Ralf85]

Your local garage should be able to fix this for you. Let us know how they get on.