Hi guys, i'm sumwhat desperate. After paying a large sum to have the rear brake shoes and cylinders repaired amung other things the felly's just failed its mot please please help!

The first thing as something I've been menaing to do for a while, now I have to do it! "Nearside (+offside) lower suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint." - How painful is this job to do, I guess the origional ball joint will be rivited on, so drill the rivets out, fit one of these? (Jorily Link) Has anyone done this job? Any tips/ anything to look out for?

Second thing was the front brakes imbalanced. The garage said it could be the caliper sticking, or the pad sticking to the disc or it could need new discs and pads. I'm tempted to fit new discs and pads as the ones that are currently fitted are a little tired. How do I ensure the brakes are balanced so it doesn't fail again? What should I look out for? how do I tell its not a problem with the caliper?

The third thing is simple, the headlight aim is too low. How do I check this? ( last year they said the adjuster wasn't in great nik, would peeps suggest picking up a scrap one to save the hassle? What do i need to do to adjust them right?

Sorry for being such a noob but i'm in a bit of a panic and really cant afford given what i've spent on the car to day to have to scrap my pride and joy?

The adjusters fail regularly on them..

The adjusters fail regularly on them..

Is there a cheap way of bodging them? Whats the best way to repair?

Don't bother tying to repair them, just remove them from the headlights and screw the screw out on them enough to get a decent beam setup - a few trial and error goes will do the trick.

Don't bother tying to repair them, just remove them from the headlights and screw the screw out on them enough to get a decent beam setup - a few trial and error goes will do the trick.

........I did mine in the works car park. Took about 10 mins. You'll need to do it in the dark, have a torch and cross-head screw-driver.

Hi all thanks for the replies, about the headlight, going to give it a try tomorrow. Any one any suggestions about the brakes? They're the only bit I'm not sure about, I'm going to put new discs and pads on anyway but how do I make sure the brakes are balanced as thats what its failed on.

I hate MOT's!!!

Strip down, clean & bleed is the only answer I think..

Strip down, clean & bleed is the only answer I think..

.....and once you've done that, you can start on the brakes

Aipeth :p

Brakes could just be "one disc more corroded than the other", or a sticky sliding caliper.

Sorting out which, and hence whether a caliper strip and guide pin clean is needed, requires inspection.