While replacing pads and discs, noticed grease appearing in my wheel arch, looks like outer CV joint cover is split.

 

I figure it makes most sense to remove the whole driveshaft and replace both inner and outer covers at the same time? Looks like to remove driveshaft it's just a case of 6 bolts at gearbox end, and driveshaft retaining nut at wheel hub, 3 bolts holding bottom ball joint, and maybe track rod end to give a bit more movement?

 

This also seems an opportune time to tackle the anti roll bar bushes which were an advisory on last MOT. Mine is a 2002 wIth what I believe to be a 16mm ARB. I've noticed mention some anti roll bars had a plastic insert to prevent lateral movement, and a suggestion that if your car has these you likely need to buy a new anti roll bar. Another suggestion I've seen is to add two stainless steel hose clamps to prevent lateral movement - is this likely to be acceptable?

 

Thanks in advance.

Not sure I'd bother with the inner boot, they seem to last much better.

 

Your description of driveshaft removal sounds good, just be careful that the XZN bit fully engages into the screw heads before trying to undo those 6.

Be aware that if the shaft has never been off before, you might need a puller/pusher to break the bonding that went on it at the factory.

29 minutes ago, Wino said:

Be aware that if the shaft has never been off before, you might need a puller/pusher to break the bonding that went on it at the factory.

You mean at the hub end? Both hub nuts have definitely been off at the hub end at some point. Never been off at gearbox end.

 

Or did you mean the bit where the CV joint joins inside the gaiter?

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by anewman

.A few years ago I had to replace my  antiroll bar. Replacement later antiroll bars are fitted with two fixed metal collars  to keep it located in its correct place

30 minutes ago, anewman said:

You mean at the hub end? Both hub nuts have definitely been off at the hub end at some point. Never been off at gearbox end.

 

Or did you mean the bit where the CV joint joins inside the gaiter?

Yeah hub end, so should be no bother for you.

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Not sure I'd bother with the inner boot, they seem to last much better.

 

Same, never had an inner one fail.

 

Mine's a 2003 and it has fixed metal collars on the anti-roll bar, so maybe a year earlier might have them. Worth checking.

 

The splines of the CV joint are usually bonded to the hub from the factory. If they have never been off you sometimes need a hub puller as Wino said.

 

 

I used one of these from Machine Mart....

 

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by TMB

I can't work out by looking at it if it is the one with plastic sleeve or not. Would a metal ridge be in the middle of the bush? There's nothing I can feel behind it.

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by anewman

Looks like you might not have them. Mine are clearly visible on the outer side of the bushes....

 

 

Edited 5 April, 20215 yr by TMB

The later versions of these ARBs had a welded stop/washer, and from memory they are located on the "inner" side of the mounting brackets, so you should be able to spot them if they exist.

 

Grabbing the ARB and trying to pull/push it side to side will let you know if the plastic sleeves have broken loose or have escaped, though if they had escaped then smaller mounting bushes would have be fitted.

 

I would imagine that if the original plastic sleeves are still in place, you should also be able to make them out in the same positions as the later steel ones, I've forgotten as it was too long ago, maybe 14 years ago!

18 minutes ago, TMB said:

Looks like you might not have them. Mine are clearly visible on the outer side of the bushes....

I wonder if a split shaft collar like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clamp-Collar-Double-Split-3mm-To-130mm-Shaft-Collar-Clamp-Type-Collars-/302160614643?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286 would be an acceptable bodge? Looks like my bar is 18mm so think I'd probably try 17mm hoping that's enough to grip tight. Got to be better than a piece of plastic.

^ Might be worth a try if there's enough clearance to get them on.

So obviously I was wrong about which side of the mounting clamps the original stops were located.

 

Adding alternative clamps, I think that maybe Whiteline, who I think is/was an Australia based company that provided alternative ARBs and rear ARBs did market split clamps to sort out the original versions of these ARBs.

 

Early on in these car's history, some people were fitting and welding large thick washers.

 

In my case, my wife's 2002 Polo's ARB plastic stops or at least the RHS one broke free during that car's 5th winter from new, my wife drove home from school and said there was a knocking at the front - that was the ARB "walking" across and hitting the car's body.

 

Fixing that without replacing the ARB must be the best plan as the cross member needs dropping a bit to get that ARB swopped - and that, if not carried out well can lead to suspension misalignment and so uneven front tyre wear - even, in my case, if the work was carried out at a proper VW workshop, very annoying, and followed a few months later by the RHS front spring breaking in the middle - that was down to corrosion not road surface quality.

 

I had not been expecting to be spending that much time and money on a German branded (built in Spain) car while it was under 6 years and 35K miles old, a wallet robbing little toad of a car which was just a Skoda with some VW bits.

40 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

Fxing that without replacing the ARB must be the best plan as the cross member needs dropping a bit to get that ARB swopped - and that, if not carried out well can lead to suspension misalignment and so uneven front tyre wear

I've had dodgy tyre wear for a good few years that never seems to get sorted when I've had tracking done (inside edges at front), but no knocking noises from ARB and drives fine.

 

I think the shaft collar clamps I linked to above have too large an outer diameter. I've found Febi Bilstein do a replacement anti roll bar that comes with bushes, clamps, bolts, and droplinks that can be had for £65 delivered on eBay. I'm starting to lean towards that option or a used ARB since it's just a lump of metal and the car might not have many years left overall.

The only issue I'd think with fitting a pair of split collars would be, if they have such a large OD, does make them in danger of contacting anything nearby, like the steering rod bellows, if not then why worry about them being overkill as long as they perform the task as well or better than the original crappy plastic  "held on with paint" stops.

 

Edit:- the original ones would be bearing up against the side lugs of the mounting rubbers - and so would that type. Just make sure that the ARB is centred well enough.

Edited 7 April, 20215 yr by rum4mo

I know I am late to the game on this one but I have just had a failed MOT on the anti-roll bar lateral movement. When I removed the bushes the plastic sleeve had broken loose and disintegrated. As I need this fixed urgently for the MOT retest, I used some amalgamating tape under the bush to add some resistance. Just cleaned the rust off of the bar, gave it a light sand and clean, added the tape and reassembled. The MOT tester was happy with this fix and saved me quite a few pennies in the process.

I hope this will be helpful to someone in the same boat.