MOT

[clivvy]

i'm going to ring my other mechanic for a welding cost. the parts are very cheap BUT is this soemthing I can do myself? I have NEVEr done bushes, drop links etc, but I am fairly capable i think. I'm not the strongest of men, so this is my downfall, what can I epxect when changing these parts??

 

[clivvy]

My other mech can't quote me on welding till he sees the car!

 

[clivvy]

ok, so my mates girlfriends dad is a wrought iron gate maker, so welds, hes gonna ask him if he will take a look, i have fingers crossed that he can do it because this means i will be abel to repair the rest cheaply, and save the car, because if i cant, it has to go. :thumbs

 

[lacroupade]

Just do a search on here for swapping of droplinks etc Clivvy, some of those jobs are really a piece of pi55, even for an idiot like me. A basic set of spanners/sockets and an angle grinder to get the ends off the droplinks is about all you'll need. And afterwards you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

 

[clivvy]

I'll give it a bash once I know the deal with the welding.one point tho,mech say the drag link is a right long price,nit just the small bit at the end,what does he mean?he seems to think that is expensive??

 

[makeitfit]

Need to get a proper description then! The drag links as they're being called here are just a track rod end basicaly. IF however he means the steering control arm thing which is the long bar that goes across the car between the steering box and the steering idler then that is a few more squid but not what he said on the fail sheet.They're about £65 on the bay but then you wont need the TREs then:thumbs

 

[clivvy]

yes, that sounds like what he was SAYING, but its not on the failure sheet, so thats confusing? So does this "rod" come with the drag link attached? if so, I will source, £65 isnt quite as bad the "over a hundred quid" he was quoting, so thats the second biggest cost of the repair (still dont know about the welding...) thing is, how can the steering ROD/ARM have play in it? surely thats the links at the end??

 

[clivvy]

just seen the steering rod on milners, £55, "not in until december" but is that the part? I dont think he has been clear enough, MOT says drag links, so how can that translate to the steering rod, are the drag links ATTATCHED? is that the problem? If so, fine, I'll buy the part, thats no big huge issue, certainly not worth making me feel like I have lost my 4x4 that i love.
steering rod
http://www.milneroffroad.com/img/productImages/10975.JPG

drag links/TRE's same thing?

http://www.milneroffroad.com/img/productImages/10339.jpg

can he mean ANYTHING else??

 

[jims-terrano]

Can you not see the MOT bloke and get clarification?

Remember one thing, once the sills are fixed they wont go again for a long time to come if done right.

Jim T

 

[cncfabs]

The steering rod at milners has been out of stock for months i sold a second hand one in october they said was due in 4 weeks then! but they are available now on ebay

 

[clivvy]

unfortunatly, that IS the clarification off the mechanic! thats the best he could describe "not the draglinks themselves, the long arm with the draglinks attached" is what he said. Then why put draglinks on the mot failure? why not put the steering arm on the mot failure


I really feel i have been dropped in it.

 

[tezzer]

unfortunatly, that IS the clarification off the mechanic! thats the best he could describe "not the draglinks themselves, the long arm with the draglinks attached" is what he said. Then why put draglinks on the mot failure? why not put the steering arm on the mot failure


I really feel i have been dropped in it.

i think he should have put track rod ends personely, clivvy, i do a bit of rot welding and to be honest i had to weld my sills at the rear, about 12" long on each side, and £50 a side is not to bad a price, it's the cleaning of the metal and preporation that takes the time, not to sure about £200 labour though, he may have included wheel tracking in the price, £28 down here, im not sure about the inner wing, because the vehicle has a seperate chassis, he may of failed it because it's close the the servo. :thumb2

 

[clivvy]

this is the thing, I dont yet know the extent of the "corrosion". I am going to have a good look this weekend, if possible, I will take pictures if you guys dont mind so that I can get better informed. I have a couple of options in terms of welding, just waiting to hear from my little brother, who says he can weld, and my mate has a welder. I have no idea after that, so not sure what i need to weld up the "corrosion"? again, i'll know more once i look, and hopefully you guys can advise me??

I'm going to have a look at this steering arm thingy, try to suss out exactly what needs to be replaced. is this simply a bolt off bolt on job? if i have to do some of these repairs myself, the most i can achieve is jacking the car up, is this all that is required to change bushes and links?

 

[tezzer]

basicly yes, and axle stands are a must, no stands DONT do the job, im sure there is something in the down loads about changing track rod ends, i cant remember the tools required exactly, but a wire brush, wd40 or similar, 15-17-19-21mm spanners, socket set would be useful, hammer, lever/bar, ball joint breaker, i use a hammer myself and give it a hard clout on the end a few times normely shocks it off, as you say get the welding sorted first, it's a pity you are so far away i would have done the job:doh for you.

 

[jims-terrano]

Clivvy if you want to borrow some heavy weight axle stands give me a shout.

Jim T

 

[makeitfit]

STOP with the panicing boyo:thumb2
You need to address the welding first, the spanner bits ( whatever they end up being) are a doddle

 

[clivvy]

thanks guys, its one of those things thats getting a lot of thought! thanks very much for all your offers of help too, much appreciated. I get a proper look this weekend, and yes, welding first if I cant get that done, well, the cars done!

 

[clivvy]

PHOTOs

HI guys,

got a look under the Mav today, these are the pics. I realsied that the MOT certificate must mean the actual sills, not around the suspension, as i found large holes in them! I actually feel a bit better about that now, because I thought it was something links to the suspension itself...

<a href="http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/?action=view&current=CIMG1729.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/CIMG1729.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/?action=view&current=CIMG1730.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/CIMG1730.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

thast the two sills, couldnt find the brake master servo mounting because I dont know what I am looking for!! Also checkthe the steering bar, yes the drag links look worn, but the bar, well, its a bar for gods sake!surly we just take the drag links off? they link in at the end of the bar...

anyway, this is the drag links..


<a href="http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/?action=view&current=CIMG1734.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/CIMG1734.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

see the scratch marks?? no idea what that is, thats the passenger side, this is the driver side:

<a href="http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/?action=view&current=CIMG1732.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w163/clivjoo/CIMG1732.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

i checked the bushes, as expected worn, no biggie there, and yes, the anti roll bar links are clearly worn, again no biggie..
so, what do you think?

 

[jims-terrano]

Sills are exactly same as mine were, only thing to watch for is it's often inner and outer sills but don't let that put you off in the slightest.

Jim

 

[clivvy]

would you say those sills are bad then? (what do you mean by inner sills??) I was told approx £150 for the welding, which sounds a lot but I dont know whats involved. Problem I have is I cant take the car to garage for welding, then back home because of the MOT failure sheet...

Anyone know what is required to weld the sills??