2010 Citroen c5. Things not lining up after trying to refit lower control arm, please help. pics and video inc

[Harry Bloomfield]

That's the problem, I can't get the bolt through the hole .

DO you know/ have you ever heard of a podger?

 

[Mottie]

But isn't the caliper etc fastened to that ? Do I'd have to unbolt all that first ?

Didn't we have all this trouble telling you how to fit a water pump to your Vectra?

 

[Burnerman]

A tapered drift ( Podger) will line up the holes in the arm in very short time.
If you don’t have one, file a chamfer on the end of a bolt.
John

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

But not the bolt!

 

[Burnerman]

Right on!
J.

 

[robinbanks]

That's the problem, I can't get the bolt through the hole .
Also it was a real pain getting that bolt out

Burnerman isn't talking about that bolt

Put the bolt back in the hole on the left of the pic, the one that your hand is nearly touching. It might help you to put the Jack under the wheel knuckle (the dirty scratched thing touching your palm) and lift it up a *small amount*.

Once you have that bolt in, Jack the wheel knuckle up some more so that the control arm is nearer level and this will help line things up at the end near the engine

The end near the engine is a metal tube mounted in a stiff rubber block. The metal tube sits vertical clamped by the retaining bolt. As the suspension bounces up and down the rubber flexes allowing the arm to move. When the arm is angled downwards like that it will make it a real bugger to get the metal tube (cast into the rubber) vertical enough to allow the bolt to fit. It's going to make your life much easier to have that metal tube as vertical as possible before jiggling the bolt in

Bear in mind that when you jack the wheel up the suspension will naturally try to push the control arm away from the mounting point. If you can use a clamp or rope to prevent that motion it will help. You may also find success in fitting that rubber bush bolt first; have the control arm level and rotated slightly so that the bit you're currently touching with your hand is not in contact with the wheel knuckle at all, but instead in front of it. Once the rubber bush bolt is fitted, bend the control arm down, further downwards than the wheel knuckle is, rotate ithe arms backwards so the fork fingers are either side of the mounting point on the wheel knuckle and let it go so it springs up and the forked end is in its proper place. Again, having the wheel knuckle jacked up slightly will help with this. Fit but do not tighten bolts until everything is in place and hand tight; if you tighten the bush bolt it will inhibit rotating the control arm

 

[FruitBowl]

Hi everyone.

I think I finally lined it all up, but now I don't think I have the right bolts to go into the other end that secures the end bush. I don't want to force it in in case it strips the threads.

I got the middle bush in I just put a large allen key through for now to secure it while I put other bolts in.