Clonking After Drop Links Replaced

[MRichards]

Hi there,

Just had my drop links and ARB bushes at the front replaced as I knew they'd need doing before the MoT in April and I thought I'd get them done sooner rather than later. The work was done at a proper mechanic I trust and have had lots of work done in the past. The car came back and he wasn't happy with the work - there's clonking over bumps and sometimes and you go round a corner. He said the little cup things (can't remember the proper name) that the drop links use to seat themselves were too small. The company he got the parts from said 'yeah it's a usual thing with these Yarises, give it a couple of weeks and it'll settle down'. Both the mechanic and I are very skeptical of this but we're going to give the time and see if it does settle down. I've driven it a good 90 miles already and it seems to be the same. Just wondering if anyone has had this issue in the past and how they went about it? Cheers! :)

[oldcodger]

Sounds hard to believe.

What price for the genuine parts from Mr T .

[Cyker]

Are these Toyota ones or third party; if third party, do you have a link to them?

The clonking is usually a sign the ARB links are not tight enough and are allowing too much movement - Usually this is caused by age  and the rubber perishing, but if yours are new they may need tightening or something may be the wrong length - the spacer shaft maybe, if your kit uses one?

Also double check they're installed correctly - There should be two pairs of rubbers on each bolt - One pair sandwiching the ARB, and the other sandwiching the suspension arm. There should be no metal-metal contact except between the caps and the end nuts (And spacer bar if there is one)

A crappy diagram:

@(=|=)#(=|=)@

@=end nuts

( ) =cups

= = rubber

| = ARB and/or suspension arm

#=spacer shaft (Not all ARB links use this; Some have a spacer built into the bolt itself to hold the cups)

... well that ended up looking more suspect than I intended but you get the idea I hope...!

 

[Cyker]

Just now, oldcodger said:

Sounds hard to believe.

What price for the genuine parts from Mr T .

The Toyota ones are stupidly expensive (IIRC around £90!!! ) - I bought a poly set from superflex which will basically last the life of the car and they were still cheaper!!

Normal rubber third party ones are usually around a tenner.
 

[Madasafish]

The genuine Toyota parts are £37.70 delivered from eBay. Which I used for our Yaris. http://tinyurl.com/ydhfddqm    You need two . (I got free delivery for an order over £30)

Clonking means the parts are rubbish or fitted incorrectly.. It is so easy to do - even I as an OAP can do it properly (although slowly).

The noise is the steel upright hitting the suspension arms.. so loose

 

[MRichards]

Hi all,

Thanks very much for all your replies - I would've loved to reply sooner, had a busy few days/late nights at work this week! The parts were third party (especially the bushes, I'd heard how expensive they are from Toyota!). On the weekend, I will try and tighten up the drop links (I managed to find the torque setting in the Haynes manual so I shall follow that) and check its all in the correct orientation (cheers for the ASCII diagram!). If not, I will probably return the car to the mechanic and the parts replaced :)

[Cyker]

Oh, that's a point, check the ARB fixings haven't come loose too; One of mine some how sheared off once and the anti-roll bar was only anchored on the passenger side one which also made it clonk!