mk2 Posted April 10, 2022 Report Share Posted April 10, 2022 Thought I'd replace the front pads on one of my Lupos. Straight forward job. Wheels off, calipers, done. All good. Until... So once back on the ground gave the driver's side wheel a good shake to check ball joints and bearing. Uh, oh, Top to bottom play. Must mean one thing- lower ball joint. Ordered new ball joint. Swapped (what a pain to get the cone to release-sledge hammer required). Refit new one. All good. Back on ground again. Test drive. Lovely. Until... Once parked checked the front wheels again, both sides. Top to bottom play on the driver's side wheel again. Ah come on... Ok so it wasn't the ball joint now. Only thing left must be the wheel bearing. But it made no noises while driving. But hey ho, thought I may as well change that as I have a spare bearing. So everything to pieces again, all out, chop out central journal with a grinder, clean up, press in new race. All good. Tighten Cv splined bearing tensioner nut. All back together again. Back on ground again. Test drive. Lovely. Until... Checked the front wheels again, just to be sure.... Top to bottom play. Still there. This is not possible. There is nothing left that would allow the hub carrier and wheel to move like that. Yup, I must have missed something. So, jack up again. Wheel off. Time for a really thorough inspection. I did hear a spring go twang this time it was being jacked up. Sometimes they just do that. Nope. There it was. Broken spring. Must have been like that a while as the cracked ends were all caked in mud and I hadn't spotted it. Surely that wouldn't cause movement? So everything to pieces again. Strut out. I had two spare, freshly powder coated springs, so swapped it. All back together again. Back on ground again. Test drive. Lovely. And... Checked the front wheels yet again. This time, no play. All solid. How is that possible? Do suspension springs apply a preload? My understanding is that they only go up and down? I mean the strut is a simple hydraulic shaft that just goes in and out. So how is that possible? The top strut bearing pushes straight down, so I can't imagine that that would be the source of the movement. And it was in good condition. So I conclude I know nothing about lupos. Where's @RAB or @Rich when you need 'em? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigcraft Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 It sounds like a similar problem on mine too. New legs, wishbones and wheel bearings……….. then there’s a bloody rumble of something not tight, rechecked all….. all good! Rumble rumble again……. replaced top strut bearings……. rumble rumble…. oh bollox it’s the arosa lupo ghost!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 **** taper on aftermarket parts. Common, split the knuckle on the TT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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