Hello all!

i have a confession to make - i dont own a ford!

im afraid i own a F ix I t A gain T omorrow (dont kill me :P )

however my mate has a, wait for it, 1.8 diesel, Mk 4 fiesta.

his shocks have had it, being quite technical im saving him the cost of him using a garage and changing them for him.

heres the problem : the shock absorbers have a drop link to an anti roll bar.

how the !Removed! hell does this come off?

it has a 15mm nut at one end and a plastic ball joint thing at the other, with a rubber boot in the middle.

sorta like this:

http://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/9644...nks-30mins.html

(3rd picture down)

except it dosent have a allen key slot, just a bolt.

is the secret to this one behind the black plastic boot?

should i just nail some mole grips to it?

any advice much appreciated :)

p.s. sorry if this is in the wrong section

This is the right place :) just got to wait for the right person to answer your call

Hello all!

i have a confession to make - i dont own a ford!

im afraid i own a F ix I t A gain T omorrow (dont kill me :P )

however my mate has a, wait for it, 1.8 diesel, Mk 4 fiesta.

his shocks have had it, being quite technical im saving him the cost of him using a garage and changing them for him.

heres the problem : the shock absorbers have a drop link to an anti roll bar.

how the !Removed! hell does this come off?

it has a 15mm nut at one end and a plastic ball joint thing at the other, with a rubber boot in the middle.

sorta like this:

http://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/9644...nks-30mins.html

(3rd picture down)

except it dosent have a allen key slot, just a bolt.

is the secret to this one behind the black plastic boot?

should i just nail some mole grips to it?

any advice much appreciated :)

Different companies manufacture items in different ways, you may find at the bottom of the bolt there are two small flats to accomodate a spanner?

Different companies manufacture items in different ways, you may find at the bottom of the bolt there are two small flats to accomodate a spanner?

hi,

thanks for this, there were two small flats, a 17mm spanner did fine. :P

in the end though we couldnt get the fronts off as they have a nut at the top that is 17mm, but has a plastic bit around it stoping it coming off?!

how can we do this?

kinda like this http://www.cabinnaise.com/vpage/nut.jpg

but the rubber bit isnt attached to the same thing as the nut, and its much tighter to the nut.

any ideas?

hi,

thanks for this, there were two small flats, a 17mm spanner did fine. :P

in the end though we couldnt get the fronts off as they have a nut at the top that is 17mm, but has a plastic bit around it stoping it coming off?!

how can we do this?

kinda like this http://www.cabinnaise.com/vpage/nut.jpg

but the rubber bit isnt attached to the same thing as the nut, and its much tighter to the nut.

any ideas?

I haven't as yet looked at our fiesta droplinks but can't see there being too much difference between manufacturers! Try using molegrips to hold one bit while using a socket to turn the nut. I have a feeling the rubber bit u mention is in fact the rubber bush on the underside of the link? Depending how rusty the link is will determine how easy it finally comes off and you should find the nut is a locknut with a nylon insert to grip the thread on the link so will feel tight to unscrew.