Worth replacing ARB droplinks in pairs?

Hxc · 2 Feb 2013 at 13:25

Hi.

Just had the rear end of my car start clunking heavily, got under the car and see that the arb droplink has come off the bush at one end drivers side :eek:

Just about to grab the parts to do it, but while doing one is it worth doing the other at the same time?

Cheers

iaind · 2 Feb 2013 at 13:27

Yes, the other side will have had the same amount of wear on it so won't be far behind

Matt82 · 2 Feb 2013 at 13:27

what do they cost? £15 for the second one?

unless youre a bit strapped at the minute, id just do both

Flibster · 2 Feb 2013 at 13:44

Yup. Do both.

Just makes sence.

Gribs · 2 Feb 2013 at 14:54

It's always a good idea to do suspension components in pairs.

Simon · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:19

No point changing them if not needed. They are a pain in the arse to do as they will be rusted/corroded

GT3 · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:21

Won't a new one on one side vastly accelerate the wear on the other one though?

I've seen some ott things on forums about people replacing brake calipers in pairs etc which just seems to daft to me but surely droplinks is one thing that should always be replaced in pairs.

Simon · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:41

They are a piece of metal. They don't wear

No issue with replacing individual calipers either

GT3 · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:45

Obviously the metal rod doesn't wear but the joints on each end do

Simon · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:49

They break in my experience. After spending. About an hour changing a Honda one you won't want to change the other side just in case.

Depends on which car OP is on about I guess. The Honda ones are a metal ball in a metal cup for the dynamic movement.

GT3 · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:51

Oh, I only really have experience with Peugeot and Citroen droplinks which need replacing all the time when the knocking starts. Especially on 406's which seem to be an almost annual change is required to stop the knocking noises.

Like this...

iaind · 2 Feb 2013 at 15:51

And it's the metal ball and cup movement that wears.... It's a moving part

Hxc · 2 Feb 2013 at 16:01

There is no metal ball on the MX5 mk1 droplink, It is a metal rod with 2 rubber bushes at each end... in my case, the rubber bush has come out of the metal rod somehow at one end, leaving it disconnected.

iaind · 2 Feb 2013 at 16:06

The bushes wear in that type then. They will either have bushes or ball joints, both of those things can and do wear.

Simon · 2 Feb 2013 at 16:22

The Honda ones just snap so I tend to just replace them when they break. Never really noticed them wear and be loose but will have a look next time I'm in there.

It's an anti roll bar. They aren't independent so it's not critical to change them in pairs.

Hxc · 3 Feb 2013 at 15:11

Thanks all, have decided to go with just the one and did it today. Not a particularly hard job.

Gribs · 3 Feb 2013 at 15:15

Simon said:
No point changing them if not needed. They are a pain in the arse to do as they will be rusted/corroded

It really depends how you do them. If you try and actually undo them they're a right pain but it's very easy to just cut them off with a grinder.

iaind · 3 Feb 2013 at 15:46

Hxc said:
Thanks all, have decided to go with just the one and did it today. Not a particularly hard job.

5 replies saying do a pair, one saying don't. Why bother asking? :confused:

red eye · 14 Mar 2013 at 14:38

Gribs said:
It really depends how you do them. If you try and actually undo them they're a right pain but it's very easy to just cut them off with a grinder.

mole grips and an air gun, off in a second

AtomicBanana · 14 Mar 2013 at 15:04

I've just changed all of them on my mk1 (1 front snapped, 1 front just because it'd be sure to go next, and the 2 rears because the bushes had gone).

I bought spare bolts in case I just needed to cut them off, but with some decent impact sockets + plus gas, they came off pretty easily, though obviously YMMV.