lower control arm replacement on 55 plate Berlingo

[GJB]

I am going to replace both the suspension lower control arm's on my 55 plate Berlingo 1.9 diesel van.
I had a look at them when replacing the springs and found that the rubber boot on the ball joint on one of them was badly torn. For the small cost of a pair of these I am replacing both.

This van is fitted with the one piece cast steel arms, with the ball joint being an integral part and not replaceable on its own.

Does anyone have any pointers to a painless replacement process, any tips or problems I should look out for.

Thanks

[ffrenchie]

When I did mine I bought a pair of drop links and just cut the old ones off rather than spend ages destroying them with a spanner. Otherwise it was quite a straight forward job as long as you have all the tools to do it.

[polar]

Easy job just get good quality parts and do the drop links as ffrenchie says

[GJB]

Thanks for the replies, I have already replaced the drop links when I changed the springs, that's when I noticed the damaged boot on the bottom ball joint.

Any special tools needed to remove the bottom ball joint.

[geoff]

^^ No

[GJB]

^^  No

Thanks for the confirmation

[GraemeT]

Hi - did one like yours with the integral ball joint recently. Major snag was the front bolt was rusted/seized totally to the captive bolt (numbers 7 and 12 in the image here). May be worth soaking the thing in penetrating fluid/applying some heat/cool cycles before you start (we ended up cutting the bolt).

Only other thing is once the ball joint is off watch the driveshaft does not pull out of the gearbox if the hub moves/rotates outwards. No big deal as it just pops back in again but the gearbox oil on the floor annoys my missus 

[cancunia]

If the driveshaft does pop out, put it back with care or you may end up having to replace the seal. Not a big job but an unwanted faff all the same. I'd thought about using a few cable ties to hold the shaft in the gearbox, and saw it suggested by someone else here. If you try the ties, please post back on how it went?

[GJB]

Hi - did one like yours with the integral ball joint recently. Major snag was the front bolt was rusted/seized totally to the captive bolt (numbers 7 and 12 in the image here). May be worth soaking the thing in penetrating fluid/applying some heat/cool cycles before you start (we ended up cutting the bolt).

Only other thing is once the ball joint is off watch the driveshaft does not pull out of the gearbox if the hub moves/rotates outwards. No big deal as it just pops back in again but the gearbox oil on the floor annoys my missus 

Already had a drive shaft pop out once while doing previous work.  Thanks for reminding me or I might have done it again

[GJB]

If the driveshaft does pop out, put it back with care or you may end up having to replace the seal. Not a big job but an unwanted faff all the same. I'd thought about using a few cable ties to hold the shaft in the gearbox, and saw it suggested by someone else here. If you try the ties, please post back on how it went?

I will have a look at something along those lines, maybe a bungee cord or two