406oc.co.uk

My 406 estate 2.1 td 1998 is due MOT on the 12th and i always have a look round it prior to MO to iron out any clear failures as i cant afford to have my car off the road or not road legal for any length of time whilst MOT failures are getting fixed.

I am fortunate enough to have a pit in my garage and when i got under the back end all looked ok until i jacked the Off side rear wheel off the ground and wiggled it with my hands in the 3 and 9 o'clock position and i heard a knocking.

There was no noise when i had my hands in the 12 and 6 position fo that rules out the bearing right................?

It was hard to make it knock from in the pit but easy to make it do it from at the side of the car, so making it knock and looking for play when in the pit was near impossible and i couldnt find a willing volenteer to wabble the wheel whils i looked from in the pit.

Looking at the many! links and bushes that make up the rear suspension it looks like the likely cuprit is the top link that looks like it controls the toe in toe out on the rear upright. Its got a baush at one end and a ball joint at the other.

What do you think?

Hold on, I'll get in the pit and watch it while you give it a wiggle

Do you mean the track arm? I seem to remember they're common issue.

its a non adjustable link very much like the front ARB drop link but it sits horizontally on the rear suspension and looks like it stops the rear upright moving in and out...............

If you get my drift!

That sounds like it!

I had this before my MOT in Feb, it was the rear tracking arms. Got a couple from fleabay, about £15-£20 for the pair.
The one thing to watch is the attachment to the chassie, it's on a bolt with an offset washer either end. When I took mine off, the spanner monkey who had done it last time has chewed the thread off. I got one from the stealers and then had to get the whole car tracked as the offset washer controls the rear tracking.
Quite an easy job, but easyer for you as you've got a pit and not sqeezing under the car on axel stands. Good luck

Can you elaborate on the offest washer bit? I dont understand how it works.

I though it would just be a fixed length arm that resulted in a preset toe in/out?

I thought it would have been a preset tracking, but I found out otherwise.
The bolt on the chassie has a grove down one side, the offset washer has a notch which goes onto the bolt only one way. Where it attaches on the car, it sits in a groove, so turning the bolt before tightening it changes the tracking on the rear wheels. Hense why after putting it on, i took the car to be tracked as I just guessed where it should be. I come pretty close, but got it aligned so not to put excess wear on my tires.
Hard to explain without a picture, sorry. If anyone has a picture on the computer someplace, it would be helpful

Smelliot.

Thanks for the explanaition, i see what you mean now that i tried to take it apart tonight.

I got a pair of rear stabilizer arms off ebay and set about the noisy one and i couldnt get the twat off.

The inner bush tube has somehow corroded onto the bolt that passes through it.

Its stuck fast and i mean FAST, i was belting the end of the bolt with a 2 1/2Lb hammer and it didnt shift.

I of course managed to get the other side (the one that has no play) changed without any dificulty.

Im going to have to go to the main dealer tomorrow and get a new bolt and then cut the old bolt out with the angle grinder.

Oh French overcomplicated wanky rear geometry - pain in the fecking arse!

I've got exactly the same problem on mine; there is side to side movement if you jack the wheel up and rock it; I could see the movement in the link when I was doing the bushes.
I've bought the top links but haven't got around to fitting them yet,I was fed up after having done the anti rollbar buhes and drop links!

Got the stubborn f*cker done last night after cutting the bolt out with the grinder!

No knocking now