Stubborn Rear Arb

[fliprio 9]

I’m trying to remove the ARB off of a replacement beam that is going on the car as the old one is shot. The plastic end caps are long gone and water has gotten in and its fighting me and being stubborn.

 

One side the end plate thread stripped and the bolt is now stuck, the other side the bolt sheared off - must have been a poor quality bolt, but it did have a breaker bar on it so no surprise.

 

Has anyone got any bright ideas how this thing can come off?

 

I have gotten a decent taper chisel down behind the end plate and managed to budge it by about 5mm so the bar will now move side to side a little but that’s as much as it wants to budge, I have tried a bit of heat but not that much from a little gas torch. I also put penetrating oil down the holes 3 times over a period of a week before starting

 

Im not worried about ruining the end plates as the ones on the car are fine and just slid off in comparison a few months back.

 

[welshpug 1,655]

Drill the broken bolt and try again, you are using the correct bolts with an M12x1.5 thread right?

[Tom Fenton 1,540]

On the side with the threads stripped, use a 2 leg puller to pull the end plate off.

[fliprio 9]

Drill the broken bolt and try again, you are using the correct bolts with an M12x1.5 thread right?

 

I tried this, unfortunatly I didnt get the pilot hole spot on centre as the sheared surface was all over the place, when going up into bigger drill sizes it cut into the end plate thread so no chance of using it.

 

Yep - used Ford wheel bolts M12x1.5

[fliprio 9]

On the side with the threads stripped, use a 2 leg puller to pull the end plate off.

 

I will get myself one of these and give it a go, I suppose that it assumes the bolt will move because its stripped and push the bar through. Its the passenger side one which has stripped, I forget which side has less engagement. But its meantto be a 27mm bar so not sure if its the same length as standard.

[welshpug 1,655]

If fitted correctly the left hand end will be fully engaged.

[fliprio 9]

On the side with the threads stripped, use a 2 leg puller to pull the end plate off.

It seems that the end plate hasn't moved enough to get the feet of the puller in behind the lip

 

Big pry bars don't want to move it either

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

The Arb's not been welded to the end plate by any chance? If your not using the rest on the beam and nothing works, could you get the angle grinder out and grind (carefully) through the end plate till you get to the end of the arb, and then use something to persuade it out?

[minimaniacwhyard 17]

I agree I'd grind it till it was weak then split with a chisel then you keep arb intact

[fliprio 9]

The Arb's not been welded to the end plate by any chance? If your not using the rest on the beam and nothing works, could you get the angle grinder out and grind (carefully) through the end plate till you get to the end of the arb, and then use something to persuade it out?

Unless it's welded from the back, but since it's a 27mm bar it should be the right length and not welded. It's strange that it's budged 5mm but won't go any further.

 

I need to keep the beam, the beam is having the 24mm put on it which is on the old beam currently on the car.

 

I'm not sure how grinding the end plate will help, unless it will help to move the other end out a little bit so I can get a puller on it

[welshpug 1,655]

Sounds like you need to drill and tap for a bigger bolt.

[Henry 1.9GTi 36]

If fitted correctly the left hand end will be fully engaged.

 

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but whats the reason behind the above? Iv'e always lined up the splines so there is equal engagement into the end plate on each side. Don't want to cause problems by doing this though!

[welshpug 1,655]

I'm not sure specifically, but it makes it a lot easier to fit and clearance the ARB, and its how peugeot/citroen say to do it

 

The LH end has a notch you align with the arb lever bolt hole so so can easily get the RH end on level, what the procedure is is you fit a bolt to the LH end to hold the end plate in place, and draw the RH side on till the clearance is correct.

 

 

It might be that the splines are shorter on the LH end, though I don't recall what they are like, I know the torsion bars are like that.