How to replace front and rear suspension parts (with pics)

[PAULF]

I thought I'd share my experience of replacing the front control arms and the rear control arms and bushes.

Firstly, I ordered the parts from All German Parts Passat, A4, and A6 suspension - Our Online Shop. It is the Meyle front control arm set, the rear refresh kit and the rear eccentric bolts

The parts look like this

Front

and rear

I allowed three days for the job, having had grief with my wife's car.


First gain access to and then slacken the front driveshaft bolt. It is **** tight, so if you try it when jacked, you will move the car off jacks!
Jack the front of the car, and remove the wheels and brakes, and the loosened driveshaft bolt.

I would suggest starting with the pinch bolt, as it determines the time to do the front suspension

Note that if it is stuck, putting it in a press will only pinch up the end resting on the press and grip the bolt tighter. The general consensus seem to be cut the bolt through the pinch gaps and try and punch it out whilst heating it. Good Luck!

I then removed the track rod end, and fitted the new one

making sure my measurement was from the steering rod to the centre of the track rod end ball joint bolt, as old and new may be different

Then remove the two upper arms from the hub, and unbolt the strut from the lower arm.
Then access the three strut mounting bolts in the engine bay, and remove them

You can then remove the whole strut for accessing the upper arm bolts

Loosely fit the two upper arms to the strut, ensuring they are still free to rotate.

I then put the strut back and completed the top part of the job.
Note the copious amounts of grease used throughout.

This should make removal easier if required in the future.

The lower arms and 'C' link are fairly straight forward,

however, ensure the 'C' link has the correct orientation, and the correct mounting holes are used for the lower arms - there are two.

I was able to remove my lower rear arm without lowering the subframe, by using a spanner to move the bolt out of the way as I removed it

It was tight, as the marks here show

However, on my wifes' car, I had to undo the subframe bolt and drop the frame an inch or so.

As all the guides say, installation is a reverse of removal, remembering that the bolts need to be tightened under load. The easiest way to do this is a jack under the front balljoint

Deagrease the brakes, and that's the front done!
Both sides took a lesiurely day to do.

For the rear, first slacken the driveshaft bolts, jack the back and remove the wheels and brake discs and calipers.
Remove the hub by unbolting the top arm

(Note the four strut mounting bolts in the picture - and yes, mud is an issue!) )

and remove the lower eccentric bolt. My ones were seized solid - more of that later!

I then undid the ABS sensor connector (under the rear seat) and pulled the wire through. This allowed me to remove the hub without disturbing the sensor.
I also was able to confirm my earlier diagnosis of a cracked reluctor ring (ABS engages at low speeds, no fault codes)

a bit of Oxy-Acetelyne and a file later

I cleaned up the CV joint with a file, and heated the ring to cherry with a propane burner. Dropped it on and it's a shrink fit.

With the hub removed, the two lower bushes can be removed (mine fell out!) and new ones fitted.

I came up with a couple of 'clever' ideas to remove and install the bushes

Basically a combination of bolts, washers and plates
I would recommend using a bearing splitter on the lower ones, unlike the lower picture, as there is a rubber flange that compresses and can cause all sorts of grief if you're not careful

I then undid the four bolts holding the strut and moved it ourboard, to give me clearance to remove the top wishbone bolt.
Due to time issues caused by the first side I did, I gave up being clever with removal and refit of the bushes,

and use a propane felt burner to remove the rubber, cut a couple of slots with a hack saw, and SDS'd the sleeve out

A vice and spacers refitted them

I then refitted the arms and hub, and went to change the drop links and control arms. This turned into a bit of a disaster - see here Rear Suspension Help

I was able to remove them in the end with the judicious use of a used 9" grinding disc on a 4.5" angle grinder, sans guard. This allowed me to cut far enough through the bolt and bush for them to be removed.

Heat wasn't an option, as it would have melted the rubber, and left me with nothing to prevent the sleeve turning.
Not a recommended technique in a confined space, as my luckily still attached index finger will testify.

Due to my problems, I didn't get the lower inner wishbone bushes done, but I think it is possible to do them in situ with pullers.
The forward lower inner pair looks as if they will need the subframe lowed an inch or two for access - similar to the front.

I will say that I had alreaady experience problems with the rear eccentric bolts on the avant, so I had bought new bolts, nuts and washers as they are 'dealer only' - particularly galling as both cars had had 4 wheel tracking done within the previous 6 months. This necessiates the moving of these bolts on the bush sleeve to adjust toe and camber. I have still got the computer printout showing before and after, and I can only think that the adjustment was made bty torsioning the rubber to get movement.

As I said on the other thread, after proper adjustment, the car felt great, and it was a good job done.

If I get pics of the lower wishbone bushes getting done, I'll add them here

The ABS repair was a corker too - no more pulsing at very low speeds!

Paul

 

[PAULF]

A quick update on my suspension.

I have eventually received my H&R front and rear anti-roll bars. Got them from Larkspeed who have been good, but H&R have been playing silly buggers with delivery times - a week to ten days became nearer two months! Ok if they tell you that to start.

The front is 32mm, up from the stock 29mm solid, and the rear is 21mm, up from 15mm. That should give me a bit more rear end slideyness! There are two adjustment holes in the end of each bar. I have used the longer lever arm to begin with, which gives a softer spring so I can gauge the effect.

I'm also having to keep an eye on the clearance to my new panzer plate. I still need to fit a wheel arch liner, but the new plate is now fitted

I'll put up some pics next week, but it was a fairly simple job that took about 30 mins each. The only thing to bear in mind is the H&R bushes have teflon tape, so it is probably a bad idea to grease the inside (generally you don't grease teflon bushes) - I'll find out as I use them!

 

[dubster67]

Give yourself a massive pat on the back for doing all that, and enjoy driving your car again.

I've just finished doing my car(TQS) and what a job it is. Worth the effort though, it drives so much better.

I just need to do the front of mine now(Meyle kit waiting in its box).

Regarding your H&R ARB kit, have you planned to get some strengthening brackets on the rear ARB mounting points?

 

[PAULF]

I did wonder about that.

The Neuspeed kit had the brackets, but as H&R haven't, I'll just keep an eye on things for a while as they obviously think it's not required.
I have some pics to upload, but have been a bit busy.

Springs and dampers next!

 

[aragorn]

you WILL break the subframe with a 21mm rear bar and no brackets.

 

[PAULF]

Hmm, ok.

Next question is where do I get a bracket from - or do I need to make one up?

 

[PAULF]

GIYF!

One bracket kit on order from MRC.

There are some horror stories out there!

Just for info, I can now get the back end to break away - much better than a sliding nose in bends.

 

[dubster67]

Better safe than sorry regards the subframe.

I read some stories and saw the pictures, they were not pretty. I went for the Neuspeed ARB.

I got to say that despite having spent a shed load of money on my car, it has been worth it. It is really good to drive now.

The rear ARB makes such a difference.

You'll have even more fun once you get better springs and shocks.

I went for a Bilstein/Eibach B12 kit. Really good quality stuff, a little soft for my taste, but good for crappy UK roads.

 

[PAULF]

I'm just putting springs and shocks on her Avant, but my requirements are a little different (More Spring/Damper Questions!). I'll probably go for the standard or as-fitted sports spring, with the Bilstein B6s on mine - depending on how I get on with hers. Unfortunately, I have shelled out gazillions on the two cars this past couple of months, so it will have to wait a short while!

 

[dubster67]

You've only spent gazillions, pfft, how do you expect the economy to recover if you don't do you're share!?

Since getting my car I've done a full service including waterpump,cambelt and all auxiliary belts, stripped/de-rusted and rebushed the rear axle, new rear diff seals, all new brakes, Neuspeed rear ARB, Bilstein B12 kit, and the front arm kit is sitting in its box waiting.

So I've spent alot more than I paid for the car. I don't regret it though as I still wouldn't have got a newer car(Audi/BMW) for that money(unless I had bought a Ford or Renault or something stupid like that), it would have also had needed some of that work doing as well.

I read your other post about springs and dampers, and can see how you would want to keep your car standard ride height. The roads in the UK are just so crap, plus all those stupid speed humps.

The B12 kit I got(took nearly 3 months to arrive) has lowered my car more than the sports suspension that was on it(1BV) and I think it is too low. So I am going to raise it up abit, 10-15mm, by putting some custom made spacers between the spring plates and the circlip on the Bilstein dampers(B8's). I thought about getting the retrofit coilover kit from ECS Tuning, but I am loathed to spend more cash when I can get spacers for free.

If you get B6 dampers then you'd have more scope regards ride height of your car since they are slightly longer than the B8, ie you could do spacers as well.

Some food for thought until your bank balance has recovered. LOL.

 

[aragorn]

Instead of bodging spacers, have another groove cut in the damper body 10mm up from the first one and move the circlip up to the new groove.

 

[PAULF]

Here are the ARB change details:-

I got an H&R 32mm front and 21mm rear kit, from Larkspeed. I have not been very impressed with H&R, as the week to ten days turned into two months. Larkspeed were ok, and a call to other suppliers confirmed it was out-with Larkspeeds control. (Thanks, AwesomeGTI (among others) for being honest!)
My bits finally arrived

and I got to work.

First i removed the rear bar. It really was easy - undo the drop link bolts (there should be a flat to prevent the balljoint spinning) and then the two mounting clamps. Wind out the bar (having taken a note how it was orientated!), compare the old and new, grin like and idiot!

Removal is the reverse of refit, as they say - taking note to tighten rubber mounted bolts with WOW (weight on wheels). I did the job on a set of ramps for this reason.


One fitted rear ARB

The front was equally simple. Back on the ramps, undo the two clamps and the C-link bolts, remove the old bar. My bar was a 29mm solid bar, which looked a bit of a monster anyway.

Here are the two together

Again. refit is the reverse of removal, again WOW rules apply.

Having fitted a man-sized front ARB, and living where I do, best sort the Panzer Plate next

Hooray! Engine sumpy-protection-ness!

(Although I have just had over 1000 tons of rock put in the road last week, so it is as smooth as a fairly lumpy babys' bum!)

As I said earlier, both ARBs were swapped within an hour.

 

[PAULF]

Having listened to Aragorn and his advice above, I decided I would get rear ARB brackets. A quick Giggle will give ample reason as to why!

I went here Audi S4 b5 for the brackets, which set me back 160 beer tokens. They seemed to know what they were talking about, and the parts arrived with no delays or problems.

There were no instructions with the brackets, but 5 mins under the car and all became clear. If you can't figure out how they should go, you probably shouldn't be fitting them!

Because I was retro-fiting, it was a little more difficult than if done with the ARB. The first bracket took a while (45mins or so) as I managed to try every combination of bolt fitting order before finding the correct one! I think it may be car set-up dependant , but I ended up doing the ARB bracket loosely first, then the top bracket bolt, bottom bracket/stay bolt loose, bottom stay bolt loose, ARB tighten, stay bolts tighten.

Moving the car up or down (I used my knees), gives clearance enough to get the top ARB bolt in over the track arm, and I used mole-grips to hold the Allen socketed bolt. A good pry bar (I used a couple of old 1/2" socket extensions) will help move the ARB to get the bolts in as required. A 'magnet -on-a-stick' was also useful in getting the nuts and washers on the bracket bolts, as access is a bit limited.

I now have a strengthened ARB mounting!

 

[PAULF]

So,
after driving a week with the new ARBs, results are in.

YAY!!

The car feels MUCH tighter, and if I push it, I can feel the back end start to go nicely into a power slide. I have had it go without warning on me, but I think that was due to muddy tyres! The balance feels about right, as I can also sometimes feel the nose go a little - depending on how I go into the bend. I am still on stock sports springs and dampers, but the body roll has all but gone. In the wet it can be a bit of a handful, but well, well, you can't have everything!

I have set up both bars on the softer setting, as mentioned, and I feel that I have it where I want it. I do not understand why most of the firms will sell front 32mm bars singly, as surely this will be all but undriveable! I was also a bit miffed with H&R not giving brackets as part of the kit. I have told Larkspeed to complain on my behalf, but judging by other comments, suspect it will fall on deaf ears. I would suggest that others go for the Neuspeed kit, as at least you get the brackets!

 

[PAULF]

Suspension jobs left on both cars are,

The Avant has to have it's Man-sized springs and Bilstein B6s fitted, and the rear top arm bushes done before 7th July (MOT time), along with the two lower front control arms and top mounts to replace with the Meyle items from All German.

The saloon has the two lower wishbone bushes to change (still in the freezer), and at a later date springs and dampers. Unfortunately, I'm only off for two days now, after 7 on, and am away to do another 7 on. Next set of days off after that is steading roof, then her MOT!!! Finding time is a bit hard at the moment, and cash-wise, 1000+ tonnes of rock and diggers/carts for the road isn't cheap either (still part of the suspension costs!!) so my springs/dampers will have to wait a while.

 

[aragorn]

My personal view is you only need a mildly upgraded rear bar.

Audi agreed, as the Clubsport upgrade pack from Quattro Gmbh for the RS4 included an upgraded 17mm rear bar, and left the front alone.

Whats odd, is that some aftermarket companies (Whiteline and Neuspeed) have followed Audis lead, producing an 18 and 19mm rear bar respectively.

Then eibach, who incidentally made the clubsport bar for Quattro Gmbh!! only ever released a 32mm front bar as an upgrade (i'm wondering if licencing issues with Quattro Gmbh stopped them producing a rear bar?).

Then you've got Hotchkiss and H&R, who've opted to upgrade both.


Too much ARB on a road car is never a great thing IMO. It can act to unsettle the car and can reduce overall mechanical grip, but ofcourse because the car feels better due to the flatter cornering, your brain doesnt notice this as much. The snappyness you described with the **** stepping out with little warning is the kinda thing you end up with if you go OTT on antiroll bars, because the bars stop the suspension doing their job of keeping the wheels on the road.

Given that Audi left the 29mm front bar alone on all models above the 1.8T sport (all the bigger engined models including the S4 and RS4 use the same 29mm front bar as a 1.8T sport...) makes me think that its big enough that it can do its job, but without starting to get into the negative side effects that too much bar causes.

They left the rear bar very soft, as it makes the car exhibit "safe" understeer characteristics.

As such i believe a rear upgrade is all you need. If you fit a larger front bar, then you need a positively massive rear one to get the balance to where it should be for a neutral handling car, hence the 40/150% split you see on these kits that upgrade both the front and rear together. a 0%/~80% upgrade would achieve the same balance, but wouldnt have the other downsides. Plus it would be cheaper!

 

[PAULF]

You could well be right regards me over-cooking it - only time will tell!
You are also correct regarding your physics!! (And the explanation in another forum!!)

I was aiming to reduce the body roll and transform understeer into oversteer, which I appear to have done.
All suspension is a compromise - soft and hard, grip and roll etc. I truly believe understeer is dangerous when you approach the limits as there is little control. With oversteer, you have the front wheels gripping and throttle controlling the back (BMW 'Rear wheel drive, front wheel steer') For most people, cars that exhibit understeer characteristics generally behave benignly until they reach the limit. Once the front slides, all you can do is come off the throttle and hope for grip. If the back goes, you can floor it and 360, come off and snap back, handbrake around,etc. (Have you tried a Ford P100 pick-up, loaded in the snow!!) The majority of drivers don't reach that limit, so it is safer.
I do feel that the front bar was big enough, but 'I paid for it, so I'll fit it' came into play. As I said above, for my driving style, the balance appears correct as I can lose front or back, depending on how I approach the bend. Just stiffening the ARBs, without adjusting anything else SHOULD purely adjust the roll. This will mean the weight transfer into a corner will change, with the most likely outcome being the lifting of the relevant wheel. This immediately reduces available grip on that axle, causing a sliding tendancy. With a 2.5TDi lump at the front, forward of the axle, the heavier bar is slightly offset by the huge engine weight. At the back, I'm back into Mk1 Escort territory! (Remembering from other posts I used to drive Mk5 Cortinas stupidly)

Putting on a 19mm rear bar only could well have given me the similar results, but you make your choice and see how it goes!

 

[PAULF]

kev,
Mrs PaulF agrees with you and is giving me grief over spending shedloads of cash to turn my A4 Quattro into a ****ty handling Cortina substitute!

 

[aragorn]

rofl.

I think what the manufactures aim for is engineered in understeer. It happens early, so that the standard reaction of 95% of motorists (lift off, or even lift off and brake!!) wont see them disappearing off into a hedge. They lift, and grip is instantly restored, and the loss of control is averted.

Basically they aim to design the car so that the rear end will never break away before the front. Even something like an E36 BMW will understeer when driven "normally" and pushed past its limits. Even though its RWD, you have to really quite deliberately try to get the back end out, and simply driving into a roundabout and trying to go round it too fast will just see the same understeer you'd get on a FWD car.

As a result of this, the car can be made to handle and grip a lot better by dialing out the understeer and making things more neutral, however in doing so, you also reduce that safety net for your typical driver, and make everything a bit more edgey. Go too far, and you'll have something that wants to snap out on you at the slightest thing.

 

[PAULF]

Agreed.

If you like playing silly buggers though, understeer is for girls! (Sorry Sandra!)

Getting the ****-end sliding whilst balancing against the throttle is my idea of fun, and it's been a while since I manage to do that!

The Quattro system is so good in so many ways, and now I can put it sideways too, I may be back in my element again. Check the obits. to see how I get on!!

Having said that, to go back to the thread, yes, I could quite possibly have got what I wanted with a 19mm rear and stock front - I don't know. I do know that to me a 32 mm front bar on its own would be deadly (Assuming we're out of chav territory), and me being me I'll go for a Man-Sized item first! The balance with the 32 and 21 bars seems about right as I can get both ends to slide, depending on driving style. Whether the grip is better all round, hmmmmm thats's a GOOD discussion!

 

[PAULF]

So, more updates.

I've been a bit busy at home, but did the Avant springs and dampers about a month ago, and ended up going for 1BT springs from Audi, replacing the 1BE springs as fitted. The reason for this is my road (1300 tonnes of rock, did about half!)

The 1BE are 20mm lowered, fitted as a Sports Pack. The 1BT s are 7mm higher, giving me a ground clearance increase of about 27mm. I also used Bilstein B6 dampers, which are slightly harder than stock in order to help offset the bounce caused by the higher ride height.
See here More Spring/Damper Questions! for the process.

Firstly, the front. Remove the strut as detailed above and compress the spring. To dismantle the strut is fairly self-evident - remove the plate and using a cranked spanner and allen key, or as I did a socket/stilson combination and allen key, undo the nut holding the strut together, taking note of how it all goes together. I also changed my top mounts with a Meyle set from All German Parts - although the old ones were still in good condition.

The new damper now has to be assembled

There is a fairly detailed procedure for aligning the spring and mounts that I followed religiously

In the diagram you are looking down on the two struts and forward is toward the left. 'B' is a hole in the plate that should be inward facing, in a line 90 degrees to the fork. The angle 'A' is 11 degrees, +/- 2 degrees between the fork and an axis formed by the two studs in the plate.
The new front spring is a lot longer than the old one

I was a bit worried that I had over-egged it!

The strut then has to be refitted as above.

The rear was much easier - remove the tower

compress the spring and remove the strut.

Unfortunately, the pics died off a bit here - sorry!

The back of my tower had corroded through. It was a simple matter to weld on a bit of plate to repair it - but realise you may have the same issue!

Again, it was a simple matter to reassemble the tower and refit it

Both my back springs were cracked, so I was looking for a reasonable ride height improvement

Before

After

I got it!

A final one of the car with its longer legs

(I think it'll be a while before I post in the detailing thread!)

All four corners were easily done in a day, although I had had all the parts apart at some point in the last year.

 

[PAULF]

After a good month or two, the handling is very similar to before - not bad considering the height increase.

The HD springs absorb the shocks quite well although there is a little harshness down my drive.
On the road, the dampers hold the car well, offsetting the bounce caused by the longer springs.
It is slightly odd at first, as if you fling it into bends, it is firmer than if you go slowly due to the damping rate of the B6s.

I will almost certainly fit B6s to my saloon, and will have a think about what springs to fit.

That's all arms, springs, dampers and bushes (except subframe) on the Avant done. A couple of bushes left on mine to do along with the springs, dampers, and a set of 195/65/15 snow tyres (to replace the old Gislaveds)

 

[aragorn]

That is NOT a road! Roads are not resurfaced with frickin boulders!

A mate of mine lives on a farm, which has a sort of similar track, which gets used by a fair number of HGV's

Fairly often they scrape it with a JCB and then apply a fresh layer of hardcore in an attempt to fix the huge holes that form in it. Its a complete waste of time though, the holes reappear in about a month, and the road is now about level with the TOP of the fences round the bordering fields. They've added several FEET of rock to this track over the years.

For the money they've spent, they should have just ripped it all up, and laid a proper packed base and tarmac road. A few years back they did just that to the first half of the track, from the main road to the big storage shed, and that bits been perfect ever since, the remainder has continued with the stupid treatment and its as crap as ever.

I guess doing it right is expensive though

 

[PAULF]

I guess doing it right is expensive though

It's a mile, so at least tens of thousands of £s (3000 tonnes to hardcore-only the lot, at £10-15 tonne delivered plus machinery and time....)

That's a lot of B5s to go through first! The only new car I had was the L200, and I've torn the **** out of it now

The new (crushed and compacted) covering is much better now though. Should last a couple of years.........

 

[aragorn]

yeh, this farm track i mentioned above is probably a bit less than half a mile, and they properly tarred half of it and i'm sure he said that cost them about 10 grand.

Any pics of the track after its been compacted down?

 

[PAULF]

Here is my B5 with the 1BE set up on the improved road

I'll try and do one of hers in the same place later for height comparison purposes

 

[aragorn]

ah thats much better.

 

[ScottD3]

That road was shocking mate.
I understand your need for your shock set up and under protection.

I've driven my land rover over roads like that and thought it was bad. lol
Fair play for doing it in your Audi.

The new road looks allot better.

What colour is the other A4?
Hibiscus red?

 

[PAULF]

What colour is the other A4?
Hibiscus red?

Not sure of the colour name, but it looks the same colour as your Audrey.

BTW, the great piles of stuff were put there and levelled - I was struggling to WALK over that lot let alone drive!

(My OTHER winter car - no suspension worries with this....)

At least you know why I laugh at the 'get it lowered' answers to any suspension questions I have!

 

[PAULF]

......and her one at the same point (a bit of a rubbish photo as I was away to do some data log runs and had to block the sun - we're not used to it up here)

 

[ScottD3]

You've basicly made a A4 allroad? :thumbsup:

 

[crazy88]

I thought I had the first a4 all road?

 

[PAULF]

You've basicly made a A4 allroad? :thumbsup:

A little bit like it - although to go the whole hog I guess I'd need to fit all the parts to make it a 1BB PR which would be 20mm higher than standard. It would be a wobbly ride, though.

I think it looks like it's on stilts compared to mine with 1BE. It would be good to see it against a standard 1BA height code and see what the extra 7mm looks like then.

 

[eyuptim]

You've only spent gazillions, pfft, how do you expect the economy to recover if you don't do you're share!?

Since getting my car I've done a full service including waterpump,cambelt and all auxiliary belts, stripped/de-rusted and rebushed the rear axle, new rear diff seals, all new brakes, Neuspeed rear ARB, Bilstein B12 kit, and the front arm kit is sitting in its box waiting.

So I've spent alot more than I paid for the car. I don't regret it though as I still wouldn't have got a newer car(Audi/BMW) for that money(unless I had bought a Ford or Renault or something stupid like that), it would have also had needed some of that work doing as well.

I read your other post about springs and dampers, and can see how you would want to keep your car standard ride height. The roads in the UK are just so ****, plus all those stupid speed humps.

The B12 kit I got(took nearly 3 months to arrive) has lowered my car more than the sports suspension that was on it(1BV) and I think it is too low. So I am going to raise it up abit, 10-15mm, by putting some custom made spacers between the spring plates and the circlip on the Bilstein dampers(B8's). I thought about getting the retrofit coilover kit from ECS Tuning, but I am loathed to spend more cash when I can get spacers for free.

If you get B6 dampers then you'd have more scope regards ride height of your car since they are slightly longer than the B8, ie you could do spacers as well.

Some food for thought until your bank balance has recovered. LOL.

 

[eyuptim]

Hi, I know this is an old thread, bit thought I'd chuck my two penn'orth in. Just done all 4 eccentric adjusters on my '98 B5 quattro, having had the car 10 years, during which time I know they've never been touched... Saw the state of them on the ramp, and thought I'd never shift'em. Even bought a Sawzall as I've read that most people resort to cutting them out.
HowEVER, as I had some spare time over Christmas, I thought I'd give Kano Kroil a go, having heard good things about it. Up on jacks and axle stands, I applied the brew to the nuts having first got as much crud off them, then reapplied every day for 3 or 4 days, before I went anywhere near them with a socket.
Well, whaddya know- all 4 nuts came loose like they'd been off last week!!
Loosened them to the end of the threads then prized the eccentric washers away and applied spray to rack in turn. About a week of this then the big test...
Both toe adjusters turned after a bit of to-and-fro with the breaker bar.
Camber ones more stubborn, but more Kroil, a bout of persuasive impact socketting and jiggling that breaker bar, they too came loose.
Surprised and delighted is an understatement- ok it took a few days, but even not having to replace the bolts has saved a few £'s, and astonishingly, only one bush looks like it needs doing.
So, a big thumbs up for Kano Kroil and patience!!