Vague steering after replacing drop arm ball joint

gse1986 said:

Give it a go getting the drop arm off. I've taken mine off so far, and both times it's been splitting the ball joint from the drag link that i've struggled with more than the drop arm.

I struggled enough doing the ball joint with it off, nevermind working under the car too. Just a thought

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Brown said:

Yes, the circlip can spring out again even if you think it's properly seated. Since having one fall out on me, I now try to be as thorough as I can in making sure they're in as tightly as possible. For example by scraping out the groove the circlip fits into and, with a bottle jack under the cover plate to take the load of the spring, going round the circlip with a suitable drift and a hammer to tap it into place. The vibration of hitting it (gently) helps to settle it into the groove too. If it jumps out when you tap it, it probably wasn't in fully in the first place! Since adopting this procedure, I've not been the victim of any sudden experiences of vagueness out on the road.

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rabid spaniel said:

I used my discos jack and a socket, but even after jacking it up quite hard there didn't seem to be a huge amount of extra room for the circlip. Then the PITA of fitting the circlip almost sent me round the bend. I will follow the advice on tapping next time- if I'm honest I wasn't a 100% sure the circlip was fully seated, but what with the grease and the ache in my shoulders I wussed out and went in for a beer. More fool me.

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