(Re)-pairing and (Re)-storing:
[n] Identifying and Replaced Damaged/Worn Steering/Suspension/Drivetrain Parts
Stage 1 -
Genesis of the Project| Often you look at your car and think to
yourself "What can I fix today?"... Over the course of 2005 I'd done a lot
of minor and some not so minor work on the 900i, and as fate would have it
the more I got done the more I started worrying about the broken wheel stud
on the right-side front wheel hub that had been bothering me on and off ever
since I'd bought the car from the previous owner. Well eventually the time came to knuckle down and actually do some work in an area I hadn't tackled before which was suspension, steering and driveshafts, etc.. What looked like a small task turned into quite a large on-going project that resulted in a big improvement in the condition of the under-car fittings at the front of the car with a stack of things fixed and some on-going issues looked at a bit more...
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Stage 2 -
Removing and Replacing the Old Skidplate
| Replacement of the Skidplate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Topside comparison of old (from 1983 900S) and new | Bottom comparison of old (from 900S) and new | Car up in the air ready for work! |
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| Damage to old skidplate clearly visible | Close-up of the old skidplate | New skidplate in place |
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| As a comparison, the picture to the right shows the large, heavy-duty aluminium skidplate I purchased to replace the old, damaged stock skidplate on my 1983 900S. That's a seriously big skidplate which presented it's own problems and challenges due to size, and issues with access holes for the auto transmission's drain plugs. |  | |
Stage 3 -
Replacing Ball Joints and Steering Tie-rod End on RHS/FrontDuring this I learnt a lot about balljoints, etc. along with understanding more about brake calipers and how the calipers, etc. mount on the steering swivel member, and in the end I bit the bullet and took the entire right-side steering swivel member and wheel hub off the donor car to replace the one on this car which had the damaged wheel stud (as shown in the picture at the top). I also replaced all the balljoints and the steering tie-rod end on the left side of the car as well (see stage 4 below).
The first task that MUST BE DONE is place spacers under the upper control arm to relieve the tension of the coil spring. Saab has a special tool (# 83 93 209, available from eEuroparts) for this job, but I've made my own spacers (I've got pics - just need to find them!). Then loosen the wheel nuts before raising the car and securely supporting it on jack stands. It's quite ok to leave a trolley jack under the central engine support bar as a safety measure, but NEVER EVER LEAVE THE CAR SUPPORTED ON JACKS ALONE WHEN DOING ANY WORK UNDER IT! ALWAYS USE JACKSTANDS and position the car on a surface that's as flat and level as possible.
The Bentley manuals cover replacing balljoints and steering tie-rod ends quite well, so I won't detail the correct procedures here.
The process I used (which is not exactly as per the book) was to first remove the brake caliper from the steering swivel member (tie it to the suspension spring with a piece of wire so the brake line doesn't have to come off), then work on the upper and lower balljoints carefully. I used a very dodgy $15 balljoint fork with a large hammer and a suggestion from my wife to bash the end of the balljoint fork harder than I was doing (trying not to do it too uncontrollably!). Note that using a balljoint fork is NOT the recommended method because it can potentially damage the steering rack and/or the final drive components in the transmission, but I haven't been able to find the proper ball joint seperator tool (Saab # 89 95 409) or a suitable equivalent.
I also replaced the brake caliper with one from the donor car (pictured above) because the main piston boot on the original was quite badly broken (and the caliper had showed signs of leaking brake fluid), so that was done when the complete RHS steering swivel member and hub was subsequently replaced sometime later.
At some point while doing this work I realised that I was going to waste a valuable opportunity to replace the RHS front wheel hub and steering swivel member with the matching one off the donor car which had four good wheel studs (vital if the car was to pass a rego inspection at some stage in the future!). So that took place and will be covered here in the near future when I sort through all the pics I took.
With regard to changing steering tie-rod ends, there is a really nice tool which is perfect for the task. The pic at right shows the one I have which is a type # 779 ball-joint seperator tool made by Hazet in Germany. I believe that it's now produced by a different German tool maker (there are some references on my Saab tool page) but it's exactly the right size to suit the steering tie-rod ends and makes easy work of getting them out of the arm on each steering swivel member.
The tool is too small and the wrong design to use with the suspenion ball joints though it might work with the top balljoint on each side as there is enough clearance around the attachment point with the steering swivel member. It certainly won't work with the bottom ball join because there is not enough clearance to get the cast tool section in between the outer CV boot and the two of the balljoint's threaded shaft. Either the genuine Saab # 89 95 409 tool or a copy of it is needed to properly remove balljoints from the steering swivel members without having to go along the shady path of using a balljoint fork and big hammer.
Stage 4 -
Replacing Ball Joints and Steering Tie-Rod + Repairing Outer CV Boot on
LHS/Front
Stage 5 -
Replacing RHS Steering Swivel Member and Wheel Hub
Stage 6 -
Dealing With the Damaged Shock Mount Thread on RHS Lower Control
ArmThe problem was that when I re-mounted the shock back onto the fixed 'bolt' welded to the lower control arm, I wasn't able to torque up the nut to more than about 20 ft/lb. The Bentley manual specifies a very high torque for this nut (which I think it way too high since it's only a small diameter fastener), but the nut kept turning and turning... Bummer!
During December 2005 I decided the only way to work out what's wrong is to buy a nut splitter set from an Australian Ebay seller and crack off the nut to see what's happening. When I did that early in January I was really surprised to find the entire thread of the fixed bolt had been destroyed! That meant the only option to make that part of the car safe again was to replace the whole lower control arm - ouch!
In July 2006 (yes 7 months later!), I finally removed the matching lower control arm from the donor car and that's shown below.
| Replacement of RHS Lower Control Arm - Phase 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nut splitter in place ready to start cutting! | The result after breaking off half of the nut - ewww! | Replacment arm removed from donor car |
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Now I can swap the bad one for the good one after giving the good one a
clean and a paint so it's got some rust protection. The pic to the right
shows the end result after a good wire-brushing to get off all the dirt and
loose crud plus flaking surface rust, followed by a good coating of White Knight 'Rust
Guard' Gloss Black, then being stood up outside so the paint can
start to cure. It actually spent two whole days inside too since the temps
have been way too low (below 10 C) for the paint to cure properly in
Sydney's winter conditions. 8-)
I've also recently replaced the rear suspension springs on the car which is another job that's been hanging around for several months since I bought some brand new Lesjofors springs from an Ebay seller in the UK. The back of the car was off the ground on jackstands for the best part of 6 months waiting for that to be done!
If you'd like to contribute any additional or updated information for this page, please let me know.
If you would like to discuss this page and it's contents with other Saab enthusiasts, please visit the Saab C900 Technical Forum at Craig's Classic Saab Workshop.
