197 Bottom ball joints

[Ianboom]

The wife's 197 has just failed the MOT on worn bottom ball joints.

Spoke to Renault, and they want £750.

Can't get a quote from Ktec until Monday and they're 160 miles away.

ANy ideas?? Anyone else had to get these done??

Are these doable at home?

Cheers, Ian.

 

[JonC219]

Not sure if camberely auto factors stock 197 parts, but try them. Make sure you ask for Lemforder ball joints. Better quality.

Just ordered up ball joints, track rods, track rod ends for my 182 from them

Jon

Edit: The reason Renault want £750 for the job is because they change the whole wishbone, not just the balljoint. At least that's what they do on the 182 so I'd assume the 197 is the same.

 

[markkram]

The wife's 197 has just failed the MOT on worn bottom ball joints.

Spoke to Renault, and they want £750.

Can't get a quote from Ktec until Monday and they're 160 miles away.

ANy ideas?? Anyone else had to get these done??

Are these doable at home?

Cheers, Ian.

At that price they must be quoting for a full wishbone replacement.
Are the bottom ball joints on the 197 a similar design to the 1*2 or fixed to the wishbone?

edit: Can't see a separate lower wishbone listed on renparts for the MK3's. Only the lower wishbone with ball joint attached at £190.

 

[Daniel]

If you're in Solihull, surely you need to speak to Fred @ BTM??

 

[Ianboom]

Cheers, found a web site so will email him and call him on Monday.

My friend at the garage who MOT's it says he can get the parts for £90 but he's looking to see if he needs any specialist tools for the job before he offers to do it. He also says you can buy just the ball joints for £18 each but they have to be pressed in and he doesn't have a press.

The guy at Renault said he's never heard of this problem and has never sold a bottom arm-not surprising at £20 a side!!!

Cheers, Ianboom.

 

[Fred@BTM]

i live in solihull, call me tomorrow, stay away from Renault solihull/birmingham, shocking the pair of them!

 

[Ianboom]

Cheers Fred, emailed you on your web address earlier.

Will call you tomorrow.

Cheers, Ian.

 

[Ianboom]

Well, after a bit of investiahtion, apparently what I need are near and off side stub axles, also known as a swivel hub assy.

Renault are saying £200 a side. Renault say they've only ever sold one, but according to my searches it's quite common.

Anybody changed one of these?? Do I need any special tools? I have a 32mm socket, but need a 12mm allen key.

Cheers, Ianboom.

 

[welshname]

Well, after a bit of investiahtion, apparently what I need are near and off side stub axles, also known as a swivel hub assy.

Renault are saying £200 a side. Renault say they've only ever sold one, but according to my searches it's quite common.

Anybody changed one of these?? Do I need any special tools? I have a 32mm socket, but need a 12mm allen key.

Cheers, Ianboom.

Just ring Fred! He'll sort it lol!

 

[Dan519]

Well, after a bit of investiahtion, apparently what I need are near and off side stub axles, also known as a swivel hub assy.

Renault are saying £200 a side. Renault say they've only ever sold one, but according to my searches it's quite common.

Anybody changed one of these?? Do I need any special tools? I have a 32mm socket, but need a 12mm allen key.

Cheers, Ianboom.

Yeah I've changed them, they're hard work

 

[Ianboom]

Just ring Fred! He'll sort it lol!

Have done several time and still waiting for a reply, but I need the car doing asap before the insurance runs out on the wife's old car.

 

[Ianboom]

Yeah I've changed them, they're hard work

Any special tools needed? Read somewhere about not loosening the hub nut with the wheel on the ground??

 

[Dan519]

I wouldn't go near it without a ramp, a 2nd pair of hands and some very big lever bars

 

[Ianboom]

Well, completed one side, waiting for the part for the other side, it's coming from France on the back of a donkey!!!

I was expecting the worst, but I did it on the drive on axle stands without any major problems, no special tools or levers and only one pair of hands!!

Worst part was getting the pinch bolt off the bottom swivel.

Will take some pics when I assemble the other side (the side i've done was against a wall!).

Ianboom.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Nice one, glad to hear its going well.

How much did the parts cost you in the end?

 

[Ianboom]

£200 a side! Renault only part-looks like there's a Brembo stamp in the casting???

I'm going to make a tool to press out the old swivel and see if it's a worthwile changing them or not as they're only £20 each.

Ianboom.

 

[Ian_R]

I know the meganes suffer from this a lot and there is someone on the megane site that just sells the part that has failed, so its a case of getting it out and pressed back in.

I'm needing to do OS wheel bearing, which i know is going to be a pain in the ass

 

[Ianboom]

From what I remember, you need to undo the hub nut, remove the disc and caliper and undo the 4 hub bolts with a female torx bit??

How do you change the bearing, is it pressed into the hub?

Still waiting for the offside swivel!

Ian.

 

[MarkCup]

I suffered this, failed my MOT on the last day of my 3 year warranty. Got a 40% reduction from Renault but still had to pay £490 all in.

Ouch.

 

[Ianboom]

I can't believe Renault say they've not heard of this problem (but then don't all manufacturers deny problems?).

It'd be interesting to know how many 197 owners have had this problem.

Ian.

 

[AstoN]

How far did you get with some pictures?

Got one here at moment which is looking like it needs attention.