I have seen two different ways of loosening the front castor bolts on here, one says loosin from the top, the other says undue the smaller bolt on the bottom

I dont want to be forcing the wrong nut and end up breaking or rounding it off.

 

Be careful.
IIRC - Some of the nuts around there are welded to the chassis.
Not sure which ones though.

 

Undo the very bottom one. This is the main bolt. Then slide it down and out. Then slide the cam collar (outer sleeve) down. Assuming its not seized...

The top nut isn't welded though, so you want do any harm if you try at that one too, but the cam adjuster is integral so will move the arm, hence easier to turn the bottom one, and if required hold the top one in place.

 

thanks gary

 

The right hand bush on this photo from the FAQ.




The bolt and sleeve are at the bottom, the nut on the top

Gav

 

oh i see its just a straight through bolt! thanks ill give them a try after i get a better gripping spanner

 

BE VERY careful, even if it appears to turn as you may rotate the rubber bush if the bolt and tube is siezed to the bush sleeve.

For that reason I would undo the nut first and have a GENTLE wiggle to see if it will drop out.
If not leave it.

 

the nut is on the top though and access is very tight, i thought you undo the bolt first.

 

If the bolts are seized and you have to chop them out, I have the nuts/bolts up for grabs in the FS section

Cheaper than Honda too

Use a breaker bar to free the bolt first...the nut is retained in place due to the nature of the subframe.

 

Steve, I don't understand that logic?

The top nut has an intregal adjustment cam, so turning that nut will try to turn the outer sleeve (as the two are linked so that the sleeve and bottom cam turn at the same time) within the bush and if seized would be twisting the bush.

Same thing could happen with the bottom bolt but only if that is seized to the outersleeve and that in turn is seized in the bush. This is also easy to see because either the hex head of the adjustment sleeve will move in sync with the main bolt or it will not, so you can tell if the two are seized together.

Turning the top nut first is similar to trying to adjust the castor without releasing the pinch of the chassis frame on the bush first so would be very difficult to turn I would have thought?

Have I understood something wrong?