Alfa Romeo Forum banner

How to rear suspension change Part 1.

Tags
part
31K views 69 replies 28 participants last post by  dnapekko 
#1 ·
Here you go folks. This should be of use to some of you.

Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Vehicle door Subcompact car


Product Helmet Fictional character


Product Vehicle Car Auto part Bumper


Product Auto part Automotive lighting Vehicle Car
 
See less See more
4
  • Like
Reactions: clique
#2 · (Edited)
How to rear suspension change Part 2.

And for the second part.
Product Auto part Muffler


Product Auto part Subcompact car Vehicle Metal


Text Font


The PDF file is much better is just to big for forums limits.
 
#3 ·
#4 ·
#5 ·
#6 ·
#8 ·
Cheers,
May help some body out in the future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RoyC
#9 ·
I did my Q4 3.2 SW at the same time
- however I was delayed by 3 days to start work because of a non Alfa issues.
= my drive was a hellpit of fused glass, melted delivery van and crap!
As you may gather from the attached pic I have iother issues!
Anyway my supension repair went thru MOT on last Tuesday - job done!
 

Attachments

#10 ·
Did you get the beer out first ?
 
#11 ·
I was not at home or my Q4 would be ash (and then the house!)
- the delivery was to neighbour on shared double drive
PS The delivery vans are not allowed to park on private property
(it might get legalistic if I'm not happy with the results - my entire house filled with deise; soot!!!!!!!!!)
 
#15 ·
Cheers coxy, now I don't feel to stressed about doing mine. I have the dreded snapped rear spring on my spider... :(
Cheaper to replace all 4 with bilstein springs that drop 30mm than to buy original rear springs....
 
#17 ·
Nice guide, couple of questions if I may.

Might be a daft question, but do you have to preload the suspension (jack the hub up) before pinching the lower mounting bolt up? When i did my Lancia Fulvia a few years ago the bushes would've shredded quickly if I hadn't pinched up after preloading- easy job with leaf springs!

Is it the same process if the brake discs and carriers are present?

Did you happen to spend your spare time doing a guide for the fronts?
 
#18 ·
No pre loading required.
Its the same process if the brakes are fitted, as I said I was swapping mine at the same time.
No I did not do one for the front as I thought it was straight forward, same principle as the 156.
 
#20 ·
Yes that's it.

You don't need to undo the bottom ball joint though.
 
#22 ·
and just to add to Coxy's write up, some 159 models have the lower rear strut bolt put in the wrong way. It is not easy to remove as when you with draw it, it will catch on the rear suspension arm. I found I had to 'drift' it out with a bolt of similar size whilst putting pressure on the head to manouvre it past the arm, I was paranoid about damaging the threads but as I was careful and didn't batter the bolt out the threads were just fine..
 
#23 ·
Baffled as to why you needed to compress the spring before removing the assembly from the car. Why not just remove the whole lot after just loosening the top nut and compress spring when it is out of the car? Provided the car is chocked up and the hub is not supported, the tension will have been taken out of the spring so it should be safe to remove it uncompressed.

I haven't done mine yet on the Alfa, only on other cars. Is there something odd about the 159 rear suspension?
 
#24 ·
I have answered my own question, having changed the rear springs yesterday. It's a pig. Not only did I end up compressing them first but, to avoid overdoing that, I took the 2 bolts out of the bottom links.

It doesn't help having a model with fixed rear seats. God knows why Alfa didn't include folding seats as standard, rather than an option. Apart from the extra versatility drop-down seats would have given the car, my body wasn't designed for squeezing itself into a boot in order to get at awkwardly placed nuts (hidden behind masses of lining, without a cut-out to make access easier).

I like my Alfa but it seems that after they had sorted out style and performance, they gave the job of putting it together to a bunch of people who didn't talk to each other. Every time I work on it, I have to use every tool I possess to undo the myriad of different and inaccessible fastenings, many of which could have been standardised.

But getting back to this thread, I now see where Coxy was coming from!
 
#31 · (Edited)
I'm beginning to stockpile parts for a complete suspension overhaul, upper front wishbones, drop links all around, tie rods, arb bushes, rear arms and shocks/springs, the only things I don't need to do are front lower wishbones. It's going to be very expensive, but I'll be doing this myself so at least there's no labour. It does keep crossing my mind how much I'm spending on this Alfa, some by necessity, some by 'just want it', I'm pretty sure a brand new car on a £400 per month deal wouldn't be a daft idea.
Anyway the main thing for writing in Coxy's thread is that I was looking at some photos I took of my suspension in December and the rear all looks a bit tired. In the photo, there's a bush to the right of the spring, I assume this is part of the rear wishbone and if so, that's a 229 euro part. I've never seen a thread where anyone has talked about replacing rear wishbones, so I assume they're not getting stressed anywhere like the fronts. Does anyone know if you can get hold of just the bushes for these because another £400 on those wishbones and it's all getting a bit silly. I just want to get the car as sturdy as poss.

The other thing is where Coxy has compressed the spring to get the unit out, would this need to be done if the wishbone was removed? I assume not, but I'm abroad so can't look under the car. I'm planning on buying a Clarke hydraulic spring compressor, so would also need some regular compressors if there's no way not to remove the strut without compressing it. I also notice that the rear shock bolts are put in the wrong way around, great! If anyone has the part number for these rear shock bolts, I'd appreciate it, or maybe the eper drawing.

With regards to the rear lower shock mount bolts, are there any internal threads or it is just a regular nut and bolt so it could be angle ground off and just knocked through, buy some new bolts and save grief trying to manoeuvre the whole bolt out?

It's going to take a few months to stockpile this, but should be fun. Hardest part is going to be getting boxes delivered without the Missis seeing them, she's getting so pizzazzed off with me spending on this car:D
 

Attachments

#34 · (Edited)
I'm pretty sure a brand new car on a £400 per month deal wouldn't be a daft idea.
I've done the "man math" in a spreadsheet for the benefit of a nagging wife (not that she cared about the outcome) and its cheaper to run the Alfa including a hefty annual repairs/upgrades budget than it is to get anything on HP. at least if your north of 12K per annum where HP gives you a kicking on residuals.

For me, the Alfa with 2.75K of annual repairs/upgrades/tyres etc and 18K p/a mileage @ 35mpg is 0.37p per mile vs a new Eurobox @£500pcm doing the same mileage at a healthier 45mpg which works out at 0.54p per mile.

No brainer, go buy more bits :)

:thumbs:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top