Removing upper wishbone bolts, in car

Saloons
1

Hi, would anyone happen to know if the upper wishbone bolts on a Mk2 can be removed “in car”…ie without dropping the front end?

Thanks

2

I can’t say I’ve tried it in car, but if the bolts securing the upper fulcrum shaft go in from the front ( ie wheel side) you should be ok. If they go in from the wheelarch side, you need to measure their length and see whether they will clear the inner guard to remove the fulcrum shaft complete with upper wishbones. Obviously you will need to remove the spring tension and separate the upper balljoint from upper arms. You may be able to remove the arms separately whilst leaving the fulcrum shaft in place, but as the tower angles rearwards there may be clearance issues with the rear arm. Either way, it’s not a huge drama to drop the whole subframe,unlike the XJ which has the engine mounted to it, but you may not need to remove it completely, just enough to gain clearance, so perhaps no need to remove brake hoses and rebleed the brakes. Take note of any and all camber and castor adjustment shims.

3

Yes it can, I did it on my S-type to replace the Rubber bushings.
You need a good jack stand under the lower spring cup.
Lower the weight of the car in there.
Remember where the shims are when you put everything back together.

4

Thanks for that… cheers