Center link...now what?

wildthings · Post by **wildthings** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:00 pm

In order to get the bushing to press all the way into the housing and protrude the right amount out the out the top you need a socket or something the right size for the bushing to just slip into. Place the socket (or other) on the upper end of the housing and press the bushing up into the socket. With the way you have it right now the idler arm does not line up well with the limiting bolts and might cause them to bend. It is okay to use penetrating oil to help the bushing slide in the housing.

Another good tool to use in place of a socket for this application is an inner race off of a roller bearing. Whenever you replace an old bearing keep the races, especially the inner ones after cutting the cages off. They are great for pressing things in or out, or for use as circle templates. I have a two gallon bucket full of races of different sizes, and usually have the exact one I need for any application.

To take care of the end play in the bolt, find a steel washer that will fit the shaft of the bolt, it will need to slide up the bolt to the head. You now need to file or grind off just a little bit of the length of the bushing to get enough clearance for the thickness of the washer, plus a tiny bit more. Once tightened up you want the bolt to turn freely, but have virtually no endplay. Adding a grease fitting would also be a good idea if you haven't done so already. I think that Ray once mentioned that he used a wavy washer here to maintain a slight pressure on the end of the shaft.

When VW originally put the idler arm assembly together the arm did not fit all the way up the shaft to the shoulder on the bolt. Right at the shoulder you will see that there is a slight radius on the shaft. There is no clearance in the hole drilled in the arm for this radius, you may need to take a Dremel and lightly grind a bevel in the bore to get the parts to fit well. It is also likely that either the bore in the idler arm or the shaft where it mates are worn from years of shimmying, fill any voids with JB Weld when you make the final assembly.

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:16 am

Good suggestions, thanks!

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:29 am

Yup...you are spot on. I used a wave washer...very thin, between the idler arm and the bronze flange on the bushing. I also....went to a castle nut on this bolt.
It will take doing this twice. But...install, torque the nut to spec in the book....and see how the center return on the steering feels. Then macrk through the hole in teh castle nut with a punch. Then remove the bolt and drill your hole fro the cotter pin.

A big problem with the idler arm is taht rotational movement loosens teh nut on a regular basis....even a self locking nut.

Yes..a grease fitting is good. Make sure its one the correct side of the bracket (toward teh rear of teh car)...or you will never reach it. Ray

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:11 pm

Well, I went ahead and ordered a new TRW center link from autpartsgiant.com for $80 (picture showed the correct part and I have gotten correct master cylinders from them). I need to get the car back together ASAP, and I don't know if I'll have time to rebuild this one. I'm still going to try to figure out how to rebuild these myself in the mean time. I did eventually find some thin steel shims to assemble the idler arm with and they worked fantastically!

MGVWfan · Post by **MGVWfan** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:46 pm

I've got to try those shims on my idler pin bushing sometime...

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:45 am

They were something I found in the trunk of one of my 412s, I think they came out of a strut insert that was disassembled in there. I had to enlarge the center hole slightly with a dremel. They were very, very thin, which allowed me to stack up the right amount to get the correct thickness.

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:02 pm

Arrrrgghh...it looks like the center links aren't available anymore... ?

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 11:23 am

If you are to get one at all...it will have to be from a TRW deaaler....which is actually a Kelsey Hayes dealer now. Ray

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:56 pm

Yohoho...I just got a call and they do have the part after all! When I called to ask before, they told me my order was cancelled because it was sold out, but I guess they were mistaken!

I hope it will hold up for awhile so that I can have the time to learn how to rebuild these things.

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:32 pm

Oh dammit, I got it today, and the part isn't even remotely close to being the correct part!

Seriously, I NEED this car put back together SOON. HELP!

Ray, can you still provide some pictures of the process that you used to rebuild MGVWfan's center link? I got to the point of trying to get the pin out, and it is solid as a rock in there! I beat it as hard as I possibly could with a big rubber mallet with no effect. I beat it with an 8 lb. sledgehammer as much as I dared, and it had no effect. It sucks because the more I look at it, the more I think it was fairly new, and now I've gone and cut it up...

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:54 pm

Yes, I can provide e-mail pics. Bear in mind, you must remove all of the back cap. Then...you may have to slightly clearance the outer rim of the swaged area with a dremel to make sure the pin can push out the back. This is because, during the swaging process of teh outer rim onto the domed lid...the outer rim sometimes gets expanded inward a hair.

If your centerlink was heavily rusted inside of the joint...then you will most likely need to soak the joint area in solvent to get all of the crudded up nylon and rust to come loose. Send me a PM and I will send you some pics. Ray

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:55 pm

OK, I sent you a PM.

vwbill · Post by **vwbill** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:52 pm

Damn sorry to hear the part was wrong! Like Ray says the TRW DS858 I think is still out there in someones warehouse just hard to get them to look! I know Ray will get you going with rebuilding and then have a better setup anyway!! I think that rebuild needs to be a sticky post with pics! Ray needs to make rebuild part setups in little booklets with pics for us to buy and for new to 411/412's! I'll buy a few dozen!! Can you pull a center link from another one of your cars for temp if you need a driver? I think I might have a old spare somewhere if yours is trashed!!
Can the joint be pressed out with puller type setup and a little heat? The Autozone parts place here has tools you can borrow and they have a ball joint puller setups that look like they could help??? Makes me feel good to think the joints dont come apart easy though!! take care, bill

ubercrap · Post by **ubercrap** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:33 am

The tag says DS858 on it, an obvious case of mistaken identity...Anyway, in an emergency, I can indeed use one off of one of the other cars to make it driveable, I just don't want to take everything apart again any time soon. I didn't know it would take so long! Of course, I've been renovating my house too, which has been tiring. I am learning as I go, though, and I think the next 412 front end rebuild will go much faster. As for the center link, this weekend I'm going to try to tackle it. I'll try to take some more pics if I can manage it. I didn't realize that any remaining parts of the cap would prevent the pin from coming out, so I'm going to try that first.

Ray, what kind of bronze stock do I need to start looking for? It can be hard to source stuff around here, so the sooner the better...

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 5:54 am

All of the bronze parts I used, were made from standard bronze bushings and sleeves that you can get at the Ace hardware chain of stores. A lot of them are made by the company named Jandorf. All in all, the parts and snape rings should cost in teh $20 dollar range. You will need a couple decent files, a steady hand, patience...and above all.....a dremel tool with cut-ff wheels, both fiberglass and regular, sanding drums both 1/4" and 1/2", some sandpaper, a couple of 1/16" drill bits for the dremel....and a dial caliper or micrometer helps.

Back in 1999-2000, my suspension parts jobber here in town.....had listed in the central parts warehouse....27 DS-858's. I bought one for $125 cause I needed one.
I commented that the stock must be ancient. He said...probably not as his record showed movemnet of about one every couple months. ...

. At that time, my 412 was one of maybe two in theentire metro that I had seen driving since getting here in 95. He said that he thought there was another application it might fit.
About a year later....I had spare cash and decided to buy a spare. Went back and he said....that in the buy-out/changeover from TRW to Kelsey Hayes....a lot of parts had moved around...and that they no longer listed that stock. Ray