Beam Rebuild help

[wainwrightj]

So after deciding to rebuild a beam myself I bought a xsara vts beam for £100 off ebay

It's done 77k miles no camber but i want to make it slightly more respectable before I put it on the car

Because I haven't got the beam on the car I'm struggling to remove the bolt here as it catches on the arm

   

   

And I don't know how to remove the ARB plates to get the beam apart.

   

My questions are, after reading through welshpug and gretsch-drummer's guides I still cant figure this out, do they just pull apart or are they held in with a screw or something???

Also If I take the torsion bars out with it off the car is it a pig to get back to a sensible ride height?

[welshpug]

to remove the arb you need to wind out the plastic plug on the right hand side, wind in an m12x1.5 bolt which will push the end plate off the arb, grab hold of the other end and pull the arb out, leave the left side lever on the roll bar.

the plastic plugs are often very stubborn so you'll end up destroying them, cheap enough to get new though from a dealer.

[darrenjlobb]

What he said ^

If its strubborn threads may strip out of it / end up beating with a hammer, And always best to just buy all the screws / washers / seals and caps if beam is coming apart anyway. Its quite an effort so might as well put it all back together right first as last

[wainwrightj]

to remove the arb you need to wind out the plastic plug on the right hand side, wind in an m12x1.5 bolt which will push the end plate off the arb, grab hold of the other end and pull the arb out, leave the left side lever on the roll bar.

the plastic plugs are often very stubborn so you'll end up destroying them, cheap enough to get new though from a dealer.

What he said ^

If its strubborn threads may strip out of it / end up beating with a hammer,  And always best to just buy all the screws / washers / seals and caps if beam is coming apart anyway. Its quite an  effort so might as well put it all back together right first as last

Yeah I've already f****d the plastic plug so shall I just bash it in so i cant get a bolt into it?

I don't suppose there's a link for the beam hardware? Not the bearing and shafts just the screws and seals that i'll have to buy?

[welshpug]

no links, just go to a peugeot or citroen dealer.

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plug needs to come out as you'll be winding a bolt in there.

it MUST be the correct thread.

[wainwrightj]

no links, just go to a peugeot or citroen dealer.

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plug needs to come out as you'll be winding a bolt in there.

it MUST be the correct thread.

I looked at your guide again and it makes sense so I'm pulling the ARB through one plate and leaving the plate on the other end, that's okay I can get the plastic cap out it'll be a pig but its still possible ahah

M12 is the size/width?
1.5 is the thread size right?

[miles]

Without wanting to kill the post, I've not found a VTS beam which has been anygood so I would really rebuild it before use

[wainwrightj]

Without wanting to kill the post, I've not found a VTS beam which has been anygood so I would really rebuild it before use

Not killing the post at all I'm half expecting to have to anyways, was just going to paint it but I feel like if I spend alot of time making it look good it's pointless if it doesn't work as good as it looks 

[Frosty]

As others have said it is certainly worth changing all the seals and washers etc when taking the beam apart if the bearing etc are all ok. Only issue you will find it that buying from peugeot you''ll have to buy them in bags and that can be 4s/5s or sometime 10s. I do have a few seals etc so if you do want any give me a shout.

I tend to use either an xud head bolt or front brake carrier bolt to get the anti roll bar plates off. That bolt you're struggling to get out can usually be bit of a pain especially when the beam has been lowered.

Wheres abouts are you to as im pretty much on the somerset border?

[wainwrightj]

As others have said it is certainly worth changing all the seals and washers etc when taking the beam apart if the bearing etc are all ok. Only issue you will find it that buying from peugeot you''ll have to buy them in bags and that can be 4s/5s or sometime 10s. I do have a few seals etc so if you do want any give me a shout.

I tend to use either an xud head bolt or front brake carrier bolt to get the anti roll bar plates off. That bolt you're struggling to get out can usually be bit of a pain especially when the beam has been lowered.

Wheres abouts are you to as im pretty much on the somerset border?

10 minutes from Glastonbury, if you have spares I'll happily take them off your hands (buy them of course) makes it easier than trying to source them all myself

I've bought a bolt (M12x1.5 as said above) to wind it out I don't think the beams been lowered, although I couldn't tell you as it's the only beam I've seen so have no point of reference ahah

[Frosty]

How far from taunton are you? Give me a shout when you get the beam apart and i'll see what i can sort out for you.

[wainwrightj]

How far from taunton are you? Give me a shout when you get the beam apart and i'll see what i can sort out for you.

Only about 40 minutes so would be an ideal place to meet if it's close enough for you?

[wainwrightj]

Didn't really plan on having to bump this but I'm still un-sure on how hard it is to set the height of a beam whilst it's off the car?

If I remove the torsion bars is it as simple as putting blindly putting them back or do they have to be put back in a specific way, I understand that the bars are left and right.

[Frosty]

How far from taunton are you? Give me a shout when you get the beam apart and i'll see what i can sort out for you.

Only about 40 minutes so would be an ideal place to meet if it's close enough for you?

I'm about 20mins from Taunton so it's not too bad.

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Didn't really plan on having to bump this but I'm still un-sure on how hard it is to set the height of a beam whilst it's off the car?

If I remove the torsion bars is it as simple as putting blindly putting them back or do they have to be put back in a specific way, I understand that the bars are left and right.

Think some people have made up dummy shocks and do it that way. When I did one few months back we measured the beam that was on there from the hub to the arch and then fitted the new beam tube to the car and then built the beam up on the car with measuring the distance when fitting the trailing arms before sliding the torsion bars in after selecting the height we wanted.

[wainwrightj]

How far from taunton are you? Give me a shout when you get the beam apart and i'll see what i can sort out for you.

Only about 40 minutes so would be an ideal place to meet if it's close enough for you?

I'm about 20mins from Taunton so it's not too bad.

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Didn't really plan on having to bump this but I'm still un-sure on how hard it is to set the height of a beam whilst it's off the car?

If I remove the torsion bars is it as simple as putting blindly putting them back or do they have to be put back in a specific way, I understand that the bars are left and right.

Think some people have made up dummy shocks and do it that way. When I did one few months back we measured the beam that was on there from the hub to the arch and then fitted the new beam tube to the car and then built the beam up on the car with measuring the distance when fitting the trailing arms before sliding the torsion bars in after selecting the height we wanted.

Ahh thank you

Been waiting for someone to tell me I think i'll strip it tidy everything up then rebuild it when I come to fit it back on the car

I took one ARB plate off and it's not looking great the seal had turned to what felt like really old s***ty cork so I think I'll need the seal off you ahaha

[Frosty]

Yeah the foam anti roll bars seals never see any good when the beams are taken apart. I would say there one of the most important seals as they can easily let moisture in.

Have you taken the anti roll bar out?

[darrenjlobb]

I generally tend to strip the beam off the car, Replace all the bearings etc, then re fit the tube to the car, and set the height on the car, generally because 9 times out of 10 I am lowering the vehicle at the same time, and its just much easier to set spot on first time round when its on the car as I have a list of arch measurements which result in x drop on certain '6 bars.

[wainwrightj]

Yeah the foam anti roll bars seals never see any good when the beams are taken apart. I would say there one of the most important seals as they can easily let moisture in.

Have you taken the anti roll bar out?

Not yet
The beam is sorta stuck on the left hand side, the ARB plate/ Beam seem to have rusted themselves together but I got it rotated a bit so it'll come out with brute force and a good whack. On the side of the beam with the plate I've pulled off the ARB splines are clean and the inside of the trailing arm seems in pretty good condition so the seal did it's job although suicidally ahha.

I generally tend to strip the beam off the car, Replace all the bearings etc, then re fit the tube to the car, and set the height on the car, generally because 9 times out of 10 I am lowering the vehicle at the same time, and its just much easier to set spot on first time round when its on the car as I have a list of arch measurements which result in x drop on certain '6 bars.

Yeah I'm not fussed about lowering it at all given it's on the original shocks and the front setup is also original. I'm going to put the tube up on the car and then set the height to match whats there.

[Dangti6]

My suggestion would be to employ Stef205 to rebuild it for you. I fear you'll struggle with the torsion bars so may as well let the pro sort it.

Beats adjusting height/painting it when it's likely to be knackered or close to it.

[wainwrightj]

My suggestion would be to employ Stef205 to rebuild it for you. I fear you'll struggle with the torsion bars so may as well let the pro sort it.

Beats adjusting height/painting it when it's likely to be knackered or close to it.

Cant justify the cost right now spoken to him in the past though, also wanted to take the job on myself, thanks for the suggestion though.