another upper link question

[gloucester Q]

on my ride back from ny this past weekend i got the groaning sound that i presume is my upper links telling me it's time to be changed. my question is, how can i tell for sure it's the upper link(s)? from all accounts that i've read on here, it is, but is there some way to be sure? thanks.

[PalmerWMD]

They cant really be told by looking at them if they r bad or not.

symptoms for bad upper links:-less exactness in handling-excessive postive camber in front wheels--squeeking nopise ojn undulating roads.

Basically if they are mor e than 3 years or 30,000 miles old they need to be replaced.

Fred..

[911/Q45]

If you spray them with WD40 and the noise goes away temporarily, it's the upper links.

[texasoil]

It is very easy tocheck the upper links jack the car up and remove the wheel. Insert a round bar of some kind into the hole midway up the 3rd link (vertical member) and try twist the vertical member. Observe for movement. There are specs for movement in the service manual.

I have converted all of mine (4 upper links, 2 cars) to greasable by drilling a hole and screwing in a grease zerk fitting.I don't expect to be replacing them nearly as often now.

[maxnix]

I have converted all of mine (4 upper links, 2 cars) to greasable by drilling a hole and screwing in a grease zerk fitting.I don't expect to be replacing them nearly as often now.

Now that would be a great article. Do you have any pictures?

[texasoil]

I took a couple of photos of an upper link with grease zerks, as installed on my car. Had wheel off to fix 'worn brake pads' faulty message due to broken wire.Hope they help.

Trick is to drill slowly with grease on bit, tap with grease on tap, be sure zerk is oriented so gun can get on it.

How do I load them? I have them down to 270K or so.

[maxnix]

TexasOil, did you ever load these pictures? You can do it in members rides under your name (see the FAQ sticky) to post the full size pictures.__________________Brian1995 Q45 & Q45t & 2000 Q45

Discover the power of the button!

[shadedoc]

When you change upper links, do you need to change the through bolt as well?

[DAEDALUS]

No, just the nuts, though I wouldn't be surprised if most people reuse everything.