Top Mount

[Wee_monkey1987]

so basically the top mounts on my VTR are starting to piss me off with the constant noise around my roads and im looking to replace these within the upcoming weekends however im a little confused as to how to replace these so far i've found two methods of doing this and wanted to know what anyone else did (from previous experience to replace these) - to be fair they have been on the car since new so it's understandable they need replacing,

Before people ask the car is:

Citroen Saxo VTR (obv) ph2 2001 model (Y reg model)
and has ABS

so anyway here's the two methods i've found so far??

Method 1:

1) Jack the vehicle and axle stand it,
2) Remove the wheel,
3) disconnect the brake caliper and disc,
4) Crack the ball joint to improve access
5) Collapse the spring with spring clamps
6) Undo the top mount at the top of the suspension turret
7) Retract the suspension strut
8) Undo the 3 bolts holding the top mount bearing assembly at the top of the suspension turret

Ta'dar replace

or

Method 2 (the Haynes Manual way "apparently")

1) Jack the vehicle and axle stand it,
2) Remove the wheel,
3) Disconnect the brake caliper and disc,
4) Disconnect the driveshaft from the hub and bungie tie it to support it
5) Remove the ABS sensor
6) Collapse the spring with spring clamps
7) Disconnect droplinks
8) Unbolt the top nut on the top suspension turret and remove the strut assembly from the vehicle

Anyone got any tips on this?? and is it really necessary to disconnect the driveshaft?

Any helpful feedback is much appreciated!

[Kebabman]

Not done one on a VTR but most of the time it's worth just trying it without taking the shaft out first. If you can't get it out then just whip the shaft off. Loosen the nut that holds the shaft onto the hub before you start so it's a simple job to remove it if you discover you need to and you're good to go.

Should be a fairly straightforward job.

[AlexB]

i allways remove the strut
a lot easier to do than pissing about in the car

[Tom5190]

Personally i wouldnt do it either or them ways i find it quicker to remove the strut it takes all of 5-10mins

Jack up the car
Remove wheel 17 or 19mm
Remove driveshaft nut 30mm
Remove pintch bolt 17mm/17mm or 17mm/8mm alan
Remove track rod end nut 16mm (make sure its rust free and lubed before trying)
Disconnect one end of the drop link 16/17/18mm (depending if genuine)
Remove caliper from strut 2x 6/7mm alan key
Pop the ball joint out of the strut
Tap the driveshaft end to make sure its loose in the hub
Undo the top mount 3x 13mm
Remove strut
Make sure drive shaft dosent get pulled out
Clamp spring
Remove top nut 17mm
Re-fit in the reverse

[Wee_monkey1987]

awesome thanks guys i'm probably going to go with AlexB/Tom5190 route sounds a lot easier.

much appreciated oh and for the record the car is completely standard

[Aidan-106]

yep deffo remove hole strut makes the job easy

[doubleAA]

alot easier to take the whole strut out as everyone else has said, i guarantee if you leave the drive shaft connected to the hub you'll end up pulling it out the box while your fumbling around getting the top mount off, then youll have a nice puddle of oil on the ground. lol

[rorz_vts]

I'd never try doing it on the car well to much hassle for the sake of undoin the shaft nut