[gopa99]

My Mahindra KUV 100 (32000 KMs ODO) of late had this strange metal clatter sound originating from the front left suspension when ever the car moved over a rough patch of road, and this was more evident on bad roads and at lower speeds. Not wanting to go to the service center for this repair given the COVID'19 pandemic and with the spare time working from home , I decided to search around for the cause and a possible DIY fix.
Of all the Youtube videos I browsed on this topic, this one was straight to the point and impressed me the most

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwZocAcx2cQ

. Another video i found helpful (though a desi one) was this -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61rMucFwhN4

Sway bar, Stabilizer bar or Antiroll bar as its known in common parlance is connected to the front wheel suspension through the link rod. Convinced that the link rod can be replaced at home, and given the requirement of a spare link rod, I decided to move head and order a genuine spare through boodmo.com. So this was my first purchase and I should say I am impressed with their website interface and even for a layman like me I could locate the exact part number that I needed to buy.
Do find the link for ordering spare for a KUV100 - https://boodmo.com/catalog/part-link..._bar-33073254/
It did take about 3 weeks for the item to get delivered, but finally the wait was over, and I decided to install it the same day it arrived at my doorstep. Here is the package I received -


Shown below is the set of tools and an aid that I had with me for this task, and at the end of the task I realized this was almost all I needed apart from some cotton cloth waste to handle that grime and a Crowbar which I had used to get some thrust while removing and fixing the link rod into its groove.



Now reaching the link rod was simple, first I had to get the car on the jack, and remove the front tire, in my case the left one and locating the link rod; see the pictures below.

[ATTACH=IMG_20210101_165205_882[1].jpg]2101184[/ATTACH]





The link rod was secured on 2 nuts, one on the top to the vehicle suspension and other on the sway bar at the bottom, both were of metric 17mm size, having a socket spanner helped me remove the nut on the top and facing outside. To access the bottom nut, I used a simple open end spanner as there was no space for my socket wrench to get in. Before I could get the wrench to work, I sprayed copious amounts of rust penetrant on both the nuts to make my life easy.



Once the nuts were loosened and pulled out, I had to use my crowbar to nudge the sway bar a bit to free up the bolts. The same story repeated when I had to insert the new link rod into its groove, without this its almost impossible to get the bolts to come off or get in the groove as else they would remain stressed from the torsion exerted by the sway bar; another easy trick I realized was to lift the front control arm a bit off the floor, that would be lot easy if you used a secondary screw jack. In my case the crow bar just worked fine.



Once I got the bolts secured, and that was it. I was expecting to see a split washer or a lock nut in the bolting arrangement but not sure why it wasn't present especially given the vibrations the bolted assembly gets exposed to while running.

I tested my car later on, and it was just fine; the noise had disappeared. I think I saved a cool amount of money by avoiding a service station visit, not to mention the joy of having a DIY done on my machine.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by gopa99

I think I saved a cool amount of money by avoiding a service station visit, not to mention the joy of having a DIY done on my machine.

Nifty little DIY there. Thanks for sharing. I wouldn't probably do such kinds of DIY, but kudos to you to try it out. Like they say, necessity is the mother of invention. You not only saved a trip to the service centre but also worked yourself on your ride.

Wanted to know if you could have gotten the part from Mahindra faster than via Bodomo?

Cheers

[gopa99]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Nifty little DIY there. Wanted to know if you could have gotten the part from Mahindra faster than via Bodomo?
Cheers

Thanks for the appreciation blackwasp! I did try ordering from m2all website as that being my OEM and my first preference, more so they had advertised some discounts too on shipping, but on that Sunday i was looking to order I simply couldn't get to their payment page. Multiple attempts failed, and then my order finally went to the boodmo's!

[Jeroen]

Good job, well done! Yes these sway bar links make a very distinct sound when they are on their way out,

One small word of advise: those scissor jacks are really unstable and not meant for jacking up a car whilst working on it. Next time try to get a proper axle stand and or proper floor jack. Safety first.

Here is me doing the same job on my Mercedes:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post4178168

Jeroen

[Mr.Boss]

Kudos for the effort and DIY.

Use allen key (as shown in the video) to hold the ball stud while tightening (I couldn't see allen key in your tool kit)


And not to forget, a jack stand (or at least some rigid support) is required to carry out such a mechanical job.

Originally Posted by gopa99

I was expecting to see a split washer or a lock nut in the bolting arrangement

Have a look at service manual, some cases it will be a non-reusable lock nut. So every time we remove the nut, new one to be used.

[ramjiramu]

This is a great input for those who are bugged with suspension related noises. You really did a smart thing by finding out the problem and solution yourself.

It reminded me of a time in 2013 where Mahindra First Choice Services duped me for 15k for my Maruti Estillo car suspension noise issues. Exactly same issue as what is described in this DIY.

Mahindra services and Maruti Estillo car! Please dont scratch your head, thats a long story but in short I got fooled by Maruti service first for few thousands who could not solve the issue and then by Mahindra later. The issue haunted for almost a year and then finally I had to sell the car for peanuts. Wish such nice DIY articles were there during that time.

Overall, very nicely written DIY and thanks for sharing.

[ToyoCabbie]

Great tutorial gopa99! This is the kind of DIY I would love doing in my free time.As a precaution please place a few bricks or a wheel under the car to ensure it is safe to work on as I've seen many cases of jacks slipping.Stay safe and keep wrenching

[Torq]

I had a very similar issue in my Tiago for which TASS recommended suspension overhaul and replacement of all bushes, ball joints and link rods!
Got only the link rod replaced from an FNG for just under 1k.
If i knew this is accessible for us noobs, would have loved to try it myself! Thandk for the DIY

[Torq]

Originally Posted by Torq

I had a very similar issue in my Tiago for which TASS recommended suspension overhaul and replacement of all bushes, ball joints and link rods!
Got only the link rod replaced from an FNG for just under 1k.
If i knew this is accessible for us noobs, would have loved to try it myself! Thandk for the DIY

While I was happy for a while, in about 10k kms, the noise came back and ended up getting the entire suspension overhauled at TASS Phoenix Motors at the cost of 6500 INR. I did not replace the Struts or steering ball joints.
This was indeed necessary as was also opting for replacement of front two tyres to continental CC6.