Fixing Front swing arm, front brakes pads and discs, help

[Andrew.p.young]

Oh lord help... the wee back Saab has failed her MoT, track rod end (done), lower swing arm ball joint: I can’t get the ball joint to pop, does the clinch bolt have to be out? How does it come out, do I need to unscrew it from the torx headed end? And are there nuts on the two bolts on the bush which I have to hold to get them off? Finally I’m replacing front discs and pads as the brakes were not operating correctly. I have managed to get the Calliper holder off on one side but the other top bolt it not budging I’ve tried a breaker bar with extension and a heat gun, any tips? I can’t get my impact hammer onto it. I have one set of pads that are badly unevenly worn, what could make that happen?

[Digger]

The cinch bolt does need to come out, it should unscrew. If strut is removed and rust is involved you might need to heat, cool, oil, wax, use foul language and sometimes beat it out. If the strut is still attached lift the arm to remove pressure on the bolt.

About 20 years ago I restored an old MG and it took me a good month to translate bent ring spanner into offset box end wrench and I have some practice with converting American English to English English. Not quite sure about the bolts on the "bush", but with the limited number of bolts to choose from, odds are you need to remove and if you didn't need to remove, it won't hurt anything if you do.

For freeing the stubborn caliper bracket bolt you should be able to use your impact hammer if impact "Hammer" is an air impact gun, by turning the wheel to give yourself some working room. Do your best to not break the bolt while breaking it free by turning tight and loose until it moves. If you need to heat to free from rust, a heat gun will eventually work, but this is a tough place to get the heat gun to put heat where you need it. An oxy gas torch puts all the heat where you need it and gets the job done quick. MAP gas works better than propane, but any good plumbers torch will get this job done faster and better than a heat gun.

Uneven pad wear usually means caliper or pad slides need replacing, if a wire wheel cleaning doesn't get them smooth and shiny replace with new, don't re grease and reinstall.