Edwardo
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 10:42 AM |
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Locost Rear Suspension - Advice needed
I posted this last night in my build diary but think it's got mixed up with all the other stuff.
Would appreciate some advice/opinions on the below suspension issue recently discovered during the stripdown.
Shouldn't the bottom of the coilover be sitting in the bracket on the axle? It looks like a couple of plates have been welded to the rear of the
trailing arm bracket which is moving it outboard (both sides of the car have had this done)??
You can sort of see it in this pic that the coilover is tilted outboard at the bottom - it should be straight vertical down right? :-
I could understand if they couldn't get the right length coilover and just used some plates to extend up to a shorter one - but pushing the
bottom of it outwards?
The top mounting seems to be in the right place I think? :-
Has anybody got a picture handy of what it should look like on your book Locost please?
Cheers
Tony
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Simon
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 01:46 PM |
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I suspect your thoughts on spring length may be right, but they have forced the shocks into position where they should have rotated them 90 degrees.
That way there wouldn't be unnecessary strain on bushes.
Can't show you pics of mine as it was IRS and sold long ago.
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 07:55 PM |
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Those are the same make of coilovers that Robinhood fitted to their cars, they are the same ones on mine. From what I've read they are utter
garbage, people saying they last only a couple of housand miles before falling apart. Although after stripping then down I can't see any obvious
issue with the design, basically a simple damper will a steel sleeve. The only thing I could come up with was that dirt gets trapped at the damper
seal so fitting them piston up would help keep it cleaner
Some of the welds look nasty and weak, especially those additional plates, it looks a poorly executed modification. The tilt of the coilover probably
isn't an issue so long as the rubber bushes have enough give in them. The ones on my car are small and stiff. It's not possible for a
damper to move in only one plane with a live axle so they need to flex a lot.
[Edited on 11/12/20 by Mr Whippy]
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Deckman001
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 08:15 PM |
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Mine are fitted further inside the bodywork, and are easily covered by the bodywork.
 
New springs fitted
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steve m
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 10:05 PM |
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Mine were in exactly the same place as Jason's and vertical, in both planes, looking front to back and sideways on,
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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Edwardo
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 10:41 PM |
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Thanks all - sounds like confirmation of what I thought.
Was hoping this would be a fairly simple strip down/fix trailing arm brackets/rust treat/paint and re-assemble.
Looks like a long winter of welding and putting other peoples bodges right 
Would still be interested to see any more pics anyone has of their setup and how it connects to the axle.
Cheers again!
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 11/12/20 at 11:01 PM |
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You should see the stuff I'm having to do with mine
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snapper
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| posted on 13/12/20 at 08:07 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
Those are the same make of coilovers that Robinhood fitted to their cars, they are the same ones on mine. From what I've read they are utter
garbage, people saying they last only a couple of housand miles before falling apart. Although after stripping then down I can't see any obvious
issue with the design, basically a simple damper will a steel sleeve. The only thing I could come up with was that dirt gets trapped at the damper
seal so fitting them piston up would help keep it cleaner
Some of the welds look nasty and weak, especially those additional plates, it looks a poorly executed modification. The tilt of the coilover probably
isn't an issue so long as the rubber bushes have enough give in them. The ones on my car are small and stiff. It's not possible for a
damper to move in only one plane with a live axle so they need to flex a lot.
[Edited on 11/12/20 by Mr Whippy]
Your talking about the Robin Hood Zimmerides which were bike shocks with threaded collars and were much more agricultural than those which have a
proper alloy top collar so I don’t think they are Zimmers
I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)
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big_wasa
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| posted on 13/12/20 at 10:18 AM |
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Mine where mounted on the end of the bolt that goes through the top trailing arm. Its mounted in shear but it's a 1/2" high tensile bolt
and has been fine even with 400bhp 
I would add a photo but can not
Edit, still trying
Locost https://imgur.com/a/5d3b2DI
[Edited on 13/12/20 by big_wasa]
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MikeR
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| posted on 13/12/20 at 10:04 PM |
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Westfield mounted them in the same orientation with the single bolt. It was fine for them.
I've done the same but due to my dedion design, i've angled the shock backwards from the verticle a little. My top mounting is in the
middle of the 3mm mounting plate that the roll bar welds too.
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Edwardo
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| posted on 13/12/20 at 10:07 PM |
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Thanks for the pic - much appreciated. I may have to end up doing something similar to get the coilovers straightened.
The coilovers are def not zimmers - The sticker on the damping adjustment knob says GAZ and there is a further yellow/blue sticker on the body saying
Z-Shock or something.
I don't want to start another new thread - so if anybody has a picture or diagram of the best way to resolve the trailing arm to chassis issue
to stop them cracking again I would be very interested to see those too please!  I've done loads of searches and although there are loads of
threads on it - they are old and most of the pics are now missing. I believe some sort of Rectangular box section that both trailing arms connect to
is the usual fix is is it not?
As always - very grateful for the help
[Edited on 13/12/20 by Edwardo]
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big_wasa
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| posted on 14/12/20 at 04:28 PM |
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Look for posts by Procomp.
But the most sturdy way is cutting a face out of a bit of 3mm wall box section.
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