jamesbond007ltk
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 posted on 13/12/06 at 05:38 PM |
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Live axle movement...
One for all you live axle runners out there.
Jave always been aware that my rear axle had a small amount of twist but it has got worse as i have done more miles.
I know exactly why it is. Basically my traling arms are built by the book and fitted with metalastic bushes from a triumph herald. These bushes seem
ok on the front bones but deform far too much on the rear axle due to the torque. This allows the traling arms to effectively lengthen and shorten
upon acceleration and engine breaking.
My current plan is to replace the bushes with polybushes or superflex etc.
Just wondering if anyone has any other ideas?
As time and workshop facilities are more limited than money at the moment i may also consider fitting new trailing arms prefitted with bushes, if
anyone knows somewhere that does ones as a direct replacement for the book design?
Cheers
Rich.
PS If anyone still objects to my Avatar, even with the Baubles added, let me know and I'll change it!
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Peteff
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| posted on 13/12/06 at 06:08 PM |
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Cut the ends off your present trailing arm and grind a nut down to fit in the end, knock it in square and weld it then use a male spherical with a
lock nut. You can put one on one end of the panhard rod as well to give some adjustment on that if you want. Most of the poly bush types need wider
brackets than the metalastic bushes but there are some direct replacement available somewhere, I think MNR used to do them.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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scutter
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| posted on 13/12/06 at 06:32 PM |
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I totally agree with Pete, I've just rose jointed my trailling arms and panhard rod with a total transformation in handling.
I've got to rose joint the other end of the panhard as there's still a little sideways play in the axle.
Rally design are the cheapest place i've found for the inserts with rose joints off ebay.
ATB Dan.
The less I worked, the more i liked it.
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zetec7
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| posted on 13/12/06 at 06:47 PM |
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We used spherical joints in the forward ends of the arms, and poly bushes at the axle ends, if that helps...we felt that spherical joints all round
would be too harsh for road use, and bushes all round might lead to the problem you're experiencing. We did domething a little more solid than
welding nuts in to the end of the arms, though. We obtained DOM (drawn-over-mandrel) seamless steel tubing to make the arms, and threaded the inside
to fit 1/2" heavy-duty rod ends. Here's what I'd suggest you do: obtain some DOM tubing (thick-wall) to fit inside your arms,
about 2-3" inside each arm. Drill a few holes in the last couple of inches of the outer arms, and plug-weld to the DOM, then bead-weld the ends
of the DOM to the outer arm ends, and grind smooth. Tap the inside of the DOM to fit at least 3/8" rod ends (although 7/16" or 1/2"
rod ends are stronger), and fit the rod ends, with locking nuts. This gives 2-3" of thread engagement, instead of the 1/2" that a nut
would give you (MUCH stronger!), and only adds a few ounces total to the weight of the car. Consider what would happen if one of those lets go on the
track or on the motorway at speed, and you'll see why strength there is an asset!!
http://www.freewebs.com/zetec7/
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