ashg
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:43 PM |
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Camber Adjuster Failure Warning!!!
Had a rather nasty failure on the car today. The one of the quick camber adjusters on the front suspension decided to catastrophically fail and allow
the top wishbone to detach from the hub.
My friend chris was driving at the time luckily he noticed that it had failed and stopped before the front wheel parted company with the car.
i would seriously advise you to think about changing them for stronger items if they are on your car or revert back to a design with the fixed
threaded tube.
this is the adjuster in question
and this is the failed one.
yes your not seeing things the bolt head as completely come off
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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jacko
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:48 PM |
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I have always thought they looked cr++
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Paul (Notts)
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:49 PM |
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Did the thread from the top TRE go all the way through the adjuster as it does on a normal wish bone and have a lock nut on It?
where are they from ?
Paul
ps lucky to be still with us.!!!
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turbodisplay
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:51 PM |
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Is that ali or steel?
The sharp transition of shape arround the head is a stress raiser, if it has a rounded transistion the stress will be less.
Darren
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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rayward
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:51 PM |
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what material are they made from ??
doesn; look much thickness left after machining
Ray
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:51 PM |
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Is that part made from ali?
If so, extremely poor material choice by the designer/seller.
Those things should be steel. No ifs, buts, or maybe's!
Cheers,
Nev.
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turbodisplay
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 06:58 PM |
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I can't believe it is ali, it looks like it due to being anodised. I`m not a material designer but i wouldn`t use ali, nor would I anodise it,
that makes it more brittle!
Darren
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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dogwood
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:07 PM |
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You really an unlucky bu***r ain't you.
Did the rest of the day go OK though?
FREE THE ROADSTER ONE
!!
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deanwelch
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 posted on 17/3/10 at 07:18 PM |
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thats your luck used up for awhile
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ashg
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:19 PM |
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yeah day went fine should have v5 in the post at some point. well i am lucky in the way that it didnt fail at full bore down a twisty lane and kill
either me or chris.
the material is ali and the trackrod ends went all the way through with a locknut on the ball joint end as they are designed to be used.
i got them from rally design although many other shops sell them also.
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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britishtrident
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:19 PM |
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These adjusters are just fine is used correctly with nuts at both ends.
The hex end should go to the outside backed by a half nut, the inside should have a full nyloc or other self locking nut.
[I] What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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TigerB6 Paul
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:23 PM |
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Has anyone ever heard of one of those failing before?? I certainly havent and know that loads are in use!!
Maybe before the huge panic with everyone criticising the design and material choice, it should be considered that it could well be a one off caused
by an overtighted locknut / pothole / sharp edge on the wishbone etc etc.
Keep an eye out for sure - but seems a big over-reaction to start questioning design etc so early for what may well be a one off failure.
Glad your mate spotted the failure so quickly anyway Ash
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ashg
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:30 PM |
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i initially thought it could have been an overtightened locknut but i checked the other side when i got home and it was fine so have ruled it out.
the failure happened under heavy breaking in a right hand bend. the side that failed was the passengerside
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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carlknight1982
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:30 PM |
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any damage to the car? other than the shi*t stains on the seat?
Logic will get you from a A to B
Imagination will take you everywhere.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 07:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ashg
i initially thought it could have been an overtightened locknut but i checked the other side when i got home and it was fine so have ruled it out.
the failure happened under heavy breaking in a right hand bend. the side that failed was the passengerside
Thats fairly obvious from the way it flailed the upper ball joint shank will always be subject to forces pulling it out from the wisbone.
[I] What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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ashg
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:10 PM |
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luckily no damage to the car or the occupant, counting my blessings on that front as i would have been really upset if my mate chris had got hurt
because my car failed on him.
i have got these adjusters front and back. both the front and back upper wishbones will be replaced for non quick adjust items. i would rather spend
an hour adjusting the wishbones than die from a failure i could have prevented
[Edited on 17/3/10 by ashg]
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:23 PM |
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Ooo scary, wont be bothering with them after all !!
Ben
Locost Map on Google Maps
Z20LET Astra Turbo, into a Haynes
Roadster
Enter Your Details Here
http://www.facebook.com/EquinoxProducts for all your bodywork needs!
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RichardK
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:24 PM |
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I'd do that too for complete peace of mind. I do respect what BT says but there is just something in my head that says thats not the best
material for that particular item.
Cheers
Rich
Gallery updated 11/01/2011
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t.j.
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:29 PM |
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can anyone give me a picture of the (right) use off these?
Please feel free to correct my bad English, i'm still learning. Your Dutch is awfull! :-)
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rgrs
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:37 PM |
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After reading the above i did a quick search and sorry to flak monkey but this was the first image i could find:
 
mine are fitted in the same way, comments ?
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:38 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
These adjusters are just fine is used correctly with nuts at both ends.
The hex end should go to the outside backed by a half nut, the inside should have a full nyloc or other self locking nut.
The mix of ali and steel, in that location, could never be condoned by any half decent materials engineer, or mechanical engineer. Least of all
reasons, being the galvanic action and corrosion. The things will eventually flog out, however fitted. With the low mileages these cars do, that could
take some time. Still doesn't justify the use of ali, though.
Just damned poor engineering, or gross lack thereof.
Cheers,
Nev.
[Edited on 17/3/10 by Neville Jones]
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flak monkey
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 08:42 PM |
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If you notice, the ones on my car in the pic above are steel.
I made my own as I didnt think that the aluminium ones were up to the job. Though it will depend what alloy they are made from. If they were 6063T6
then they would be more than adequate. My bet however is that they are just 1000 series.
And I should add mine have been ok for close on 7000miles now. And were recently removed for a check and are still perfect.
David
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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locoboy
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 09:20 PM |
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They look very similar to the ones i bought from GTS tuning.
Dont GTS supply rally design?
Isn't Darren a poo hot suspension designer................................
ATB
Locoboy
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a4gom
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 09:30 PM |
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quote:
These adjusters are just fine is used correctly with nuts at both ends.
might be worth asking rally design how they should be fitted, I have mine fitted like the ones in flakmonkeys pic and as far as I know this is the way
they were intended to be used. Pretty sure you'd struggle to get a joint with a long enough length of thread to get it right through a nut, the
adjuster, the bone and still be able to put a nut on the end?
[Edited on 17/3/10 by a4gom]
Andy
Perfect planning prevents pi$$ poor performance!
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Toltec
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| posted on 17/3/10 at 10:15 PM |
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The wheel only came free of the upper wishbone as I reversed onto a drive with quite a bit of lock. The idea that it went while braking on a rhder is
a guess. The guy that pulled out on me forcing me to stop on the rab also stopped a few car lengths further on. At the time I thought he was just in
shock at realising that staring at me as he pulled out did not give him right of way. Later when the slight suspension issue became apparent I
wondered if he had stopped because a chunk of rubber covered ali had whacked into his car. I could not find the missing piece on the road so where it
actually broke??? I had just done a full lock U-turn to get to the right position to reverse and the wheel stayed in position, it only came out as I
reversed.
It did give me a bit of a shiver at the time, however in hindsight I doubt the ball joint would pull free of the wishbone very easily unless on plenty
of lock. I pulled the wheel back out to see if I could get the rod/stud back into the wishbone tube but the angles were so different there was no way
they would slide back together. I think it quite likely that the change in angle would wedge the parts together at lower lock.
It was the first time I had driven the car and it is still really in its shakedown phase so I was not leaning on it too hard fortunately. Thinking
back it did tighten line slightly on the exit to a rab, nothing dramatic though and I would otherwise just put it down to the surface angle change on
the exit.
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