Drop links... yes/no ?
Discussion
[/quote] The situation is made worse because the positional tolerances are horrendous - +/- 15mm is not uncommon.
.
[/quote]
+/- 15mm horrendous ? ... my passenger seat belt latch is mounted 50+ mm forward of where it should be ! I'm REALLY excited about getting the old girl up on a lift to find out what's what underneath
Thanks Steve. I'm bearing all this in mind
My original drop links were in a very bad way.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
The original drop link design is just like the ones fitted to Triumphs in the 1960's & 70's.
They were rubbish back then & in my opinion have no place on a 150 mph TVR.
Last weekend my mate FrenchieTVR showed me the ones that came of his 30,000 mile Chim and they were just as shot as my ones were.
Basically within a very short amount of use the rubber ball becomes un-bonded from the metal socket so the drop link needs to go though its entire articulation before the load is transferred to the anti roll bar.
If you extrapolate that small movement by the length of the wishbone it equates to quite a bit of suspension articulation before the ARB even begins to play it's part.
A decent rose jointed drop link transfers the wishbone movement directly to the ARB immediately, and you can really feel the improvement.
I replaced the original Triumph type relics with the expensive Leven ones about 10 months ago.
The result was an immediate and very noticeable improvement in the way the car drives.
After 4,000 miles the links have performed faultlessly with no nasty noises, they were also super easy to fit.
Although you couldn't exactly call them cheap for what they are (far from it), I would say the Leven links are the best value handling mod going.
I know lots of people that say the Steve Heath ones are equally good & I have no reason to doubt them, they certainly are cheaper.
"you pays your money" and all that.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
The original drop link design is just like the ones fitted to Triumphs in the 1960's & 70's.
They were rubbish back then & in my opinion have no place on a 150 mph TVR.
Last weekend my mate FrenchieTVR showed me the ones that came of his 30,000 mile Chim and they were just as shot as my ones were.
Basically within a very short amount of use the rubber ball becomes un-bonded from the metal socket so the drop link needs to go though its entire articulation before the load is transferred to the anti roll bar.
If you extrapolate that small movement by the length of the wishbone it equates to quite a bit of suspension articulation before the ARB even begins to play it's part.
A decent rose jointed drop link transfers the wishbone movement directly to the ARB immediately, and you can really feel the improvement.
I replaced the original Triumph type relics with the expensive Leven ones about 10 months ago.
The result was an immediate and very noticeable improvement in the way the car drives.
After 4,000 miles the links have performed faultlessly with no nasty noises, they were also super easy to fit.
Although you couldn't exactly call them cheap for what they are (far from it), I would say the Leven links are the best value handling mod going.
I know lots of people that say the Steve Heath ones are equally good & I have no reason to doubt them, they certainly are cheaper.
"you pays your money" and all that.
I fitted the Steve Heath ones last year and could tell the difference. The big difference was when I took the car on the track as the car was much more poised through corners with less roll, and this improved the turn in.
Do follow the instructions and you have to lower the car down and re check as the roll bar moves a lot and I re adjusted mine after dropping down to check.
Re life of these I wouldnt expect the originals to last forever (and they dont!) and I wouldnt expect Steves to do the same partically if the car is tracked or driven in a spirited way.
Do follow the instructions and you have to lower the car down and re check as the roll bar moves a lot and I re adjusted mine after dropping down to check.
Re life of these I wouldnt expect the originals to last forever (and they dont!) and I wouldnt expect Steves to do the same partically if the car is tracked or driven in a spirited way.
finally got my car inspected and found the reasons for dodgy handling :
failed rear dampers, failed upper rear bushes, rear tyre pressures 12 & 14 respectively, 17 & 18 at the front. Mixed brand tyres (i had noticed). So, all in all, every reason for the car to behave a little thuggishly.
Otherwise, the tacho didn't work, wipers didn't work, the drive belt was fitted back to front (running water pump backwards !) and the bonnet bolts were so loose as to represent a time bomb. All that is sorted now. Rear discs were shot too.
Nitrons and leven rose-joints all round, proper tyres and rear discs to be fitted come 13th June.
Might have a car that wiggles, wobbles (or rather doesn't) and stops as it should from there, rather than the basket case i was living with.... For a while i thought i'd bought a chimaera bodied Tuscan 1....
failed rear dampers, failed upper rear bushes, rear tyre pressures 12 & 14 respectively, 17 & 18 at the front. Mixed brand tyres (i had noticed). So, all in all, every reason for the car to behave a little thuggishly.
Otherwise, the tacho didn't work, wipers didn't work, the drive belt was fitted back to front (running water pump backwards !) and the bonnet bolts were so loose as to represent a time bomb. All that is sorted now. Rear discs were shot too.
Nitrons and leven rose-joints all round, proper tyres and rear discs to be fitted come 13th June.
Might have a car that wiggles, wobbles (or rather doesn't) and stops as it should from there, rather than the basket case i was living with.... For a while i thought i'd bought a chimaera bodied Tuscan 1....
These fit ,you need about 100mm centres on the rears ..They are rose jointed very similar to the leven ones but only 20 quid..Its about time these were put on the alternative parts list..These cars are made from all different car parts so why not other make drop links
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-Civic-MA-MB-95-01-1-8V...
http://www.racetechdirect.co.uk/tvr-car-parts-subs...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-Civic-MA-MB-95-01-1-8V...
http://www.racetechdirect.co.uk/tvr-car-parts-subs...
Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Thursday 2nd June 17:08
got any alternatives for the front ?I've just removed my drop links to check them out after noticing some interesting handling on my car on the drive up to goodwood yesterday. The rear end was very slow to respond in corners and seemed half an hour behind the front. As you can see from the photos I reckon I've found the culprit - one rubber is completely shot and bar is bent and the other link doesn't move.
I'm ordering some steve heath ones now so I'll let you know what improvement I get.
I'm ordering some steve heath ones now so I'll let you know what improvement I get.
Hello old boy.Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff