Trailing Arms

[grumpytvr]

Just taken my S2 for its MOT and it has failed on the drivers side trailing arm. Ar$e!!
It now resembles some sort of dodgy Swiss cheese. To be honest I new it was rusty and something was going to need doing to it, I just wish it was in December and not June!!

Anyway before I start calling round the usual companies (David Gerald, TVR carparts, bell hill garage etc etc, the list goes on!) Does any one have drivers side trailing arm / set of trailing arms in good condition gathering dust in the back of their garage / shed / spare room etc. If you want shot, I'll pay a good price!! I am aware that there were around 3 different types of trailing arm and some aren't compatible with others etc etc. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

I am considering getting the existing one repaired by a good metal fabricator I use through my line of work. Has anyone done this before?

I always wondered why TVR never galvanised these items in the first place. I am aware that many have rusted away over the years having had a quick look back through the forums. This was also something I was considering getting done - unless of course there is a risk of the components warping under the high temperature. Anyone got any thoughts?

Cheers

Tom

[GreenV8S]

grumpytvr said:

I am considering getting the existing one repaired by a good metal fabricator I use through my line of work. Has anyone done this before?

I always wondered why TVR never galvanised these items in the first place. I am aware that many have rusted away over the years having had a quick look back through the forums. This was also something I was considering getting done - unless of course there is a risk of the components warping under the high temperature.

Tower View rebuilt mine after the drivers side broke at Hethel. In my case it was a fatigue failure rather than corrosion, and I think fatigue failure is fairly common with these if they are regularly thumped over rumble strips and curbs. What Tower View did was basically take the end fittings off the old arms and replace the main structure of the arm with much heavier material. The result looks far more substantial than the original and has survived further similar abuse intact so far. The other alternatives I was looking into at the time was a new trailing arm from TVR (now I'd go to TVR Car Parts for that) or a remanufactured arm from Adrian Venn. In my case I don't think these would have lasted long because they would only have been as good as new.

Since you would have the arms off the car I would have thought that any of the usual chassis treatments would be easy to apply - aluminium coating or POR15 seem to be highly regarded. I'd share your concerns about distortion from hot dip ganvanising them.

[pistolar]

What a shame, i have a scuffy passenger side assembly

[grumpytvr]

Thanks pistolar!

It does seem that drivers side trailing arms rust more and as a result fail more frequently than passenger side - I've seen several passenger side trailing armes for sale over the last few years. Perhaps its because passenger side trailing arm is nearer the gutter and gets more water thrown up from the wheels etc - washing off more salt?

Maybe I could get your passenger side trailing arm to look like a drivers side item and therefore fit with the use of smoke and mirrors!?! Or should I be smoking something whilst trying to fit it................