Rear trailing arm cracked

[trevytrev]

Just started cleaning up the chassis on the S3 ready for Hammerite and Waxoyl, however when I started knocking the rusty bits on one of the rear trailing arms, I found a very large crack in it so I'm going to have to replace it. (Got a quote from the local TVR garage about £200 plus nuts + bolts etc for the parts)...

Just wondered if anyone has done this before and what sort of problems you may have encountered and what else I will need to take into consideration i.e. tracking etc...

Thanks in advance .....

[GreenV8S]

Just started cleaning up the chassis on the S3 ready for Hammerite and Waxoyl, however when I started knocking the rusty bits on one of the rear trailing arms, I found a very large crack in it so I'm going to have to replace it. (Got a quote from the local TVR garage about £200 plus nuts + bolts etc for the parts)...

Just wondered if anyone has done this before and what sort of problems you may have encountered and what else I will need to take into consideration i.e. tracking etc...

Thanks in advance .....

Was it the near side one? I suggest you consider changing both sides anyway, they can suffer from fatigue as well as corrosion, especially if you have the dampers are set very hard or have bottomed out. Mine failed completely at Hethel and Tower View made some reinforced replacements. Since they are not supposed to be adjustable you should find the geometry is unchanged, but get it checked anyway and be prepared to shim the hubs if necessary to get everything straight again afterwards.

[trevytrev]

thanks for your help .... Its the off side one thats cracked ...

Looking at the other side it does appear to be newer as it has hardly any rust on it ! so I'm not sure whether to replace it or not.

Do you think it would be wise to just take it off, clean it up, check inside it and put it back on with some new bushes or leave it as it is or should I just replace it anyway !! ?