A frame vs trailing arm.

[Benbay001]

Am i correct in thinking later wedges moved to a frame suspension?
What date did this occur?
I can find very little info on it.

Which is better? And how much better? Has anyone driven both?

How can you tell byy looking at an advert? Is there any way?

Thank you
Ben (potential future wedge owner)
See here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Number 7]

Benbay001 said:

Am i correct in thinking later wedges moved to a frame suspension?
What date did this occur?
I can find very little info on it.

Which is better? And how much better? Has anyone driven both?

How can you tell byy looking at an advert? Is there any way?

Thank you
Ben (potential future wedge owner)
See here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

The change from trailing arm to A frame rear suspension took place during early / mid 1986, so I think there can be S2 cars with the earlier suspension. A frame supposedly gives better control of the rear wheels with the additional power of the larger engine variants. Other than asking the seller, you'd need to get underneath to check what's fitted.

[smash]

And it doesn't collapse when the pin breaks!

[Benbay001]

Thank you.
Anyone driven both to provide a first hand account?

[Rockettvr]

My 280 had trailing arm. My current 350 has A frame ( with poly bushes )
My experience is that the trailing arm is fine as long as the big bush is in good nick. If it's on it's way out then the rear end starts to feel a bit " loose". Seems to need replacing fairly often to keep it in good order as it takes a lot of stress . The a frame gives better location of the rear suspension and seems to be more robust and last longer. If both are in good order then you'll probably not notice much difference between the two.

[smash]

I wasn't joking - my 280 FHC broke two pins on the trailing arm leaving me to be recovered on a low loader each time . The pin is inherently bad design in terms of shape and stress points.

[RCK974X]

Yeah, I agree. (Mine is a trailing arm model)

The trailing arm design itself is fine, but the pin and bush is a stupid design, resulting in all the stress happening on the pin, and so bending or breaking it. It would have been easy to sort out, IMHO, simply by supporting both ends of the pin, and putting the bush into the arm itself.

It's fine as long as you don't put too much strain on it, but to some, that spoils the driving experience.

So go for a later frame unless you really like the earlier styles.

[adam quantrill]

I have had both and the A frame is a little more predictable especially in the wet/puddles etc.

I have never broken a pin despite getting air over hump-back bridges etc.

If you poly bush the trailing arm lower link (only these two bushes each side, not the front one) then it feels less "wobbly".

[V8 Fettler]

Trailing arm rear suspension is flawed, A frame is an improvement. There are several modifications around to improve the trailing arm design. Top of the list has to be to avoid the stepped pin.