Vixen front upper wishbones, handed?
Vixen front upper wishbones, handed?
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Discussion

Vvixen

Original Poster:

7 posts

132 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
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Can any one confirm whether or not the Vixen S2 front upper wishbone is handed please?

Dollyman1850

6,322 posts

271 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
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Yes they are handed.
N.

Stevo302

395 posts

159 months

Sunday 8th March 2015
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Did not think mine were.....but mines a 71 chassis. How are they handed?
Regards.

Dollyman1850

6,322 posts

271 months

Sunday 8th March 2015
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Slight tweak on the top arm nearest footwell and also some (but not all) are canted where the ball joint screws into the wishbone.

N.

Vvixen

Original Poster:

7 posts

132 months

Sunday 8th March 2015
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Darn, I've got mine mixed up, any hints on how they can be identified? ... I think mine is a 1971.

Astacus

3,700 posts

255 months

Sunday 8th March 2015
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Slight rearward offset on the top wishbone also sets the castor on my series one

Dollyman1850

6,322 posts

271 months

Sunday 8th March 2015
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S1 vixen and previous very different to S2.
N.

simonpa

381 posts

304 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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Mine is a '71 Vixen S3 as well.

I notice that the forward chassis mount is higher than the rearmost mount (on the upper/front wishbone).
Along with the top shock mount, this 'leans' the whole assembly backwards - presumably for castor?

Neil - do you have any specifics that can be measured on the S3 top wishbones, in order to check they are on the right way round, assuming they are handed?

Many thanks, Sir!

Adrian@

4,503 posts

303 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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That I know of the wishbones are the same..any castor is set in the chassis pickups.
Adrian@

Dollyman1850

6,322 posts

271 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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I may have been confusing the issue and my cars here..as usual there is always a story..

Series 1 Vixen and Grantura / 1800s are very different to Vixen S2 on > wishbones..

Vixen S2 wishbones look to be NOT handed.. It may well be that they are supposed to be the same.. However!! Some replacement wishbones have been supplied over the years which did not fit the original chassis and had to be tweaked to fit. in addition some wishbones are supplied with a Flat Boss to take the Ball joint and some have been supplied slightly canted to ensure that the joint doesn't neck out on a lowered car..Again it may well be that although canted they can simply be turned over so in effect become not handed.
I have in previous builds had a chassis and set of wishbones supplied from different sources and the fitting required to make them work was quite a challenge. as such I always recommend that the wishbones are supplied from the same source as the replacement chassis.

Regarding a previously discussed topic of replacement bushes, similarly individual bushes need to be "fitted" since bracket dimensions may differ from chassis to chassis and wishbones also differ being built from different jigs. Hence on builds you often see folk adding packing washers to make up gaps on rear wishbone upright assemblies.. The correct way to do it is with string and plumb lines to even out the cars wheelbase side to side and tweaking of the brackets accordingly.

At the end of the day the chassis of a TVR isn't so critical which is generally why it was made adjustable in all planes to allow the wheels to be set in the directions required..

Hope this makes sense and I haven't mislead anyone too much.
N.

tomtrout

595 posts

184 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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Phew. I thought that either I got very lucky when I fitted mine or that I was managing to get away with fitting my nearside top wishbone to the offside! Panic over!

simonpa

381 posts

304 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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Ditto!

Thanks Neil!

pete.reeve

516 posts

304 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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Also take no notice of the gaps and shape of the the body. mine looks like the n/s/r is crabbing.
Pete

ATE399J

732 posts

258 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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They may not be "handed" but are they symmetrical? I.e. Do they have a right and wrong way up?

Dollyman1850

6,322 posts

271 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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ATE399J said:
They may not be "handed" but are they symmetrical? I.e. Do they have a right and wrong way up?
It depends..
Set them on a flat surface and look at the threaded boss.. if it is level it doesn't matter. if the boss is canted then it really should be installed so it cants down this ensures that the ball joint won't neck out. It probably doesn't matter on an S2 but this is a mod employed on earlier race cars.

N.