Lower arm mount gaps

[TVRwhoa]

Just after some advice please.

I've been putting wishbones and various other suspension bits onto the chassis, which has been going o.k. until I got to the lower arms.

I've added a picture to explain what I mean as there appears to be quite a gap between the mounting points and the lower arm, I've used the nylon washers as supplied but tthe gap still seems too big - should I also have some washers in here as well although they would appear to be big washers if that was the case?



I've got a download of the cerbera chassis front suspension but it doesn't look as though there are spacers etc.

Thanks a lot.

[ukkid35]

The suspension arm should be a very tight fit, and as you said there should be one nylon washer either side

I presume these lower arms didn't come off the car before the work you've been doing

Since it's impossible for the chassis suspension mounts to change, the only conclusion is that the lower arm is not the correct part

I've recently binned my old suspension arms otherwise I could measure them in a second for you

It would be worth you measuring the distance between the mount points on the chassis and posting them here

[The Nige]

It's been a while but i think you should have some spacers in there.

[TVRwhoa]

ukkid35 said:

The suspension arm should be a very tight fit, and as you said there should be one nylon washer either side

I presume these lower arms didn't come off the car before the work you've been doing

Since it's impossible for the chassis suspension mounts to change, the only conclusion is that the lower arm is not the correct part

I've recently binned my old suspension arms otherwise I could measure them in a second for you

It would be worth you measuring the distance between the mount points on the chassis and posting them here

Hi ukkid35 the chassis has been refurbed and all of the arms etc are from the same car - I think as "the Nige" posted - TVR part C0179 is needed to space them out, it's been a while since it was all dismantled and couldn't remember if there were spaces there or not - I'll speak with TVR parts this morning and confirm - thanks for all your help

[ukkid35]

C0179 is to hold the hub assembly together, it's not a spacer

Perhaps there are large thick washers either side of the arm, I'll check this evening on mine, as that is starting to ring a bell

[ukkid35]

My curiosity got the better of me

There are a pair of thick washers the same diameter as the nylon washers

[TVRwhoa]

ukkid35 said:

My curiosity got the better of me

There are a pair of thick washers the same diameter as the nylon washers

That's really helpful thanks a lot, I'd kept a box of all of the nuts and bolts that were removed which were all labelled that I had thought had been lost. However, I've found it this morning in the back of the 'TVR' shed - I have that many parts that I now have a TVR shed - so I'm going to go through them all tonight and see if I can locate them - thanks very much I'd be lost without this site!!

[Byker28i]

There should be some thick washers. When my car was rebuilt it seems these weren't added and they compressed the chassis mount to the wishbone instead by over tightening the bolts. Str8Six sorted it all out for me, when I said the handling was vague...

[TVRwhoa]

I've identified all of the bolts and washers etc., that were taken from the car as I'd labelled them all and put them in a box so I could work out what went where - it was just finding the box that they were in was the problem

So I've moved up to the front of the car driver side wishbone at the top and then put the original spacer washers, nylon thrust washer and then the wishbone (upper arm) - as you can see in the picture below it pushes the front mounting plate out slightly once I've hammered them in - is that o.k. to do or should they be snug but not push the metal side out - or am I being too careful here?

[ukkid35]

That doesn't look right - I'll go take another photo later this evening

[Adrian@]

It 'looks' like the white nylon washer is I.D. incorrect (or being held off by the bush), it's job is a thrust washer that is the ID of inner sleeve of the suspension bush and OD of the outer of the suspension wishbone eyelet (the other side looks right). Take another look at the two washers. (OE washers are grey nylatron) A@

Edited by Adrian@ on Wednesday 31st July 20:05

[ukkid35]

Wow, what an incredibly embarrassing photo thanks to an industrious spider

The car was last used less than two weeks ago, even though it's as dead as a dodo now, oh well

As Adrian says, the nylon washers aren't the right colour and are not fitting properly, you need dark grey washers that are exactly the same diameter as the thick steel washers

[ukkid35]

And, most importantly, make sure you orient each and every bolt so that you can remove it when the body is back on - unlike the one in your photo!

[TwinKam]

ukkid35 said:

And, most importantly, make sure you orient each and every bolt so that you can remove it when the body is back on - unlike the one in your photo!

Good spot!

[TVRwhoa]

Cheers guys - I'll swap the bolt around - the nylon washers are from RT racing as part of their chassis bolt kit replacement - I've checked them all and they're all the same thickness and diameter and so the thrust washers are probably ok.

Looking at the way the bush has been inserted, it looks to me as though the rubber on the right hand side is protruding as is the steel centre which is a couple of mm off on the the right hand side of the bush than on the left, you can see it here when I close up;



I think I was hoping that would compress and center once it goes back in which obviously it's not - so I'll get that one out and see if I center it on the press.