Anyone who's fitted Steve Heath's drop-links - help please!

[j_m]

As the title may suggest, I fitted a pair of Mr Heath's rear drop-links whilst I had the ARB off the other day changing the rubbers.
Try as I might though, I couldn't get it to fit nearly as 'straight' as the pics in the instructions. Anyway, felt lovely for the first trip couple of trips after fitting, but is now clanking/rattling over bumps when the wheels are doing different things ie those irritating little half speed bumps, esp from the N/S (all pics are of N/S in case not clear).









I'd much appreciate any suggestions as to where I've gone wrong so's I can sort it on the weekend!
Many thanks in advance,
J

[V8 Animal]

I would say you should fit the washers supplied between the rosejoint and the arb looks to me as they are rubbing.
Also check all the bolts as they may have come loose.
Email steve for more advice a nice chap to deal with.
Just replaced f/r on mine.
Cheers

[Serious Pete]

When i fitted mine i had to spend a lot of time sdjusting the fit to make it all work nicely

I spent loads of time playing with the washers to get it as straight as possible without rubbing, On mine i got them fairly straight but there shouls be no noise at all.

[sparky11]

It was a bit of a pain in the harris to get mine fitted correctly, are they making a noise going over speed bumps or cornering tightly? Mine were and on closer investigation within a week it had broken the crossmember on the wishbone!

Had a (much stronger) piece welded back in and about a week later the other one went!

Now have two new stronger wishbone crossmembers and no problems since.

Might be worth checking these?


Cheers

Mark

[shpub]

The ARB fitted to the car is a non-standard one as the flats on the bar are at 45 degrees when they should be vertical. I believe that this is what is causing the problem.

I suggest fitting some washers to push the bottom rose joint out further to the right and help the joint clear the ARB. That should sort out the problem. If it doesn't, get back to me and I'll see what I can do to address the problem. I might need to machine some special spacers to compensate for the 45 deg flat.

To check that the rose joints aren't locking out (i.e going to the full extreme of thir movement), jack up one wheel with the other side on the floor and make sure that this is not happening. It could also be that this is causing the noise.

If you have any more problems, please contact me and I will help. Direct contact details are on my website at www.tvrextras.co.uk

[spend]

Would'nt it be better to get a 2'nd hand ARB... or even try twisting that one back at local engineers?

I wouldn'nt like the idea of it working at all strange angles, but I'm a worrier

Dave

[shpub]

sparky11 said:

It was a bit of a pain in the harris to get mine fitted correctly, are they making a noise going over speed bumps or cornering tightly? Mine were and on closer investigation within a week it had broken the crossmember on the wishbone!

Had a (much stronger) piece welded back in and about a week later the other one went!

Now have two new stronger wishbone crossmembers and no problems since.

Might be worth checking these?

This is a well known problem with the early mounting plates, which had little or no stiffening. The original droplinks used to tear and rip the plate away. In some cases, this was made worse because the mounting holes and ARBs were misaligned. With the original droplinks, there is no adjustment - so they were frequently forced into place - which weakened or broke the mounting plate or simply caused the droplink to snap.

This is why ocassionally some adjustment is needed to get the positioning right for my droplinks. However, with the majority of cars, they are straightforward to fit.

[GreenV8S]

It looks from those pictures as if a large part of the problem is that the ARB is simply hanging too low. Anything you can do to shorten the drop-link might help here.

[900T-R]

shpub said:

This is a well known problem with the early mounting plates, which had little or no stiffening. The original droplinks used to tear and rip the plate away.

That's what my garage informs has happened with mine on one end. Let's hope that with correct installation of the new droplinks, it won't happen again.

oh, and an engine in that big empty space under the bonnet would be nice too, I suppose

[shpub]

J-M

You will have mail and a small package...
Just made some angled bolts and spacers that will give a near horizontal stud for the rose joint to fit on. It should also address the alignment issue.

[j_m]

Wow, didn't expect that many replies!

Thanks for all those pointers everyone. Will try a combination of things on the weekend. And big thank you Steve for sending out those modified bolts - amazing service. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers all,
Jansen

[timshap]

I have just ordered a set of Steve's drop links..One question i have is leaving the ARB in place what is the best way to take the loading off the joints so as to remove he old rusty ones. Having never done this before any pointers would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks

[shpub]

That's covered in the instructions that come with the drop links: jack up both sides so that the wheels are off the ground on both sides. This will remove any loading.

There's a downloadable pdf of the installation instructions on my website at www.tvrextras.co.uk

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 29th January 14:36

[thegman]

This has been an interesting thread!

What are the main benefits of the drop links? Just better anti-roll properties?

Is this something I could fit myself (non-mechanic)? I have a pretty decent toolset and could get hold of a couple of jacks.

[timshap]

Steve

Where is the PDF file please?? As would like to start removing the rears

[shpub]

On the Griffith/Chimaera rear ARB drop link page:

https://delta.securesslhost.net/~shenglt/catalog/p...

Then go to just above the colour options where it says: "Click here for download fitting instructions (PDF)"

[bigdods]

thegman said:

This has been an interesting thread!

What are the main benefits of the drop links? Just better anti-roll properties?

Is this something I could fit myself (non-mechanic)? I have a pretty decent toolset and could get hold of a couple of jacks.

Main benefit is that the ARB will actually work properly and come in progressively. I wasnt expecting much difference being a skeptic but I was *amazed* byt the transformation in the handling when I had mine fitted. The chim now corners much flatter and body roll is much more predictable and controlled. It was like driving a totally different car. I suspect my old ARB links were knackered but even so its a mod worth doing.

Me not being very handy with the spanners and seeing how some people have had issues with removing old bolts and such I had mine fitted by my favourite indie, only cost me about £20 in labour IIRC as I was having other work done on the driveshafts at the same time.

[Andy 'P']

I too had this problem when fitting mine earlier this month, ended up turning the top joint through 90 degrees, see below.

[timshap]

Interesting...I removed the rears quite easily last night and whilst the ARB hole is vertical unlike the previous posting with 45 degrees..I can see that getting the alignment correct will be difficult if the drop link is supposed to sit vertical as well.
The front o/s standard drop link which I havent removed yet sits at 30 degrees currently..I wonder if previous installers have had to cente the ARB in any way?
I need to check the other side yet..

When tightening up the bolts on top and through the ARB do I need to lock tight them (glue) etc..or just reasonable tight?

[shpub]

Not uncommon for the ARB itself to be pushed to one side - usually to force the original type drop link into place as they were not the best of fits. Worth centering in this case. The key point is to make sure that the rose joints do not lock out i.e. come to the end of the movement. In most cases this does mean keeping the links vertical but not is others. Providing the rose joint does not lock out, it doesn't really matter if the links are slightly off vertical.

You can use Loctite but make sure that the bolts are tight enough to clamp the rose joint so that the bearing is used as the pivot and not the bolt.