Official parts don't always fit!

[laracer]

I am new to the world of TVR but learning fast :-(
Having read about probable issues with bottom ball joints I decided to replace mine with the official "expensive" items along with some new wishbones from the same supplier. When I came to fit them - they did not fit! - the mounting holes did not line up, the casting was too large to fit into the wishbone and the ball joint articulation was not as great as the original. By a process of elimination the problem lies solely with the ball joints (wishbones appear ok). Contacted the supplier and was told "they all need fettling and the reason short bolts were in the packet was that they come with the original Fiat part
So it looks like I am going to have to bodge my way out of this - should have bought the Lada/Fiat part and saved myself some money

rant over

[BIG DUNC]

Was there anything wrong with the old ones?

[laracer]

One was good, one was slack - as I have all my suspension in bits to replace the lower wishbones, shocks and bushes, I am replacing all the ball joints as a precautionary measure.
Maybe it was not clear - my knowledge of "probable" issues was around using Lada joints instead of official TVR ones

Edited by laracer on Monday 11th November 11:56

[BIG DUNC]

That makes sense. Your original post suggested that you were just changing them for the sake of it.

[ric355]

If it were me I would send them back for a refund to make it clear I wasn't happy, even if it inconvenienced me to do so. It's a real kick in the balls paying extra for a "TVR" part only to find you have to bodge it before it will fit. I dunno which of the suppliers it was from but if their listing does not say "this part will not fit unless you bodge it first" then they are probably breaking the trades description act anyway. Just 'cause the market is niche does not mean people should be able to get away with bad service.

[TwinKam]

ric355 said:

If it were me I would send them back for a refund to make it clear I wasn't happy, even if it inconvenienced me to do so. It's a real kick in the balls paying extra for a "TVR" part only to find you have to bodge it before it will fit. I dunno which of the suppliers it was from but if their listing does not say "this part will not fit unless you bodge it first" then they are probably breaking the trades description act anyway. Just 'cause the market is niche does not mean people should be able to get away with bad service.

This ^^ ...and they really should be very grateful that you've pointed it out to them nicely.

[Rocket 88]

Bought mine from Racetech and they fitted perfectly. They also do the extended bolt kit. Look at their website and see what they say about the cheaper inferior quality items. Used Racetech for many items and never had any problems

[V8fan]

When I put new front wishbones on my last Chimaera in 2017, I had to grind away some of the powder coating to get the bolts through and some of the balljoints to fit. I'd consider this 'fettling' and acceptable.

But if you have to grind away any metal on the ball joint itself, I wouldn't consider that acceptable.

[FoxTVR430]

I had the same problem when rebuilding mine.
Funny thing is that the lower two wishbones were different. One was an original from 1993 (I assume) and the other was brand new. (I had that exchange as there was a hole in it)
The point is that the new "TVR" ball joint fitted in the old wishbone but not in the new one. I measured both of them and there was a size difference in the bolt hole positions and cup size!
So maybe there was some small redesign between the early ones and later ones with slight size differences?

[TarquinMX5]

^^^^^

This is quite possible, various bits were changed, even if only slightly, particularly between introduction and the facelift version.