Vixen Rear Suspension Assembly

[Seabass]

I'm at the stage of reassembling the rear suspension on my Vixen S3. Is it necessary to space of shim the distances between any of the parts on the lower pivot bar. I've taken pictures here of how it's loosely assembled just now. I've put a heavy washer inbetween each component.




I'm also looking for a reasonable starting point for the spacing of the top pivot bracket from the wishbone - shown below.



Thanks
James

[heightswitch]

Its best to use thin washers but large diameter with an exact size for the threaded pivot bar. you need a thin washer between the rear upright and wishbone. The washer should be sized to fully span the contact surfaces of the bushes and just be thick enough to give a tad running clearance. Also assemble with plenty grease.

Neil.

[TVR_owner]

James,
If the rest of the build is to the same standard as the rear suspension, it looks like it's going to be quite a car when its finished.

[vixen]

Looks good.
I was wondering how strong/what size must the 4 bolts be that are used at the upper rear wishbone? I mean the bolts that you can see on the last photo from the top of the upright.

Edited by vixen on Monday 9th June 07:23

[Seabass]

Thanks for the replies. From what has been posted I take it that none of the components need more than a single washer between them. The pivot bar is 1/2" so I'll source or machine some larger o/d washers as your argument about covering the bush surface is making definite sense Neil.

As to the grade of the bolts they are 'marked' imperial socket caps but I forget the grade offhand.

[Tom Ewart]

I had to make spacers for mine as the front coilover unit top bushes wouldn't line up with the chassis brackets when the bottom bush was only a washer thickness away from the wishbone. I used a spare centre from a bush to make the spacer and cut it down to the required length - about 12mm.

For the top wishbone spacers I would suggest starting with a stack of shims roughly 5mm per side and then adjust accordingly. This should put you in the right ballpark for the camber setting. I used 8.8 bolts on mine.
Tom

[heightswitch]

Seabass said:

Thanks for the replies. From what has been posted I take it that none of the components need more than a single washer between them. The pivot bar is 1/2" so I'll source or machine some larger o/d washers as your argument about covering the bush surface is making definite sense Neil.

As to the grade of the bolts they are 'marked' imperial socket caps but I forget the grade offhand.

This is how I get round camber adjustment on mine:



this is my rear end.


If I can find any pics of the washers I will post I think they were only approx 1/32nd certainly no thicker than a 1/16th

N.

[daza]

Neil,

How do you adjust the track with that setup?



Darren

[heightswitch]

daza said:

Neil,

How do you adjust the track with that setup?



Darren

The car still has its old tie bar set up on the rear for toe in / out which inherently is a bad design anyway because no matter how you set the car up a stress is always placed on the bottom pivot bar.

car no 2 will have fully adjustable Rose joints when I start building it.
I ended up going for lowered box mounts for the steering Darren and we made some solid mounting blocks which we can space or machine down to set rack position.

N.


Adrian may be along shortly to tell you about using M rear wishbones on vixens.

[daza]

Errrrmmm?

Nope