Front Wishbones
Discussion
Anyone else having trouble getting hold of new front wishbones and all other bits required to do the complete job, bushes, bolts, etc, from TVR direct or any maindealers?
Mines well in to week 2 waiting, and the bits that have come are apparently a bit shoddy!
Don't really blame the garage thats doing the job, but come on TVR get your finger out!
And not that happy about having to replace them anyway, all right its a 94 Chimaera, but has anyone ever replaced wishbones on a 7 year old car (non TVR)?
Looks like I'm not going to Snetterton trackday on Thursday, or even Rockingham Tasmins on Sunday!
Mines well in to week 2 waiting, and the bits that have come are apparently a bit shoddy!
Don't really blame the garage thats doing the job, but come on TVR get your finger out!
And not that happy about having to replace them anyway, all right its a 94 Chimaera, but has anyone ever replaced wishbones on a 7 year old car (non TVR)?
Looks like I'm not going to Snetterton trackday on Thursday, or even Rockingham Tasmins on Sunday!
Apparently my 98R 500 Griff needs wishbones fairly soon due to corrosion - there are pinholes appearing. It's great to know that such high quality components are used on a supposed 150mph car. As the car is not yet four years old I would expect the manufacturer should replace them FOC, however I doubt it is even worth trying. Can you imagine the outcry if wishbones on Mundanos or Vectras rotted through in this time.
When, many moons ago, I was a TVR owner (sorry, moved to the drak side now and this sort of thing part of the reason why) I was disgusted to speak to the main dealer and find out that TVR actually consider wishbones to be disposable 'service items' - Hell, how do they view the engine, replace at 24k mile intervals?
Raceboy, are you noticing any problems with the way the car drives due to the wishbones?
I also have a Dinosaur of a Chim and at 70mph+ I notice a lot of wobbling in the steering wheel. When I let go of the wheel and watch the car drive on it's own, it drives perfectly straight and the wobble in the steering wheel doesn't seem noticeable.
It's difficult to describe the fault, it just seems as though you are able to feel every tiny bump in the road through the steering wheel. I wondered if it was a buckled wheel, but then I would notice a constant knocking feeling I guess.
I have a new steering rack fitted by the guys at Chessington.
Does anyone else have this symptom.
Could it be incorrect steering and wheel angle alignment, lose steering components, lose rear sub frame, old shocks??????
I also have a Dinosaur of a Chim and at 70mph+ I notice a lot of wobbling in the steering wheel. When I let go of the wheel and watch the car drive on it's own, it drives perfectly straight and the wobble in the steering wheel doesn't seem noticeable.
It's difficult to describe the fault, it just seems as though you are able to feel every tiny bump in the road through the steering wheel. I wondered if it was a buckled wheel, but then I would notice a constant knocking feeling I guess.
I have a new steering rack fitted by the guys at Chessington.
Does anyone else have this symptom.
Could it be incorrect steering and wheel angle alignment, lose steering components, lose rear sub frame, old shocks??????
L10,
Me to, on my '94 I had bushings, track rod ends and ball joints done. The uppers ball joints are apparently a consumable item (2yrs), had the track rods done as precaution (66k miles), wheel bearings were fine however. I had the old style upper wishbones replaced and a set of new GAZ shocks and springs. Feels absolutely great now, very taut and precise!
Certainly recommend some or all depending on the milage of your car.
Cheers
Me to, on my '94 I had bushings, track rod ends and ball joints done. The uppers ball joints are apparently a consumable item (2yrs), had the track rods done as precaution (66k miles), wheel bearings were fine however. I had the old style upper wishbones replaced and a set of new GAZ shocks and springs. Feels absolutely great now, very taut and precise!
Certainly recommend some or all depending on the milage of your car.
Cheers
Its taken me a year to get mine sorted, but I haven't been rushing.
Nuts and bolts have been the main sticking points, they're a curious mix of metric and UNF. Take the top ball joints as an example, I ordered 2 new ones. They arrived, with no nuts. Took me a while to source some 14mm 1.5 metric nylocs to fit. Why supply a ball joint with no new nyloc? Its not like you could re-use the original - even if you hadn't had to split the rusted remnants of the original to get the old joint out.
I've heard a dealer refer to the wishbones as a service replacement item. While they undoubtedly have a hard life I think a little more care in manufacture could extend their life a tad. My new one have been stripped, etched, plastic coated and waxoyl undersealed, and I expect them to last a decade at least.
If you do the job yourself be prepared to spend a LOT of time under the car sorting out the corrosion. The chassis is not quite as expendable as the wishbones so you might want to spend time getting it corrosion free.
Nuts and bolts have been the main sticking points, they're a curious mix of metric and UNF. Take the top ball joints as an example, I ordered 2 new ones. They arrived, with no nuts. Took me a while to source some 14mm 1.5 metric nylocs to fit. Why supply a ball joint with no new nyloc? Its not like you could re-use the original - even if you hadn't had to split the rusted remnants of the original to get the old joint out.
I've heard a dealer refer to the wishbones as a service replacement item. While they undoubtedly have a hard life I think a little more care in manufacture could extend their life a tad. My new one have been stripped, etched, plastic coated and waxoyl undersealed, and I expect them to last a decade at least.
If you do the job yourself be prepared to spend a LOT of time under the car sorting out the corrosion. The chassis is not quite as expendable as the wishbones so you might want to spend time getting it corrosion free.
L10 TVR - As far as feel in the steering wheel goes, when driving a speed around a corner, the front should try and skip across the road, sometimes it feels like it trying to throw you off the road!!! You do feel everything in the road (or at least, I did), pot holes, slightly damaged surface, very damaged surface, ridges, dips etc etc etc!
Take it into anywhere and get them to check bushes and ball joints, if there is any play they need replacing! replacing the bushes or BJ's is alot cheaper than doing the two wishbones (or so I jave been told!)
Raceboy - I've just had the wishbones done on my 9 year old Orion (Close enough!), seemed to have stood up to the Scottish weather very well, slight rusting near the ball joints on both wishbones but that was it! (They needed new bushes and ball joints and I bent one when I hit a pot hole!)
Take it into anywhere and get them to check bushes and ball joints, if there is any play they need replacing! replacing the bushes or BJ's is alot cheaper than doing the two wishbones (or so I jave been told!)
Raceboy - I've just had the wishbones done on my 9 year old Orion (Close enough!), seemed to have stood up to the Scottish weather very well, slight rusting near the ball joints on both wishbones but that was it! (They needed new bushes and ball joints and I bent one when I hit a pot hole!)
quote:
I had the wishbones replaced on my Griff last year. The car was a '98 (S) reg.
When I ordered my new '98 (S) Griff, one of the things that persuaded me to go new rather than 2nd hand was the state of the w/bones on many cars.
I'd incorrectly asssumed this was due to poor storage conditions, extended use on salty roads etc. etc. but now mine look rough too (only 14k miles - mostly in good weather too).
And this despite the fact that I even went to the expense of waxoyling the chassis!
What is that white stuff they coat the chassis with?!! Emulsion?
I wonder how paranoid we are on these wishbones?
When I bought the Chim I pointed them out to the dealer and said I thought they needed replacing as they were devoid of all coating and looked pretty ugly. When I picked up the car I was upset to find that they had not been replaced. He assured me that they were fine and like the mug I am I so wanted to take the damn thing that I believed him.
As part of the chassis renovation I stripped them right back and found that he was right. Yes - they looked bad, but solid shiny metal soon prevailed. I hammerited them and then undersealed them. They are now all rubbery. As a precaution I had Offords check them out as well, and they said all was well.
These are pretty strong bits of metal and whilst any rust is undesirable I would be inclined not to be too paranoid.
When I bought the Chim I pointed them out to the dealer and said I thought they needed replacing as they were devoid of all coating and looked pretty ugly. When I picked up the car I was upset to find that they had not been replaced. He assured me that they were fine and like the mug I am I so wanted to take the damn thing that I believed him.
As part of the chassis renovation I stripped them right back and found that he was right. Yes - they looked bad, but solid shiny metal soon prevailed. I hammerited them and then undersealed them. They are now all rubbery. As a precaution I had Offords check them out as well, and they said all was well.
These are pretty strong bits of metal and whilst any rust is undesirable I would be inclined not to be too paranoid.
The garage tells me one of mine is actually cracked, and the other side will not be far behind
While they are replacing the lower arms they are doing the uppers and all the bushes/bolts, I'm just disapointed about how long it's taking.
No refund on 2 weeks road tax, or insurance, but I know a lot of people have it even worse with the factory but it's been sunny since I dropped it off
While they are replacing the lower arms they are doing the uppers and all the bushes/bolts, I'm just disapointed about how long it's taking.
No refund on 2 weeks road tax, or insurance, but I know a lot of people have it even worse with the factory but it's been sunny since I dropped it off
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