thesheep Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Recently ordered these from CC. Rear ones fit fine. Front ones are 35mm wide at the lower bushes. The original dampers (Avo) were 32mm wide. The extra 3mm is just a bit too much and it won't go in. If I try to force it with a hammer then it starts to push the brackets out to a strange angle. It's not just the rubber in the bush - the metal bonded surface is 35mm wide. Anyone managed to fit these to their LA car? Should I just cut 3mm off the dampers with an angle grinder?? -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Been trying to call CC all morning about this. Constantly engaged. I wonder if they have the phone off the hook... I noticed that on the site there are both 32mm and 36mm bushes listed for Bilsteins. Although they said the shocks were correct for my car/year, perhaps they've sent the wrong ones. I seem to have had a couple of problems with CC sending me the wrong parts so far... is there a better supplier to use? -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miltec Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Never had any probs with CC personaly, but you could try Redline their very helpful. VX 1600 Live Axle T440LKK rFactor: caterham.miltec.biz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 The Avo's have movement on the lower mounting. There may be a difference between a ball jointed and a trunnion lower mounting. Contact Darren, he'll sort it for you. Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here You and your seven toThe French Blatting Company Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I had the same problem on my dedion once. they are made in two widths. Return the bits and get the right ones sent to you. Recommend you use Redline for this sort of job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 Thanks Millsn, useful to know. Strange because apparently only 1 part is listed on their site. Anyway, when CC start answering the phone I will ask them to do a swap... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Finally managed to get through to CC heritage parts dept. Apparently he wasn't there last week - and so they take the phone off the hook so it sounds engaged... pretty odd practice if you ask me Anyway, he said there is only 1 part and I've got the right one. Which seems really strange - have I got modified brackets on my front suspension then?... -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 unlikely. As I always say, try Redline with the same question and order through them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 OK phoned Redline as advised. Guy seemed nice and friendly. However, he told me that he would not advise putting Bilsteins on a Live Axle car as they are too hard and it will jump around too much. He said Spax would be much better. Seems a bit strange since CC sell them as a kit specifically for LA cars... maybe just a personal preference thing. Don't think I can return the Bilys anway since they're already on the car at the rear. He wasn't sure about the width of the Bilsteins. Didn't recommend cutting down the bushes but said I could do that if there was no alternative. I have a call request in with CC engineer and I guess I may get that call sometime... Thing that makes me wonder is that on the CC website, the Bilstein kit is listed as Bilstein kit for Live Axle cars - 1999 onwards. Obviously my car is pre 1999, so I wasn't sure. That's why I asked Darren if it would fit my car and he said it would be fine. So was there a different type of live axle that started being sold after 1999? And could it have had different widths on the front wishbone lower brackets? -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I wouldn't under-estimate their ability to supply you the wrong part especially where dampers are concerned, sorry but I don't thnk I can help much more. Are you able to drive the car to Caterham and demonstrate the problem? No doubt they could resolve it there. Otherwise you'll need someone more au fait with live axles to come on and advise on the merits of spax v bilstein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Bilsteins on a Live Axle car as they are too hard and it will jump around too much. That's subjective. Don't angle grind the bush. Have CC send you the 32mm rubber bush and find a kindly machine shop who'll press the old one out and turn the metal spacer down for you. my flickr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 There may be a difference between a ball jointed and a trunnion lower mounting. Sounds reasonable. Chris at the 7 workshop converted mine from trunnion to ball joint and I found he'd packed the wishbone end out with washers. I had two pairs of shocks in my hands this afternoon, my old ones with the 32mm bush and a set of wide track ones with the 36mm bush. Didn't think to look at the time but is there a 36mm bush in both ends of the shock? I'll check when I get back in in the morning. my flickr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Have CC send you the 32mm rubber bush I would just order this 32mm bush. However, it looks quite different from the bush on the end of the damper which has a metal piece inside it. Do you guys agree? -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 That is the one you want. You will also need the metal bush that fits inside or, alternatively, you will need to turn the 36mm metal bush you already have down to 32mm. We normally push them together by hand but you might need a press to push out the one already in your shock. my flickr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 Thanks Peardrop, that now makes sense to me. I've ordered the 32mm ones now and will try to get them swapped out at a machine shop. CC service has been very poor over this. Don't know what I'd do without this forum! -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Round and round I go... Spoke to Darren this morning and he tells me that the 32mm eyelet bushes are out of stock and won't be in for over a month. But he also said that they would not fit my dampers anyway as the diameter is different. He said again that the dampers they sent are definitely right for my car, and different types of front suspension (e.g. normal vs. wide track) would not change the bracket size for a live axle car. Can I just check - you guys who say you've had different bush widths on the lower front damper bush - has that been with De Dion or LA cars? I think what I will do now is take a photo of the damper bush next to the bracket and send it to CC engineering dept to see what they say then. Maybe I just have to be more aggressive and bang the thing in even if it does look like it's going to splay the bracket arms outwards quite a lot. -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Hmmm. Sat next to me I've got a Bilstein that came off the front of my live axle car. It has a 32mm bush in either end. When I replaced the Bilsteins I made up a pair of 32mm spacers to match. I have in turn had to space these out with washers. N.B. My chassis has lower wishbones with spherical joints but the Bilsteins were on the car when it still had trunnions. I imagine 36mm bushes would fit my car as it now is. Caterham supplied my old dampers with a 32mm bush to fit a live axle Academy car. Have you measured the wishbone? If it's 36mm then it's probably just the rubber bush sticking. Give it a shove. I also have a wide track front shock off of a customers De Dion car. It has 36mm bushes in either end. Curiosity got the better of me and I pushed the bushes out of both dampers. They are quite different so ignore my earlier suggestion to swap the bushes. my flickr! Edited by - Peardrop on 4 Jun 2009 15:50:27 Edited by - Peardrop on 4 Jun 2009 15:58:56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Mine was on a dedion car. can't confirm that its the same on a LA, only that variations seem vast, certainly on a DD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesheep Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 OK so I took a photo of the damper lining up next to the bracket and sent to the head of CC Engineering. They reply was: "Hi Ben, I would machine the bush down on a linisher or grinder a little, and tweak the bracket a little." I guess it's pretty funny really... so anyway grinding it down seems to be the way to go. -------------------------------------------------------- Caterham7Junkie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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