front susp upgrade and torque wrench advice

[Stef]

A few questions relating to my 1990 de dion cross flow.

 

Being an early de dion it still has the basic front suspension as on the live axle.

 

I'm about to buy a kit from caterham that attaches an aditional arm to the rear of the anti-roll bar to essentially provide a very basic form of double wishbone suspension.

 

Has anyone fitted this, is it simple and does it then allow me to use different anti roll bars?

 

Also, is there a torque setting for where the standard anti roll bar attaches to the suspension arm?

 

And finally, I'm about to buy my first torque wrench, is there anything I need to look for or will the basic one from Halfords (about £50) do the job?

 

Thanks

Steff

[Paul Richards]

Steff

A couple of the LADS have cars with this mod. I'm sure they'd be willing to share their experience with you, but they don't normally frequent Blatchat.

 

Torque wrench - The basic one from halfords is OK. Assume you want 1/2 inch drive and a range of 40 to 200nm is probably most versatile. It will do most things, but not rear hubs on De Dion which need 200lbs ft (approx. 275nm).

 

Paul Richards

Area Representative - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

LADS Website

Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

[philwaters]

Upgrade info here

 

Phil Waters

[philwaters]

Oh, and personally, having also done the simple upgrade to an additional arm, I'd look for some second hand wishbones, get the brackets and fit a DD anti-roll bar or Freestyle adjustable one - gives you more flexibility.

My initial upgrade info here - but it was superseded by the one linked to above.

 

Phil Waters

[jonboylaw]

As Phil says, go for the top wishbone conversion, buy the forward arm locator bracket, cut the hole in the skin and get to correct top ball joint. I went a little further and got my chassis modified for the bottom wishbone and bought new uprights from Canley Classics at about £75 each inc VAT.

 

This will then allow you to go Wide Track later on :)

 

 

 

Jonathan

 

My Flickr

 

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The rebuild has started :)

 

92 Supersprint, Ford LSD LA, RK AX Crossflow.

 

[alextangent]

I did it. The two holes for the new link are nerve racking to cut. They're supposed to be 1" dia, but I had to extend both as the links were fouling the skin. The result ended up softer than the original setup, so the shocks needed to be adjusted stiffer. The results are noticeable, as the car turns in much more accurately.

 

Alex McDonald

Loud, louder, loudest... 😬

[randybugger]

Also check your A-frame

some cars of this year (like mine) didnt have the bar across making the A instead it was like an upside down V if you see what i mean.

I had James Whiting weld a cross bar on and the difference was amazing

[Mavic82]

The torque wrenches from Halfords are excellent and are rebranded Norbar wrenches. For the big one that halfords do you pay around £70 the same one from Norbar is around £200!!!

 

Guy