Michael Downing Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I'm thinking of replacing the De Dion tube and the A-frame, as a precaution after 3 and a bit seasons of racing. Being a typical lazy git, I was wondering if it was possible to do this without dismantling the wheel hubs? Has anyone tried that?With my sensible head on, I reckon it isn't possible - once the De Dion is out then the driveshafts will fall out of the diff and make a huge mess, and the brake pipes will probably rupture and add to the mess. Then it will take ages to sort out and I won't have the car back together in time for Silverstone on the 13/th/14th.There is a little bit of me, though, that says you can support the hubs, release the brake pipes from the tube, undo the bolts carefully to release the De Dion from the ears (etc), then lift it and slide out carefully. Replacement is then the reverse of disassembly, as they say, and hey presto job done in a third of the time Has anyone tried this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Yes you certainly can do it, I recently stripped down the back end and as I wasn't sure at the time that the driveshafts were a simple pull out push in job at the diff end I tied some ratchet straps round the calipers and hung them off the top shock bolts while I took the de Dion out. For a while I just left them hanging. However once I did realise that they just safely pulled out I removed them and there was hardly any oil loss. Doing it again I would just remove the complete hub and driveshaft assemblies first, however this does mean disconnecting the brake lines and the bleeding on reassembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Downing Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Excellent... time to re-plan the weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorset7 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 I did mine by removing the drive shafts and hubs complete - easy enough to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Englishmaninwales Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 As a race car you probably have got flexible brake lines at the rear so no need to disconnect them from the calipers. Just make sure the calipers, when removed from the ears, are cable tied high up out of the way e.g. hung on to the spring damper unit.Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpa Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 As you say, no need to remove much - undo the bottom of the shocks, unbolt the ears (may need to undo the calipers and suspend from the shock/spring), undo the A-frame to dedion bolt and the 2 forward A-frame bolts - simples Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2GBR Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I have an old pair of boot laces in workshop for tying calipers to top of springs for drive shaft removal (race car so braided pipes) etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Downing Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Thanks all! Got started this morning, plan was to replace the A frame and radius arms as well. Slid the new A frame in to find Dartford had sent me an SV A frame. Will try again in a few weeks when I have the right one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now