Richard_E Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 Has any body else had the front left suspension dampener detach its self from the front bottom wishbone, resulting in the spring falling off and rolling down the road and the suspension fully depressed? I was very lucky that this occurred within a 30 limit after a blat on the back roads or it could have been ditch time. Having bought the car fully built how does the bottom of the dampener fit to the wishbone, it looks like it just slots into the recess but what secures it? What really worries me is that the front suspension was rebuilt by Arrowstar 2000 miles ago. Edited by - Richard_E on 13 Jul 2001 09:43:31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 To my knowledge there is no fundamental difference between the bottom damper fixing on a de dion car or a live axle (which is what I have)where the bottom damper fixing is with a pretty sizeable bolt which torques up to 40 to 45 lbs. This holds the damper base inbetween the bottom wishbone flanges. In your case this has obviously fallen out. Worth checking the others I suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 It seems that not only has the spring/damper mounting failed on the wishbone but the spring mounting platform has failed in some way if the spring has managed to find its way off the car. Do you have adjustable spring platforms or fixed platforms? How did the shocker unit "detach" itself. Did the lower pin break or did the wishbone fail? How did the spring "free" itself, did the spring platform unscrew or break? What make of shocker was it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian balson Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 I seem to remember someone suffering a similar problem at Le Mans 2000. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Sewell Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 The damper units mount differently on live axle and de-dion chassis: Live axle: bolt and nut torqued to 45lbft as previously mentioned De-dion: cap head bolt screwed and loctited into a captive thread on the wishbone. Torqued to 12-15lbft. Unfortunately, if you try to re-torque this bolt, the loctite bond will fail and the bolt will drop out at some point in the future. However, if the spring fell off as well, then the relevant spring seat must have failed as well. I guess it is possible that if the spring seat had failed and then lodged where the damper meets the wishbone, then the movement of the suspension could shear the 5/16" caphead bolt (cf 1/2" bolt on live axle). Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 Hyperion recommended that the caphead bolt be copper-slipped rather than loctited since they have a tendency to seize. Mine have never shown any sign of coming loose. If the spring can go slack at full damper extension (as the stiffer ones can) then it could find a way of falling off. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Corb Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 My five week old kit came from the factory with copper slip/neverseize in the wishbone boss, I think the caphead bolt was already in too. When I read in the manual that you should put locking fluid in the boss I was thouroughly confused. I was going to wash out the copper slip and locktite it in but now I'm not sure. BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 I was under the impression that threadlock substances also prevented corrosion. If that is the case, I would use threadlock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 I'll stick to comments on live axles in future and yes i think this did happen to a car en route to Le Mans last year. someone from the uk came out to fix the problem. Lets get ready to rumble. cool.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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