Big thanks to Rich!

[craig]

This is basically a follow on from Rich's thread about rear bumpsteer/twitchyness!

I wanted to say a big thanks to Rich as he did all the leg work with this problem and was kind enough to supply me with all details needed including part numbers etc.

I ordered all the parts and it came to a very very cheap £130 including postage!

They have been on he car now for about 3 weeks and all I can say is it does totally transform the car......gone is the lift off seat of pants feel and twitchyness.

The car now gives me confidence in corners and at speed just sticking to the road at all times with not even the slightest of movements when backing off even at er well stupid speeds on private roads

Cheers Rich

Craig

[limpabit]

Might be worth creating a post up for others. With all the details and howto's.

Good cheap mod's. Don't hear that often.

[bigrich]

Hi All

Following on from Craig's post I've detailed below what I've done on the rear end. (I've loaded the pics in the gallery so they will take a day to be approved!)

AS WITH ALL OF THESE UNOFFICIAL MODS, THE TEXT, DESCRIPTION AND PARTS REPRESENT WHAT I HAVE DONE AND I CANNOT UNDERWRITE THIS OR TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE ELSE DOING THE SAME OR SIMILAR MOD.

(1) Rear Cross Brace - not sure how much of a help this is but it has stiffened up my rear end and reduced flex.

Materials:- Square steel thick wall sq section shaped at ends and drilled 11mm for the 7/16" UNF lower rear suspension pivot bolts to secure (replaced bolts with longer ones to accomodate the steel thickness).... spray it all in black stonechip and fit.

(2) New upper rear toe/track control arms.

Materials:- To make 2 control arms (1 for each side) you need:-
Qty 2 off 1/2" UNF LH/RH threaded steel turnbuckles
Qty 2 off Aurora XAB-7T rod ends
Qty 2 off Aurora AM-8TS studded rod ends
Qty 6 off 1/2" UNF halfnuts (RH thread)
Qty 2 off 1/2" UNF halfnuts (LH thread)

Turnbuckles - (from McGill motorsport on ebay) - mine are about 150 - 160mm long.....basically with about 5mm cut off each end of the rod end joint it makes a link that adjusts from about 215mm to 225mm between centres of the rod ends.

LH & RH locknuts from McGill Motorsport (sold in packs of 10 of each thread type)

Rod ends from Rota Precision, Bristol.....01275 818918...really helpful guy who took order over the phone. Goods turned up about a week later.

XAB-7T x 2 = £25.12 ea + vat
AM-8TS x 2 = £26.72 ea + vat (these were on offer)

NOTE:- Depending on your dimensions you will probably have to cut approx 5mm off the end of each rod end to get the adjustment you need in the turnbuckle.

Also...BEWARE...there is not much stud thread for the locknut to go on on the outboard end at the mounting point with the upright...the loctite is a must!

The inboard rod end is the Aurora XAB-7T and is 7/16" bore (nice fit on the longer upper susp bolt) and 1/2" UNF LH thread. The outer rod end is an Aurora AM-8ST studded end and is 1/2" UNF stud by 1/2" UNF RH thread. The outboard studded rod end firstly has a locknut put on the stud to effectively raise the pivot point. This gets the pivot point to the same as the main upper ball joint and eliminates the bumpsteer. This is then fixed to the hub upright using the existing tapered hole but the tapered hole needs opening out VERY slightly at the bottom to allow the stud to be screwed through. I then used 1/2" UNF locknut on the underside to tighten the stud to the upright (with Loctite 271 stud and bearing fit to ensure it stays put).

End result is a track link that is adjustable easily with spanners that enables decent tracking setup.(Note: See my link on madabout for 4 wheel tracking at home...this worked really well and avoided me having to compensate for wheel setback)

NOTE:- Remove powder coating between mating faces before tightening up studded rod end...this ensures good mating surfaces and torque loading.

ALSO... the pictures show the earlier QA1 rod ends I bought that had too much play in them...although the new Aurora ones look pretty similar they are heavier duty, zero play and loads better!

Any further improvements to this thread / mod gratefully received.

ATB
Rich

[limpabit]

A great write up Rich.

This thread needs to be a sticky.

John (madabout)???

[Ric H]

My car has been laid up for nearly a year as I've been away, but now I'm back and itching to get it recommissioned and on the road. Before relaunching it though there are some mods I'm definitely going to make - Rich's promising track rod mod above being one of them.

Rich - I have a query. For the outboard rod end I understand you went with a studded version but found that once it was set high enough to equalize with the main ball joint it was a bit tight for nut space on the lower end. My thought was to use a 1/2" x 1/2" rose joint on the outside end with a 1/2" UNC bolt through it into the upright. That way I can tailor the bolt length to give me adequate thread under the sleeve. I also thought I could use a washer stack as shims under the rose joint to allow height adjustment to suit the ball joint. Only drawback I guess would be that the bolt head would protrude above the joint and reduce clearance to the wheel - I haven't actually checked this yet to see if it's a problem. Is there anything I'm missing or does that sound reasonable?

These people sell the aurora rose joints at a good price (though not the studded versions)

Cheers!

[bigrich]

Hi Rich,

...sounds feasible...just beware of reduced joint clearance / fouling on the rim.

...in fact, speak / mail SDMC001.....Steve has gone the same way you are suggesting (kind of) and had some studs manufactured specifically.

ATB
Rich

[alackofspeed]

Out of interest, is there any bother with the taper, and movement of bolt / stud that passes through it?

[bigrich]

Hi Jon,

Taper movement has been fine....the fit between the stud and the taper hole is tight....i.e. once a small amount of round file dressing has been done it 'screws' into the lower bit of the taper...acts as a good locator.

That said, ideally a tapered stud would be great to eliminate any chance of movement. Steve CHaney has opted for this method and had some custom studs made.

Rich

Ps: Do you know if TD have done their bolt on handling kit yet? Cost?

Rich

[alackofspeed]

Originally Posted by bigrich

Do you know if TD have done their bolt on handling kit yet? Cost?

The last I heard they had everything planned, and were looking for someone to assist with testing. As for cost, I'm not sure - the plan as I understood it was to offer an exchange service (on the upright), so as to keep costs as low as possible.