Well, taking into account cold hands and the micron thick layer of powdercoat, my digital callipers say >5.6mm at least (I forget the exact measurement, but can remeasure tomorrow). It's definitely not 4mm though!

Right, I've been and measured again. It's exactly 5.3 mm thick.

Thanks :) I spoke to the boss at work who races cars (he's got a Lotus 11, really nice - www.lotusracer.co.uk) - his mechanic will be able to crack test the wish bones, so I will get that done once I get the new parts.

Thanks, I think I will be requesting some replacements,

Peter

Glad to hear you wern't hurt.

Quick question - when the wishbone was changed why were the shocks mounted upside down and do they still work like that?

There like that on the 5EXI as well.

Me too - it will be interesting to see Marlin's response. Up until now they haven't exactly been - errr - customer centric if you know what I mean....

I would still like to know why the design was changed if there wasn't a problem with the previous design....

I'm not sure if its down to manufacturing issues but I would have run the tube as one piece all the way round and stuck the ball joint inside of it. Maybe there's not enough room to do that or bending a tube to that sort of angle might weaken it as well ?

I've seen this on a number cars, so I wrote to GAZ to ask if it mattered which way up the shocks are mounted and used.
I got a nice email from Mr. Brian Gazzard saying that they should be mounted with the adjuster at the bottom and I guess he should know!

regards

Peter

Thats what I thought.

So did we get to the bottom of why the shock is mounted upside down? Is is just that it will not fit the correct way up with the new wishbone design?

Robin

No, not due to the new design. I put them on that way due to a) everyone else seemed to be doing it & b) it seemed that it would be easier to adjust at the top... If this isn't the correct fitment I'll be flipping them round asap!

They are fitted upside down and Gaz make them to run that way when Marlin order them.

They are fitted upside down as once the spring is set correct you dont need to adjust it. My New suspension on the exi still uses the shocks upside down and this is so that it is easy to adjust the damp and rebound.

Jon

What differences are there within the marlin supplied shock absorbers that determines what way up they are fitted?

Nothing as far as im aware just that Gaz are aware Marlin fit the upside down so when Marlin order them Gaz make sure that there is no air in the system atall so they still work.

Ok so it dosnt really matter which way up you mount them apart from the adjuster may foul the lower wishbone on the newer versions.

When I wrote to GAZ, I explained that they were fitted to a Marlin Sportster. Brian Gazzard (joint founder of the company) replied advising that they sholuld be fitted with the adjuster at the bottom.
He did not ask me if they were purchased from Marlin or say that "Marlin supplied units" can be fitted inversely.

It makes little difference to the access to the adjuster when fitted to a Sportster, so i've fitted mine as advised by GAZ.

Peter

Hey up lads, just read the Marlin Annual newsletter and spotted this paragraph.......
"OTHER SPORSTER NEWS…
Orders have steadily come in for our 30’s retro, GP styled Sportster sportscar throughout 2007 – most of which have been for full factory builds.
Just a reminder that the uprated Sportster wishbone system developed through racing, is now available for early cars as a retro-fit item."

Anybody heard of this before?

Interesting, there were no more specifics that I could see in the newsletter. I'd not heard that before :)

replacement of front wishbones
 

Hello builders

Thought we would have clarify the situation over one paragraph in our newsletter which refers to the new Sportster front suspension upgrade components.

This upgrade was brought about in order to reduce the number of different ball joints that were used on the Sportsters front suspension arms. In the past there were two types used now there is only the one, i.e. the same ball joint is now used both on the top and bottom of the upright.

The ball joint we have now decided to use is much more easy to obtain, less expensive, but most of all it looks better ;-)

We are very happy to offer a safety check if any of you are at all worried about the wishbone/suspension components supplied in your kit. We will freely replace any of those components any hint of faultiness :-)

Kind Regards
Terry & Mark