Collapsing Rear suspension - Not a good day.

[timj]

Blimey. The rust pictures are staggering! And I just thought it was because I enjoy driving like a tit!....

I just missed the donor car on ebay today by £1 so I will be forking out for an elbow and a bottom link. I was hoping to recoup my losses by selling its leather interior which was immaculate. (and posibly its power steering kit) £180 for a car with no engine seems a lot, but it was just around the corner from me and had all the annoying other bits that you can never find on their own!

Isn`t galvansing molten zinc rather than electrolyte?

Any tips for replacing the De Dion gaiter and seals and all the bushes while it is apart?

 

[BBLongman]

I think you can galvanise either by hot dipping or electrolytic coating so I'm probably wrong as hot dipping would get to inside of the elbow. They must chemically clean before galvanising anyway so even better, how much did it cost Colin?

BB

 

[arthuy]

The firm I use charge for the dipped weight but I was quoted a minimum charge of £50 for a basket. I think they actually charged £32 and odd pence. That includes cleaning, dipping and vat

The benefits are that they clean all the bits that you can and get a good coverage, moltend zinc gets everwhere. Also someone else does the dirty work.

I have reposted the pictures here so you can see the difference. I know of people of have had them powder coated but prefer the Galv.

When you get the tube off do yourself a favour and replace all the bushes even if they are ok-ish. I didn't do the trailing arms but wish I had when the car was in bits. Also worth checking the mounts in the boot and repair if needed, again much easier to do when the car is in bits.

Colin

 

[timj]

Spent the afternoon on my back under the car today.

First thing off was the De Dion. When I was manhandling it down the other bottom link mount more or less came away. The drivers side elbow looked much more rusty than the one that actually sheared on the move.

I also learnt two useful lessons.

The spring is still under compression when the axle is detached. Not just a bit, but enough to give you a dead arm when you undo the shocker bolt. Should have a nice bruise tomorrow. Glad the car was nice and high so it didnt break my arm. I used the jack to do the other side and spring compressors incase the jack slipped!

And the metalistic bush for the final drive front does not come through the hole in the crossmember so you need to undo the really long/ inaccessable nut and bolt. It has to be much easier but still a bit of a pig to do this without the crossmember flapping about!

I will be replacing all the bushes with superflex ones an expect these to be a pain. But are there any tips for changing the gaiter and seals on the De Dion tube? Its a grease filled one.

 

[BBLongman]

The only tip I can think of is to make sure you remove the retaining clip before sliding the two halves of the tube apart. I think the elbow has to come off the relevant end before you can access it. You have to be careful as it's still possible to pull them apart with the clip in place but it'll damage the bearing surfaces.

When I put the gaiter back on I got hold of a pair of good quaility stainless steel jubile clips to retain it. Only other tip is to get a new set of nuts and bolts to fasten the elbows on and a tap is helpful to clean the threads up in the elbows (or tube ends can't remember which). They are only small fixings and it can be difficult to torque them correctly if not in good condition.

 

[timj]

Thought you all might like to know that I am now back on the road! bought a pair of DeDion elbows from Richard at P6spares. (top bloke by the way) they had already been strengthened around both the top and bottom link mounts. they were a bit rusty so I had them blasted and powder coated. filled them with Waxoyle.

All new poly bushes on the bottomlinks and rear crossmember. new bolts etc for the elbows as suggested. not too bad really. Swore quite a bit while I was trying to get the bolts for the crossmember to liine up!

Still waiting for my new dunlop sport to come in at the garage, as apparently dunlop dont want to know if you arent ordering a set of four. so on the scabby spare at the moment.

And the best bit is that I finally sorted out the window winder on the drivers door!

Thanks for all your help people!

Brum brum screech!!! sideways round roundabouts again....and the van for work only!

 

[webmaster]

Out of interest, do you find it goes sideways easily ?, my old 2.2tc used to do it at the drop of a hat, especially in the wet, thats why I stopped driving it in the winter, it was fish-tailing up the motorway sliproads in the wet !

Having got my new base unit I think the old bushes were totally shot and causing a lot of movement, but I would be interested to hear other peoples experiences.

Richard

 

[timj]

Difficult one to answer this, as I have never driven another p6! I think i would say fairly easily if you provoke it. but quite progressively if you dont.

It is now on 195/70/14 dunlop sports, which were a lot lot lot more progressive than the no name 185s it had when I bought it. these (185s) could easily result in fun / fear in the wet or on adverse camber corners. the 195s were a massive improvement going sideways (mostly) only when I want to. and with the new bottomlink bushes etc it is even more progressive.

I have just been down to devon for a weekend at the beach in it and the roundabouts were all best decribed as pleasant!!

 

[malreid]

I never had either the 2.2tc or my current S to go sideways without warning first, and always progressively and easily caught/held at that. Then again both had complete bush and shock replacements front and rear. Used to run Michelin 185 70's on the 2.2, and currently Toyo 195 70's on the S.

Oh, my style of driving has been described as "enthusiastic" and presses on...