Rear suspension dangers

M

MikeR

New Member
Can someone describe, ideally with a photo / drawing or two, exactly what I'm looking for when examining the de Dion rear elbows for cracks or potential failure.

I know driving slowly along a bumpy road will show up any weaknesses but are there tests I can do or signs that point to trouble on a non-running car? Thanks
 
Suggest you use the Search option at the top of the page to search for "de dion", but as a starter I found this old thread which shows pictures of my elbow which didn't actually fail, but was obviously about to....
Forum Link



Edited By webmaster on 1168451964
 
I had posted some photos on the previous thread but the photos links have gone.

P6 photo link

I got a couple of elbows off a friend recently that looked ok, when I started to clean them up the holes appeared.

Look around the Hub flange where it bolts on to the elbow, this starts to perforate, I would have a scrape around with a small screw driver just hard enough to lift any paint any defect will show up but you will need to get the wheels off.


The web album has a few of the De dion. Mine went at low speeds but not very funny. I was not aware of any fault prior to failure it was quite sudden. I this if there was a problem with the tube it would show up when you drive it. If you jack the car up preferable both wheels off the ground pull the wheels outwards, it should slide nicely, stiffness and grinding noisey will need to be checked out.

I wouldn't worry to much about it, just have a good check over, whilst your there check the body mounting points.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions then just ask.

Colin
 
The photos are brilliant to describe the scope of the problems with the elbows.

Don't forget that the tube itself can also have problems. Most serious is if a grunt has used it to jack the car. Chances are he'll have bent it and then it won't slide (get another one off a scrapper - repair unlikely to be feasible). Could also have worn its oil seal - evidenced by oil seepage at the bellows if there's oil in the tube, or a dry tube if its been like it for yonks!

Chris
 
From my most recent findings on the back of my car, I would say that it is wise to check the rear trailing arms for rot as well!

arm.jpg



Needless to say that a replacement arm and new poly bushes have been fitted! :D
 
Nasty stuff !, in a recent issue of practical performance car, there was mention of a firm that did "dip stripping" and also an electro-dip priming process which apparently gets the paint into all the nooks and crannies, I'll have a look later and post details. The guy in the mag said they do full shells, but he just had a couple of wings done.
 
What exactly is a De Dion rear axle? I have wondered this for over 40 years since James Bond drove such cars when I was a young man. Since I have had a P6b for over 2 years I have pointed out to friends that the Rover has such an axle but I am unable to tell them what it does. I do know that De Dion was involved in car manufacture over 100 years ago but this does not help much.
 
The basic design gives a semi independant rear suspension and its main advantage is it keeps the rear wheels upright regardless of the load in the boot, and reduces the unsprung weight by mounting the diff on the base unit. Developed for primarily for racetrack use it is a bit over complicated for road use but Rover always did tend to go their own way when designing things, (just take a look at the front suspension)
 
Is that rust on the bottom of the arm ? Do they collect water inside ? If so , could be worth drilling a hole and injecting waxoyl
 
Yeah, that rust is in the botom of the arm. It's where the little grommet hole used to be!! Waxoyling them isn't a problem, as there should be a small grommet hole fore and aft, on the under side of the arm.
 
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