Managed to strip the front end on Sat, removed everything struts, drive shafts the lot, I thought I may as well check everything and replace parts as required, the shafts & CV joints etc are all in good condition so they require no attention, hub bearings also are fine, I’ve found 1x lower ball joint and 1x track rod end with excess play so for what it costs I’ll replace the lot.
The ‘P’ bushes and front lower control arm bushes were badly worn the ‘P’ bushes in particular were completely separated so these will be replaced, I’ll be fitting Powerflex black series bushes in the front of the wishbone and probably OE berlingo /partner ‘P’ bushes, I’m not sure whether the benefits of fitting Powerflex poly ‘P’ bushes are worth the cost (best part of £100 for the pr ) so at the moment I’m favouring these ebay items
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330439783888?s...1423.l2649
The above is essentially service work to keep the basic structure of the suspension sound, so now it’s time to look at the struts and springs.
When I built the car it was done on a strict budget, the target been get the car ready for it’s first Rally (inc tax and ins) for £1000 , and while the budget was tight we didn’t exceed it by much but keeping costs down invariably meant corners were cut, one of the main ‘bodges’ was using cut down coil springs which is never a good idea, but at the time I didn’t know what was required for road rallying and choose to take the risk and re the cut springs until A. we could afford some more suitable replacements and B. we had enough experience to make a better choice.
Before removing the suspension I was getting grinding / rubbing / twanging noises from the struts, I’d assumed this was coming from the strut top bearings but when I removed and stripped the strut I found these were in fact OK the problem was actually the spring which had half popped out of the top spring retainer and was rubbing on the strut turret, (like I said cutting coil springs isn’t a great idea), also when I removed the strut from the hub I’ve noticed some damage in the from of a crease at the bottom of the leg (the part that goes into the hub) see pic the damper below
![[Image: 2013-10-19163331_zps303901f5.jpg]](http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee300/budd_album/2013-10-19163331_zps303901f5.jpg)
seems to be still working fine so at the moment I’m planning on reusing it, I’m guessing the damage as been caused by landing from a jump and the forces have bottom out the suspension and the base of the strut is where the energy as been transmitted to causing the slight crease.
So what’s the best solution? In a perfect world I’d be fitting some nice AST or Ohlins coilovers but budget is still a serous consideration so this won’t be happening and I need a more budget oriented solution, I’m not even considering ‘cheap’ coilovers as in my experience they are not only cheap but generally nasty to, Skip Brown do some dedicated Road /Night Rally spec springs which on the face of it would be the perfect solution but I’m not sure if they will rise the ride height, which isn’t desireable for track use, EIbach also make a quality spring but I don’t really want to lower the car much as this isn’t good for use down the lanes, what I really need is a cheap (but not nasty ) coilover, so I’m looking into something like this
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_inf...ts_id=3450
They in theory convert a normal fixed seat strut to a adjustable platform, and on the face of it seem a perfect solution, and given the slight damage to the strut I won’t feel to bad a bout chopping the spring seat off a new(ish) Koni damper, I’ll do some measuring and a little more research before I order anything, I’m guessing choosing the right spring rate and free length will be the biggest challenge to getting it working properly, but I’m thinking it could be worth the effort for the adjustability and the fact 2 ¼ “ coil springs are cheap so changing springs as necessary also becomes a option to further help tune the spring to changing requirements.
Anyway, I’ll look into at some more before deciding which path to follow, and of course I’d value any input / suggestions/ comments etc
The ‘P’ bushes and front lower control arm bushes were badly worn the ‘P’ bushes in particular were completely separated so these will be replaced, I’ll be fitting Powerflex black series bushes in the front of the wishbone and probably OE berlingo /partner ‘P’ bushes, I’m not sure whether the benefits of fitting Powerflex poly ‘P’ bushes are worth the cost (best part of £100 for the pr ) so at the moment I’m favouring these ebay items
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330439783888?s...1423.l2649
The above is essentially service work to keep the basic structure of the suspension sound, so now it’s time to look at the struts and springs.
When I built the car it was done on a strict budget, the target been get the car ready for it’s first Rally (inc tax and ins) for £1000 , and while the budget was tight we didn’t exceed it by much but keeping costs down invariably meant corners were cut, one of the main ‘bodges’ was using cut down coil springs which is never a good idea, but at the time I didn’t know what was required for road rallying and choose to take the risk and re the cut springs until A. we could afford some more suitable replacements and B. we had enough experience to make a better choice.
Before removing the suspension I was getting grinding / rubbing / twanging noises from the struts, I’d assumed this was coming from the strut top bearings but when I removed and stripped the strut I found these were in fact OK the problem was actually the spring which had half popped out of the top spring retainer and was rubbing on the strut turret, (like I said cutting coil springs isn’t a great idea), also when I removed the strut from the hub I’ve noticed some damage in the from of a crease at the bottom of the leg (the part that goes into the hub) see pic the damper below
![[Image: 2013-10-19163331_zps303901f5.jpg]](http://s235.photobucket.com/user/budd_album/media/2013-10-19163331_zps303901f5.jpg.html)
seems to be still working fine so at the moment I’m planning on reusing it, I’m guessing the damage as been caused by landing from a jump and the forces have bottom out the suspension and the base of the strut is where the energy as been transmitted to causing the slight crease.
So what’s the best solution? In a perfect world I’d be fitting some nice AST or Ohlins coilovers but budget is still a serous consideration so this won’t be happening and I need a more budget oriented solution, I’m not even considering ‘cheap’ coilovers as in my experience they are not only cheap but generally nasty to, Skip Brown do some dedicated Road /Night Rally spec springs which on the face of it would be the perfect solution but I’m not sure if they will rise the ride height, which isn’t desireable for track use, EIbach also make a quality spring but I don’t really want to lower the car much as this isn’t good for use down the lanes, what I really need is a cheap (but not nasty ) coilover, so I’m looking into something like this
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_inf...ts_id=3450
They in theory convert a normal fixed seat strut to a adjustable platform, and on the face of it seem a perfect solution, and given the slight damage to the strut I won’t feel to bad a bout chopping the spring seat off a new(ish) Koni damper, I’ll do some measuring and a little more research before I order anything, I’m guessing choosing the right spring rate and free length will be the biggest challenge to getting it working properly, but I’m thinking it could be worth the effort for the adjustability and the fact 2 ¼ “ coil springs are cheap so changing springs as necessary also becomes a option to further help tune the spring to changing requirements.
Anyway, I’ll look into at some more before deciding which path to follow, and of course I’d value any input / suggestions/ comments etc