Rear upper wishbone

[ozzy1]

Ok i have hit a dilemma.I have tacked on the wishbone brackets and trial fitted the rear wishbone assembly.One side is all good but the other i have a problem with the upper one as it does not fit in the correct position because the 257mm is actually only 249mm.These were bought from a supplier(Saturn) so not easily rectified.Do i just tack the brackets to suit the incorrect dimension or try to resolve the wishbone problem?(Dont really fancy making the jig for 1)
Also i seem to have lost 4 of the crush tubes! Does anyone supply these seperately or are Rally Design my best bet?(i know i would need to machine 2mm off these though).

[K4KEV]

Hi Oz.....two ways to do this use a vice but the opposite ie use it to expand the wishbone or the way I did it is to apply some heat just above the weld joint on the outside then cool it straight away with a spray so it contracts quickly you will find it will gradually move over on repeated attempts.....you could even combine the two, I think the brackets are more important re positioning, like I say mine distorted a little after being welded and I think most others peeps will have as well
forgot I put it in my build thread here
http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showt...?t=4493&page=6

[ozzy1]

Have wondered about heating it but being as its 8mm im wondering about the bushes still being inline

[Bonzo]

hi Ozzy

I expect the wishbone pulled when being welded, that said 8mm is quite a lot, perhaps it was taken from the jig too soon !

Have you checked to see if the bush tubes are still square & true with each other ?

Easy to check on a flat surface with a couple of pieces of angle iron set at 90 degrees
You'll soon see if things are out of line.

If out of square then stretch them out as Kev has said.

I still have plenty of materials here & would be more than happy to make you a free one.
Downside is, I guess it'll not be very cheap to have it shipped over to Aus

Just let me know if I can help you out, would be happy to do so.

[K4KEV]

Originally Posted by ozzy1

Have wondered about heating it but being as its 8mm im wondering about the bushes still being inline

put a piece of pipe through if you are unsure but it is highly unlikely as you would have to impart a twist for that to happen and you wont be just make sure any "pressures" are square on

[Bonzo]

Assuming that the wishbones were fabricated in a propper jig, when welded up, the wishobone tubes would have been set at the correct alignment.

If they have pulled badly during cooling down( They will pull a lot more if you tack them in the jig & remove them for full welding )
The bush tubes will then be badly out of alignment.

If that is the case then being stretched out should bring them back into line

Edit

This post would make a lot more sense if Talonmotorsport had not deleted his post in this thread !

[ozzy1]

Ok i have put it on a flat plate and both sides have pulled in as i have a gap of 0.7mm under the bush at the front inner edge so hopefully heating it and encouraging it will solve the issue.The only annoying part is that its already powdercoated

[Bonzo]

Thought that would be the case Ozzy

The wishbone arms would have certainly pulled where the arms join the threadded boss.

I am going to cop some flack for this but being as they have been nicely powder coated I would be tempted to give them a little tweak cold, should be enough flex in the powder coat not to crack.

A mm of movement at the boss joint is several by the time it is measured at the end of the arm

Edit to add

You could pre warm the wishbone in an oven, just take some care not to exceed the melting point of the powder coating.
This may help just a tad in relieving the stress of the steel.

[Johno]

Hi Ozzy,
You could try moving them out cold as Bonzo suggests. Try using some 16mm studding to go through both bush tubes, place a large washer between nut and bush tube and gently screw the nuts out evenly both ends.
I used this method on mine before completely welding them (gave them a few turns to out on the nuts to pre stress them by about 3-4mm as I knew they would pull when welded).
You may gain a bit hopefully.

Johno

[ozzy1]

I wondered what happened to Talons posts also.I think i will do as he said though and remove the powdercoat and heat it up and see where we go from there.