S01/S02 TRAILING ARMS
Discussion
quote:
Has anybody had there trailing arms repaired, or is it a “REPLACE ONLY” item.
If so who’s the cheapest place to get one from?
There seem to be 4 types: S1, S2, S3, S4(&V8S).
Hav'n't had it done myself, but I think new replacement S1 trailing arms are not available. (Some S1.5's have the S1 arms and some have S2 arms). I know that replacement S3 & S4 trailing arms are available from the factory.
You can get recon arms for £300 from Adrian Venn in Coventry.
The difference though in price between these and new ones is quite small (realtively) and therefor I would suggest that route.
The S1 arm is no longer available. Arms were changed for the S2 to improve anti dive properties by subtle changes in geometry.
S3 arms are different again and S4 and V8S arms I believe are the same and are not suitable for the early S's.
S3 arms I believe have adjustable damper positions, although I'm not convinced and am probably talking out of my bottom there....
Either S2 or S3 arms will fit yours.
As for repairing them......I would be very careful. The part of the arm which gets knackered is the smaller diameter tube, which rots from the inside out. I have seen patch repairs but my concern would be over the strength of that patch in a strength critical part of the car. I wouldn't want to suffer a trailing arm failure at ant speed !!
To replace the tube the arm will have to be jigged otherwise you will not get the correct toe in/out geometry.
I know A Venn spent a lot of money getting a jig made as his reconns have this tube replaced by plasma weld using seamless tube.
I have reconns from Adrian Venn on mine.
Cheers
Mark
The difference though in price between these and new ones is quite small (realtively) and therefor I would suggest that route.
The S1 arm is no longer available. Arms were changed for the S2 to improve anti dive properties by subtle changes in geometry.
S3 arms are different again and S4 and V8S arms I believe are the same and are not suitable for the early S's.
S3 arms I believe have adjustable damper positions, although I'm not convinced and am probably talking out of my bottom there....
Either S2 or S3 arms will fit yours.
As for repairing them......I would be very careful. The part of the arm which gets knackered is the smaller diameter tube, which rots from the inside out. I have seen patch repairs but my concern would be over the strength of that patch in a strength critical part of the car. I wouldn't want to suffer a trailing arm failure at ant speed !!
To replace the tube the arm will have to be jigged otherwise you will not get the correct toe in/out geometry.
I know A Venn spent a lot of money getting a jig made as his reconns have this tube replaced by plasma weld using seamless tube.
I have reconns from Adrian Venn on mine.
Cheers
Mark
I had S3 trailing arms fitted to my S1 when one of the originals failed through rust.
I had them fitted by Colin Blowers who got them direct from the factory.
It is a big specialist job with no simple task to set up the rear suspension.
The end result is well worth it with far improved handling and as a bonus a better ride height which is now approx 2" higher.
Its not cheap
The cost of 2 trailing arms,bushes etc was over £500 plus labour. Consider it an upgrade and enjoy the bends.
Bill
I had them fitted by Colin Blowers who got them direct from the factory.
It is a big specialist job with no simple task to set up the rear suspension.
The end result is well worth it with far improved handling and as a bonus a better ride height which is now approx 2" higher.
Its not cheap
The cost of 2 trailing arms,bushes etc was over £500 plus labour. Consider it an upgrade and enjoy the bends.
Bill
I have just replaced my trailing arms.
You cannot get new S1, S1.5 or S2 trailing arms anymore and can only get S3 adjustable ones. this means that you have to change both sides at the same time... you will also need new brake lines and several bushes, bolts and shims....
I had all this confirmed by the factory.
I bought mine from Christopher Neil & cost me £544 for all the parts. They were a good supplier.
I think i'm right in saying you will also need to ensure you have adjustable shocks, spring platforms as the heights need playing around with a little.
I have just (last night) raised the front a little to compensate for the now slightly (1") higher rear and the whole package feels better, lighter steering and of course higher levels of confidence in the end product.
You cannot get new S1, S1.5 or S2 trailing arms anymore and can only get S3 adjustable ones. this means that you have to change both sides at the same time... you will also need new brake lines and several bushes, bolts and shims....
I had all this confirmed by the factory.
I bought mine from Christopher Neil & cost me £544 for all the parts. They were a good supplier.
I think i'm right in saying you will also need to ensure you have adjustable shocks, spring platforms as the heights need playing around with a little.
I have just (last night) raised the front a little to compensate for the now slightly (1") higher rear and the whole package feels better, lighter steering and of course higher levels of confidence in the end product.
quote:But entertaining for the rest of us as the Reliant V8S laid down a smoke screen caused by the rear wheel grinding against the bodywork.
quote:
I wouldn't want to suffer a trailing arm failure at any speed !!
I can confirm that it is no fun at all, the handling is cr*p on three wheels!
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
Has any one got any example labour costs for this job as I've just checked and found my S3 has a bodge repair on one side and big rust hole in the other.
New arms are £176.40 + VAT from the dealer. I've had a look in the bible and it says dismantle the hub, remove drive shaft etc. Presumably this means taking the big hub nut off and the Torx bolts on the drive shaft. Does any one know what size these are?
So that's a full front and rear suspension rebuild / upgrade and all I started off doing was adjusting the ride height!
I can feel a trip to David Gerald coming on.
IanL
New arms are £176.40 + VAT from the dealer. I've had a look in the bible and it says dismantle the hub, remove drive shaft etc. Presumably this means taking the big hub nut off and the Torx bolts on the drive shaft. Does any one know what size these are?
So that's a full front and rear suspension rebuild / upgrade and all I started off doing was adjusting the ride height!
I can feel a trip to David Gerald coming on.
IanL
I've replaced my own trailing arms.
You do not need to remove the drive shaft to replace them. You will however need to undo the big hub nut which I believe is 42mm and as tight as hell.
Apart from that the disassembly process is quite easy. The reassembly isn't to bad, although I used Poly bushes which made it a little harder.
Cheers
Mark
You do not need to remove the drive shaft to replace them. You will however need to undo the big hub nut which I believe is 42mm and as tight as hell.
Apart from that the disassembly process is quite easy. The reassembly isn't to bad, although I used Poly bushes which made it a little harder.
Cheers
Mark
Thanks for all the replies.
I'm still debating doing the work myself if:
A: I can borrow the 42mm socket and bar / torque wrench required to achieve 185 / 211 lbs.ft.
B: I can find a dealer with trailing arms in stock. (Local dealer says 2-3 weeks wait from factory.)
The bonus is that if I do it I can repaint and waxoyle whilst everything is striped down and save £300 labour.
I'd still need the geometry resetting by someone with the tracking and camber setting gear so maybe I will just bite the bullet and spend the cash.
No I'm not local to David Geralds but do trust them to do a good job (and they have the arms in stock) so it is worth the 100 mile round trip.
Any thoughts on the merits of poly bushes on the trailing arm locations?
IanL
I'm still debating doing the work myself if:
A: I can borrow the 42mm socket and bar / torque wrench required to achieve 185 / 211 lbs.ft.
B: I can find a dealer with trailing arms in stock. (Local dealer says 2-3 weeks wait from factory.)
The bonus is that if I do it I can repaint and waxoyle whilst everything is striped down and save £300 labour.
I'd still need the geometry resetting by someone with the tracking and camber setting gear so maybe I will just bite the bullet and spend the cash.
No I'm not local to David Geralds but do trust them to do a good job (and they have the arms in stock) so it is worth the 100 mile round trip.
Any thoughts on the merits of poly bushes on the trailing arm locations?
IanL
quote:
Thanks for all the replies.
I'm still debating doing the work myself if:
A: I can borrow the 42mm socket and bar / torque wrench required to achieve 185 / 211 lbs.ft.
B: I can find a dealer with trailing arms in stock. (Local dealer says 2-3 weeks wait from factory.)
The bonus is that if I do it I can repaint and waxoyle whilst everything is striped down and save £300 labour.
I'd still need the geometry resetting by someone with the tracking and camber setting gear so maybe I will just bite the bullet and spend the cash.
No I'm not local to David Geralds but do trust them to do a good job (and they have the arms in stock) so it is worth the 100 mile round trip.
Any thoughts on the merits of poly bushes on the trailing arm locations?
IanL
I've got them (any possible measure to cut tramp down) but they didn't make a huge difference. I'd go poly when you come to replace the bushes, but wouldn't replace them just for the heck of it.
quote:
Thanks for all the replies.
I'm still debating doing the work myself if:
A: I can borrow the 42mm socket and bar / torque wrench required to achieve 185 / 211 lbs.ft.
B: I can find a dealer with trailing arms in stock. (Local dealer says 2-3 weeks wait from factory.)
The bonus is that if I do it I can repaint and waxoyle whilst everything is striped down and save £300 labour.
I'd still need the geometry resetting by someone with the tracking and camber setting gear so maybe I will just bite the bullet and spend the cash.
No I'm not local to David Geralds but do trust them to do a good job (and they have the arms in stock) so it is worth the 100 mile round trip.
Any thoughts on the merits of poly bushes on the trailing arm locations?
IanL
I've got Poly and they did make a big difference as the old rubber ones were knackered !!
If you're doing it all then I would use them. You may find though that you have take some of the width off the trailing arms mounting points as the poly bushes have a collar which sits outside of the trailing arms further than the rubber ones. You may not have this issue either.
Also check that the bolts you have pass through the sleeves supplied with the new poly bushes as mine didn't and a friend had to turn them down for me by less than a 1000th !! Had to be done though as it was Easter weekend last year and nowhere was open to get replacements.
Cheers
Mark
OK got the new arms and I want to make sure they don’t rust again. I’m going to Smootherite them and Wayoyle the inside of the hollow sections then fill the tubes with expanding foam to keep out water and road grime. Any thoughts?
Once I got the old arms off, the amount of corrosion was very scary and the bodged repair on the other side had fatigue cracked at the brittle region between weld and parent metal.
Once I got the old arms off, the amount of corrosion was very scary and the bodged repair on the other side had fatigue cracked at the brittle region between weld and parent metal.
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