Midget suspention

[john p]

Hi folks,I have an old Austin A35 which is fitted with Midget front suspention and disc brakes.The caliper is mounted to the front of the stub axle,is it the same on a Midget,or has it been reversed.I need to replace the kingpins,these seem to be inseperable from the wishbone pans,so I assume I have to replace the whole lot.Need to know which side to order.Thanks John.

[wildoliver]

Midget calipers mount to rear of hubs.

Can't Imagine why yours mount to front, I would swap the sides back over unless there is some need for the left to be on the right and vice versa.

The kingpins are seperate from the pan and can be removed by removing the swivel pin, however you will have to ream the kingpin to fit, so may be easier to just buy a new wishbone pan and kingpin unit complete. And for the cost it is worth renewing the upright at the same time. Complete units including top trunnions are available at little cost.

[john p]

Thanks for that,the calipers are mounted at the front on an A35 because you don't need to modify the brake pipes to fit.Thanks again John.

[Mr2Mike]

If the uprights have been swapped over do the steering arms not point in the opposite direction? If so the Ackerman geometry will be miles out.

[wildoliver]

Your suggesting the midget suspension was designed with any knowledge of ackerman? I wouldn't be entirely surprised if there was any more advanced design process than knocking up a rough working model and then when put all together make sure the wheels point in the right direction and are roughly upright

[Samcat]

I know that the Castor Angle on a Midget suspension is set by bending the front chassis legs during manufacture!

[wildoliver]

And usually adjusted by the same technique accidentally through the cars life!

[minimoog]

Samcat said:

I know that the Castor Angle on a Midget suspension is set by bending the front chassis legs during manufacture!

Thus leading to amusing tales of unsuspecting owners trying to straighten the chassis out when they spot the bends

[john p]

All sorted now,thanks to PBW and Leacy in Brum.