Lower wishbones dedion totally stumped

[Cmanby]

Ok so the other day I was putting together the front suspension all seemed fine but then I realised that I had to set the top ball joint on the drivers side about 15mm further out to get the camber looking ok.

So off came the lot and a closer inspection of the bottom wishbones shows the driver side wishbone has a increased angle where spherical joint sits (see picture)

Has anyone got any knowledge of this I'm guessing I've got two different types of lower wishbone

[bazjude2998]

That’s not right
Contact Caterham for advice

[anonymous-user]

I’m not sure the angle itself would cause that issue; the upright should still swivel in the joint until it’s in the right place, unless the joint reaches its limit.

Is one wishbone longer than the other, measured from the line between the chassis mounts to to ball joint centre?

[Trackdayguy]

I would say that's either a race spec arm or an engineering mistake

[downsman]

The welding looks neater on the one on the left.

[BertBert]

If those two wishbones are different for different camber applications, that's a big camber difference!
Bert

[Cmanby]

Thanks for all the messages I reckon it's just a welding mistake there is about a 10mm difference in width of uprights compared to each other

[Red Seven]

Cmanby said:

I reckon it's just a welding mistake

I think that is very unlikely!
Unless you have none Caterham supplied parts (which is unlikely), the wishbones will have originally been welded on a jig.

A little history of the source of these components may help to understand your situation........

How do the other dimensions match up between the two wishbones? I'd suspect you have two wishbones from very different time periods.

When the wishbones were originally bought, were they bought as a pair? (how long ago was that?)

Arch or Redline are likely to be the best sources of information.

Edited by Red Seven on Thursday 21st March 14:03

[anonymous-user]

Red Seven said:

Cmanby said:

I reckon it's just a welding mistake

I think that is very unlikely!
Unless you have none Caterham supplied parts (which is unlikely), the wishbones will have originally been welded on a jig.

A little history of the source of these components may help to understand your situation........

How do the other dimensions match up between the two wishbones? I'd suspect you have two wishbones from very different time periods.

When the wishbones were originally bought, were they bought as a pair? (how long ago was that?)

Arch or Redline are likely to be the best sources of information.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 21st March 14:03

The more I've thought about it the more I think that the difference in angle wouldn’t necessarily affect the camber as told. As long as the difference could be accommodated by the balljoint it wouldn't affect the camber.

As I asked earlier and repeated here, the other dimensions need to be looked at too.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 22 March 07:57

[Cmanby]

Yes I agree in theory the spherical joint should take up any difference I will speak with red line

[BertBert]

Cmanby said:

Yes I agree in theory the spherical joint should take up any difference I will speak with red line

I'd get my ruler out and measure the top and bottom wishbones. If that doesn't reveal the answer, look at the uprights. If that doesn't reveal the answer, look at the chassis!
Bert