vixen uprights

[jerseyvixen]

hi , has any one considered changing the front uprights on a vixen s2 or having new unit made without the problems associated with the originals . eg trunnions failure.

[heightswitch]

jerseyvixen said:

hi , has any one considered changing the front uprights on a vixen s2 or having new unit made without the problems associated with the originals . eg trunnions failure.

People have done lots of things to uprights over the years but why? how many have you seen fail??
N.

[jerseyvixen]

I,ve not seen any fail or had one . But have been told a few times that they do .and i like using the curb on track-days only way to stay with a boxster,s.

[Classic_Tim]

Has anyone tried these uprights with lower ball joints, I don't know if they will fit but they are Herald type on the Elan.
http://www.spydercars.co.uk/spyder_front_suspensio...

I had one of my uprights break just above the trunnion, luckily I was just turning into a side road - everyone says it always happens at low speeds on tight lock - just as well really as I'd been blatting down the M45 5 minutes previously.
I wasn't aware of these when I rebuilt the front suspension, if I had've been I would have investigated myself.
Also not sure if this has any implications with motorsport regs.
Tim

[heightswitch]

jerseyvixen said:

I,ve not seen any fail or had one . But have been told a few times that they do .and i like using the curb on track-days only way to stay with a boxster,s.

On Road cars they tend to fail for 1 reason, IE Poor maintenance. You are far more likely to loose a rear wheel than a front in a vixen!

Over the years many people have done many different things to improve the cars I doubt though that running a 1600 x/flow with 6J wheels will require anything other than good maintenance to give years of trouble free motoring.

historic racing cars with 8" m section rubber still use the herald upright, as do formula ford racing cars, Lotus cars and the list goes on.

When all is done at the end of the day it is purely a means of hanging a wheel onto a spring.

there are umpteen ways to engineer the old trunnions out.

Spyder cars is one

rally design lotus 7 replica front end is another.

all that is required is to fabricate some tubular wishbones to hang any other hub and upright onto.

if you know where to shop you can even buy Solid uprights without the hole up the centre where failure can occur. doing this as per a racing car means that you have to more frequently strip the upright down for inspection and lubrication so isn't a good solution for a road car.

I still maintain however that if the car is well maintained and stripped once per year to inspect and lubricate then really you shouldn't see any failures Plus at £70 or so for a brand new one it will never break the bank.

how old was the upright that failed? 30 plus years? thats a pretty reliable part.

N.

Edited by heightswitch on Tuesday 26th August 22:42