rear trailing arms

[JT]

I have just found out the rear trailing arm (drivers side) needs replacement. My car is an 1989 2.9 S1.5. The trailing arms have apparently already been replaced once already (unfortunately no documentation available). I believe that there were three different versions s1 and s2 (no longer available) and the s3 adjustable (available from tvr car parts and david gerald).

What I was hoping you guys to tell me is how do I identify what is on my car now (if the existing trailing arms are the adjustable sort I may get away with only changing one).

Any thoughts or pics gratefully recieved

jake

[pringli]

Jake the early arms were trailing arm ie equal length whereas the later are semi trailing ie the outer tube (nearest wheel) is longer and the rear tube of the chassis is angled rather than straight.

ETA ps how bad is it? picture?

Edited by pringli on Friday 28th November 16:54

[JT]

Yes I have seen the pics in the bible.

Does this mean that the later s2 (non adjustable) arms are compatible with the s3 (adjustable) ones assuming that they are both the semi trailing arm variety?

[pringli]

I believe so but the shock absorber mount MAY be located slightly differently. I believe Adriann Venn may be able to offer refurbs on the original which would solve your problem. Adrian@ on here - good luck whatever you decide

[Gerald-TVR]

Hi Adrian@ is 'yer man Exactly TVR Coventry

[pringli]

wot I said

[steve j]

TVR Shop.com worth a look?

[JT]

Here are some pics of the damage (scary what you can be unaware of!).

As you can see I'm a regular waxoiler and even that didn't stop the rot - beware.

Also what you can see here wasn't originally visible - a small crack was spotted and after a bit of probing and minor hammering this was the result.










Here is a pic showing the "adjustable" with the red dots showing the pipe that has been eaten through.





Here are a couple of questions for all you S Gurus:

1) can any of you tell what I've got fitted on here from the pics (adjustable / non adjustable?

2) Does a refurb look possible?

3) What is adjustable anyway?

cheers in advance

Jake

[clarenceboddiger]

The Small picture shows the adjustable type, to adjust it Shims are fitted between the two components ie the arm and the bush housing to align the wheel,on the non adjustable the arm is a one piece unit.
Regarding a refurb, it really depends on how badly the other sections of the arm are.
ps Waxoil on the outside of that tube wont stop the rot, it rots from the inside.

Edited by clarenceboddiger on Saturday 29th November 17:59

[Jed-S]

JT said:

As you can see I'm a regular waxoiler and even that didn't stop the rot - beware.

That's because they trap water and rot from the inside - but trailing arms are easy compared to what may be in store for you.

Looking at the second photo there is a hole in the trailing arm mounting bracket. I'd suspect that there is even more serious corrosion in the main tube that the trailing arm brackets are welded to.

Before you spend money on trailing arms I suggest that you have a very good poke around. If in doubt, scrape away until you get to clean metal then reseal. The main bits to look at are the dirt traps that are the trailing arm mounting brackets, the area under the main tub/seatbelt mount in front of the rear wheels and also check around the seatbelt mount on the side outrigger.

Fingers crossed that all is ok though.

Jed

[JT]

Believe it or not I do waxoil the inside too. I assume the previous owners havn't been so keen.

I have had another look at my trailing arms and they havn't got the bit I have circled in yellow on the pic below. Instead it just looks like the other side. I assume this means they are the non adjustable variety.




The buggered mounting bracket I had already spotted, The chassis had a lift to sort the outriggers 2 years ago by david gerald and I'm hoping that they would have spotted anything else major.

Edited by JT on Saturday 29th November 18:46

[TonupS2]

Jake
This is an early single piece trailing arm.



Hope this helps Tony

[Barkychoc]

JT said:

2) Does a refurb look possible?

Yes - but it needs to be done professionally by Adrian Venn - as far as I know he's the only person that does them - if you take it elsewhere chances are they will send it to Adrian and mark up the price.

Here's the link to his profile - very nice guy worth giving him a call to explore your options.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...

Chris

[Gerald-TVR]

Second the comments about Adrian

[tvrgit]

This one is a V8S (and maybe also S4)



It has a slightly wider track that the others.

just for comparison, with that and the early one, this is my S3 one



You can see how that extra straight bit in the top photo, is missing - so the wheel track is slightly narrower.

That's how it came back from Adrian Venn - top bloke, top job.

Edited by tvrgit on Friday 4th September 14:17

[Barkychoc]

Jed-S said:

Looking at the second photo there is a hole in the trailing arm mounting bracket. I'd suspect that there is even more serious corrosion in the main tube that the trailing arm brackets are welded to.

Having another look at that picture is it corrosion?
It looks like a neat round hole to me - I'd expect it to be ragged if it was rotten, but then again I can't see why it would have a hole there.
Do any of the other mounts have holes in like that?

Edited by Barkychoc on Monday 1st December 21:34

[mep12345]

That's how mine corroded. The metal here corrodes as the crap collects in the recess and corrodes it in the manner seen. The shape is caused by the weld pools around that area that corrode slower due to either material properties or their thickness

[Ali B]

Long long time since I last posted.

Just spotted holes in some of the trailing arm mounts on my S1.
Are these available to buy? What are my options? body off or lift?

I'm sure it's in the archive somewhere but search only goes back 2 years.
It's been off the road longer than that!

[Barkychoc]

Do you mean the traling arm (the bit that moves up and down) or the chassis itself?

[Ali B]

Barkychoc said:

Do you mean the traling arm (the bit that moves up and down) or the chassis itself?

the bracket welded on the chassis the trailing arm bolts to.