alanwcoote Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Afternoon gents Well let the fun begin, a couple pics of bare chassis. Any thoughts and has anyone seen anything like the suspension upgrade/downgrade as shown. Al Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drewmotty Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Good grief that Panhard Rod would do justice to a racing truck! I’ve seen seen similar mods but not nearly as big as that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tony_C Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 No Al, my 3A supposedly came with ‘all the extras’..... but, I’ve not got one of them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 De Dion tube? Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
openroad Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Hi Cootey, Looks like you are up to your neck in Lock Down Fun. ! Keep up the good work, Cheers, Conrad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iain Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 That does look like a De Dion tube.......very unusual on a TR I suspect Iain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 It should certainly stop the axle moving sideways ! Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roger murray-evans Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Al,It is with a degree of confidence that I can identify your mechanism as a Pan-Torque.I acquired such a beast from Pete W (of this forum) a couple of years back but missing some of the fittings and mounts.(I'll be in touch if you don't mind?!Mine is in a better cosmetic state than yours and I'll take some pix tomorrow if I can access it and post them here.It is, of course, just a rather beefy Panhard rod as the name suggests.Made by don't know or where.Pete believes that one of these also adorned the back end of a TR3 belonging to a mutual acquaintance,certainly back in the 70's if not long before then.Said acquaintance, Ian Grant, and his co driver Sam Fisk used to compete quite seriously in rallyes in the 50s/60's in Ian's TR3. Ian managed to re-acquire the car for restoration after ascertaining it's whereabouts from a helpful member of the constabulary following a burglary at his property in the 1970s..Ian also owned, amongst other cars, the Allard J2X Chrysler TT works car MGF850 and a rather nice mid 50's BMW507, bought whilst doing his National Service in Germany at the same time!Sadly no longer with us. Roger M-E Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ntc Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Looks like a pair of doughnuts stuck on a alloy shaft Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roger murray-evans Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 15 minutes ago, ntc said: Looks like a pair of doughnuts stuck on a alloy shaft Believe mine is made of steel tube, as is Al's going by the 'patina'. Roger M-E Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Under the do-nuts at each end are universal joints. The uj’s are aligned to allow up/down and forward/backward movement only. Locates the axle transversely as a panhard rod does plus it stops axle wind up when the power/torque goes on. Could be recreated from a Morris Minor prop shaft. Certainly heavy as it is a steel tube. Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bfg Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Brilliant. Thanks for sharing Alan, And thanks to both Roger and Peter W for the explanations. Being tube of that sort of diameter proportion it may be lighter than other Panhard rods. I love it. ..certainly be worth trying to trace the competition the history of your car Al Pete. Edited February 12, 2021 by Bfg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foster461 Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) I assume whatever else that thing does it also does the work of the shock absorbers ? Doh !. I see the shocks are still there and this tube is mounted to its own brackets. Very interesting. Stan Edited February 12, 2021 by foster461 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alanwcoote Posted February 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 Thanks for your input guys very interesting Cars not mine but owner will be pleased with response , we will keep you updated Al Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bfg Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) 15 hours ago, foster461 said: I assume whatever else that thing does it also does the work of the shock absorbers ? Stan 'shock absorber' is a damper, so no. A Panhard rod primarily prevents the axle from moving sideways, relative to the car's chassis (which is otherwise controlled by the leaf springs not really wanting to bend sideways, but can do so when they twist). This design though has the UJ joints at the chassis and at the axle's end, so it does that job ..but also minimises the axle twisting ..causing axle tramp, which is extenuated by the torque reaction being transferred through a crank ..in this case the 15" tyre contact patch with the road being some 12" from the centre-line of the axle. I cannot appreciate any damping effect offered by the design. " Doh !. I see the shocks are still there and this tube is mounted to its own brackets. Very interesting." My apologies, I was attempting to explain the workings of the design, while in the meantime you edited your point. I didn't mean to teach grandpa to sup bourbon.. Edited February 13, 2021 by Bfg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ntc Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 49 minutes ago, alanwcoote said: Thanks for your input guys very interesting Cars not mine but owner will be pleased with response , we will keep you updated Al Al I suggest you contact a chap at Gainsborough I have seen that setup many years ago Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foster461 Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Bfg said: 'shock absorber' is a damper, so no. A Panhard rod primarily prevents the axle from moving sideways, relative to the car's chassis (which is otherwise controlled by the leaf springs not really wanting to bend sideways, but can do so when they twist). This design though has the UJ joints at the chassis and at the axle's end, so it does that job ..but also minimises the axle twisting (causing axle tramp) which is extenuated by the torque reaction being transferred through a crank ..in this case the 15" tyre contact patch with the road being some 12" from the centreline of the axle. I cannot appreciate any damping effect offered by the design. " Doh !. I see the shocks are still there and this tube is mounted to its own brackets. Very interesting." My apologies, I was attempting to explain the workings of the design, while in the meantime you edited your point. I didn't mean to teach grandpa to sup brandy.. All good Pete. The TR3 and I guess the non-irs TR4's did have an issue with lateral movement of the axle and/or rear spring. I fitted a revington kit that is supposed to discourage that but nothing like what we see on that chassis. Stan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 13, 2021 Report Share Posted February 13, 2021 One of our members down here Tim Parr now sadly deceased used to rally TR2 and 3 with his own design very similar to that and apparently it was very successful too. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil Read Posted February 14, 2021 Report Share Posted February 14, 2021 On 2/12/2021 at 5:38 PM, stuart said: De Dion tube? Stuart. Yep I looked at it and thought of the Rover P6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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