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Hi all,

So my car pulls strongly to the right under braking - I have had both callipers replaced and took it yesterday to small local garage with MOT test kit - on their machine the braking is perfectly balanced.

I have had the wheels off both front and measured about everything and anything I can and both sides seem identical - but, when the wheels are on, the offside is about half a centimetre lower than nearside.

Prior to my ownership, the car had been standing for some time - so I am now suspecting that the suspension, either spring or shock is at fault - any thoughts?

Would any of you be able to identify these aftermarket coil overs that have been fitted?

IMG_4002.jpeg

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Hi,

if this is a photo of a TR front axle a previous owners did "some" modification...,

Difficult to assume anything, and BMW powered sounds like some more modifications.... 

Sorry, Marco

 

Edited by Z320
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Hi Marco,

Yep - 'some' modifications for sure :D I do not think it has done any real miles since the work was done - as you say, difficult to assume...

With any good fortune it will be a component at fault, not something fundamental!

Cheers

 

 

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You seem to have a home made adjustable lower wishbone there judging by the inner mounting. Nothing wrong with that. Is this an ex track car?

You probably need to get a 4 wheel alignment check.

Jerry

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Is that something trapped behind the damper (see photo)? It looks like it would limit the travel on the wishbone. If it's the same on both sides then I guess it's nothing to worry about.

Suspension.jpg.e4aa53e35f1572e125d82f7494fdc9d1.jpg

Cheers, Robert

 

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43 minutes ago, DIYBOSSCAT said:

Maybe adjuster for damper?

 

Vince.

That would be my guess. 
 

but never seen a set up like that wishbone.

but often wondered if coilovers would work on a 4pot version ?

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The dampers are Protech, according to their label.

I wouldn't drive a car with so old brake flexible hoses, fouling a screw when the you turn the steering wheel.

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19 hours ago, Chris59 said:

The dampers are Protech, according to their label.

I wouldn't drive a car with so old brake flexible hoses, fouling a screw when the you turn the steering wheel.

Yep I spotted that too

Stuart.

 

IMG_4002.jpeg.9410b2b96be6810923e7baac3b580421.jpeg

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I'm not overly experienced at suspension mods of this scope but I wouldn't drive a car like that without a specialist suspension/steering/brake engineer checking it out.

Who knows what the geometry is on any point of steering, braking or cornering? Is the trunnion seizing up on braking as the angles are wrong? What will happen if you need to brake in a corner?

I'm looking forward to finding out the outcome of this modification.

Edited by John McCormack
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On 8/20/2021 at 12:10 PM, FatJon said:

Half a centimetre difference is nothing. I would be looking at bushes and track rod ends for the reason the geometry is changing under braking.

 

Thanks John, the parts are relatively inexpensive, so may be just a good idea to change them

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On 8/20/2021 at 7:35 PM, Chris59 said:

The dampers are Protech, according to their label.

I wouldn't drive a car with so old brake flexible hoses, fouling a screw when the you turn the steering wheel.

Thank you Chris, I hadn’t spotted that - bit of a shame when I had the Calipers replaced

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On 8/20/2021 at 1:43 PM, jerrytr5 said:

You seem to have a home made adjustable lower wishbone there judging by the inner mounting. Nothing wrong with that. Is this an ex track car?

You probably need to get a 4 wheel alignment check.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry - would it be good enough to just go along to a standard tyre place and get them to do it -or are you thinking of something more high end?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update - or really, lack of update :D

Took it to local garage as mentioned - long story short, he had noticed the back brakes were not set up correctly and I think the thought that would be the fix -it wasn't - he very politely said that he did not fancy looking at the suspension ..... and to be fair to him, I do appreciate his frankness.

So took it to another place, who have said that they are happy to have a look and will swap over those coilovers if they can swap to either find the fault or prove it is not that. I am going to order a box of bits from TRGB for them to swap over on the basis that they might as well replace some old looking bushes while they are there.

They are then recommending that I take it to a company they work with that can conduct laser alignment on it. - as recommended by Jerry earlier.

Thank you Chris for identifying the Protech - looking into them they have adjusters (which was that bit at the back) that make up to 5% change in adjustment, tried at both ends of the scale, soft to hard and no difference - but at least I know where to get replacements from

I'll get that photo taken of the rest of the suspension shortly.

Cheers all.

 

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2 hours ago, RobRennie said:

Hi Stuart,

As promised - pic of where that arm went to..

 

Blimey I hope they have beefed up the chassis section to take that, specifically a tube through the chassis box and plated either side? Judging by the dent in the leg behind the rear mount possibly not.

Stuart.

 

IMG_4019.jpeg.a7662c12375e074d20a1aa99b06c99c4.jpeg

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Looks horrific. You'd be better off putting it back to high quality standard components.

With that amount of bodgery you've no idea what the suspension is doing: roll centre, camber gain, bump steer etc etc. You'd need a very competent suspension specialist to check what's going on and not just a static alignment alignment check

As Stuart says the mounting points are also highly suspect. Fabrication of the wishbone looks ****.

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1 hour ago, mtrehy said:

Looks horrific. You'd be better off putting it back to high quality standard components.

With that amount of bodgery you've no idea what the suspension is doing: roll centre, camber gain, bump steer etc etc. You'd need a very competent suspension specialist to check what's going on and not just a static alignment alignment check

As Stuart says the mounting points are also highly suspect. Fabrication of the wishbone looks ****.

+1 it looks like a right bodge, totally mullered the car, no wonder you've got problems. 

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Hi All,

I would always love to go back to standard, but assume that these mods were made to accommodate the BMW engine.

I have had three different garages look at it - one for when I bought it to service and look over it, local Landy Garage that I use and MOT - all seemed happy with how it is put together. But on the basis of it being stupid and crass to ask for input then ignore it - I'll see if I can find some more specialist place.

If the more simple - offside Coilover is shot and replacing it fixes the dive to the right under braking - I will find a specialist suspension outfit and empty wallet :) 

Apart from the dive to the right, it drives brilliantly - so fingers crossed....

Cheers again, have a great weekend.

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56 minutes ago, RobRennie said:

Hi All,

I would always love to go back to standard, but assume that these mods were made to accommodate the BMW engine.

I have had three different garages look at it - one for when I bought it to service and look over it, local Landy Garage that I use and MOT - all seemed happy with how it is put together. But on the basis of it being stupid and crass to ask for input then ignore it - I'll see if I can find some more specialist place.

If the more simple - offside Coilover is shot and replacing it fixes the dive to the right under braking - I will find a specialist suspension outfit and empty wallet :) 

Apart from the dive to the right, it drives brilliantly - so fingers crossed....

Cheers again, have a great weekend.

I doubt those mods were done to accommodate the engine as theres been a number of BMW conversions that have appeared on here over the years and none have changed the front suspension to that extent though they have changed a lot of the rest of the driveline to account for the extra torque. As long as the suspension inner mounting boxes are still there and they do look to be then theres no real reason why it couldnt be back converted though thats up to you. FWIW I hope youve had an insurance inspection done as that would definitely come under the class of "Modified"

Stuart.

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Just a quick thought. My TR 6 was diving to the left on braking.  Turned out that the top ball joint bolts that attach it to the upper wishbones were slightly loose on the passenger side. Tightened then up and all back to normal. Not sure why they loosened, the have nylocks on them. 

Tim

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9 hours ago, RobRennie said:

Hi All,

I would always love to go back to standard, but assume that these mods were made to accommodate the BMW engine.

I have had three different garages look at it - one for when I bought it to service and look over it, local Landy Garage that I use and MOT - all seemed happy with how it is put together. But on the basis of it being stupid and crass to ask for input then ignore it - I'll see if I can find some more specialist place.

If the more simple - offside Coilover is shot and replacing it fixes the dive to the right under braking - I will find a specialist suspension outfit and empty wallet :) 

Apart from the dive to the right, it drives brilliantly - so fingers crossed....

Cheers again, have a great weekend.

Local garage won't have a clue about suspension design so you can take that with a pinch of salt. They can at best do a static alignment, they won't have a clue about anything more technical than that. 

Anyway, you want to think it's ok so you'll try to polish the turd.

 

 

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