Gritineye
Member
- Messages
- 1,950
I don't expect the makers to pay for the fix
Why not? I certainly would..
I don't expect the makers to pay for the fix
Why not? I certainly would..
Poor design possibly made worse if the suspension bush crush tubes have issues like a lot of locost cars . The crush tubes supplied with some kits aren’t long enough for the job causing the suspension to “bind” when the pivot bolts are tightened, putting extra loads on suspension arms etc My kit car suspension was solid when I first built it , addressing the crush tube issue totally transformed the car.
how long has it been built ?
if a year or 2 yes goback to the builder id be doing a bit more research on how the shock is mounted on most trikes and if most are mounted on the bottem lower bars
getting them to change it is going to be the hard bit most people dont like getting told they done it wrong
but a chat might get you some where
They will probably insist that you must have hit a bump, pot hole, kerb etc, rather than admit faulty design.
If it is a fairly well trike known company see if they have a Facebook following or forum, and do some digging.
Re the fix, still not sure if I'll move the shock out or just beef up the bottom arm for now - moving the shock unit out will need a new a/r bar and mounts as well as new springs and top mounting, not just a mounting lug, it's more a winter job really.
Mounting the shock mount further out will also reduce the leverage on the components, and the shock, and make it ride harder.
If you don't want to wait, a quick fix would be to weld some 25 x 6 flat bar underneath, edge on. Taper the ends off so it doesn't look like a bodge.
Poor design possibly made worse if the suspension bush crush tubes have issues like a lot of locost cars . The crush tubes supplied with some kits aren’t long enough for the job causing the suspension to “bind” when the pivot bolts are tightened, putting extra loads on suspension arms etc My kit car suspension was solid when I first built it , addressing the crush tube issue totally transformed the car.
a pair be nicerwith luch there new arm will be a direct replacment they will pop a set in the post for you to change
Thats actually how most bushes are supposed to work - the bush is trapped and is twisted, rather than rotated about the central tube. Hence why the usual instruction to only finally tighten the bolt when the car is on the ground and suspension is at its usual position.
And when building something from scratch you need to ensure there is enough angular 'give' in the bush to accommodate the suspension travel, otherwise you can tear the rubber, apparently.
A car I built a good few years ago, I put poly bushes in the rear four bar. They were a very tight fit on the crush tube, too tight in fact, and that all but locked up the rear end from moving. I took it all apart and 'machined' some material out of the poly bush bores, with a knackered old drill bit I ground up.
there was a name for that , doing the front of boxes etc to stop them snagging , cant remember what it was I did two Rav 4s this winter as standing water was ripping off back boxes .Used to do that with Dexion on exhaust pipes on forest cars
If you’re gonna do it yourself you might as well make it from a proper bit of Chromoly tube, that way you can have a thinner wall thickness and maintain the strength.