SNAIL

Brooky · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject: Damper mount broken loose.

On the exhaust side of my car, the front mounting pin for the rear damper has come loose in the chassis and rattles like hell.

What's really irritating is that this is on a galvanised chassis.

The mounting pin is quite strange in that it has a large hexagon machined onto it but the pin does not tighten or loosen if a spanner is applied to this large hexagon. There does not seem to be any good reason for the hexagon to be there at all.

I can't see how the pin is secured into the chassis. There is no weld apparent and I'm considering welding the pin to the chassis at the interface between the hexagon and the chassis to stop it rattling.

Has anybody else experienced such a thing?

Brooky.

JoZeF · Grave Digger Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 1734

Hi

Are you talking about this :

Normally as you can see it screws into the chassis using the hex.

???
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"That bumper fits there like sunglasses on pig" Laughing

O.E.

Malte · Lowered Joined: 11 Dec 2007 Posts: 534 Location: Germany

brooky, could you take a photo of that?

i really don't know what you talk about :)
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in rust we trust...

Brooky · Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:13 pm Post subject:

That's the part alright. Now I know how it's secured to the chassis I can have a proper go at tightening it. I'm just worried that it may have been cross-threaded when it was fitted onto the new chassis and that's why I can't turn it easily either way.
Nice & steady does it I think.

Brooky.

JoZeF · Grave Digger Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 1734

I think you wan probably weld is if is has been cross threaded... but in my experience it's quite difficult to do that on such a big part, besides, it's steel on steel, not steel on alloy.

In last resort I guess welding isn't a problem... until you need to take the bit off...
_________________
"That bumper fits there like sunglasses on pig" Laughing

O.E.

Brooky · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject:

I've found the cause and rectified it!
The inner part of this mounting pin had sheared off (only the last few mm), and rather than shearing off flat it had sheared in a step. This accounts for why it was loose but would not tighten or loosen. It would turn a short way in each direction and then hit the 'step' and stop dead.
I gently worked it backwards & forwards until it wore the step off, then it came out, leaving a good inch of undamaged thread to refit. I ground a couple of mm off the damaged end, cleaned the thread, applied loctite and refitted it securely. Sorted!
I can only assume that the bottom of the threaded hole in the chassis had a big blob of galvanising that caused the stud to stop early when the new chassis was fitted. Whoever did it, saw that the stud had not threaded all the way in and forced it, until the tip sheared off. He must have then thought "Bugger, I'll just nip it up and fit the damper. It'll be o.k." and so it was, as my old Dad was a bit mutton and never heard it rattling.
So that was easy and left me enough time to fit a cool reverse cone megaphone 'silencer' onto my side pipe (the old long side silencer broke a while ago). Sounds wicked outside the car. Can't hear myself think inside!
Looks awesome though.
Brooky.