Club 80-90 Forums

Dotty snapped a radius rod today. How inconvenient!!
By the look of it, it was rusty and due for failure anyway.
New parts on order via BW
I know what I'm doing next week!!

Have you got big spanners? Did you order the two bushes that fit on the free end?

Yes I bought the rubbers, large washers, sleeves and new nuts

Blimey that's dangerous. .. how bad was that then when it was last off i wonder... (edited misread your post)

Assemble the new one with rubber grease or equivalent all around all the sleeves and bushes - to keep water out of places it shouldnt sit.

It only passed the MOT a few weeks ago!
I recon it was just strong enough to pass.
Went over a speed bump a bit too fast and knocked the frame where it connects at the front.
Won't do that again

I suppose the corrosion is hidden inside the rubber bushes... so unless they're very clever ancient MOT man wouldn't even dawn on them...
I had one garage with an old bloke that'd fail brake pipes and even steering UJs that he couldn't see WEREN'T rusty or worn... up to me to prove they were OK... usually impossible without changing them Haha
Never moaned too much about him and always did any welding straight away..

Yes Harryman the corrosion was inside the rubber. Should of included a photo
This explains all!

I am replacing the other side too.

nobbyfox wrote:Yes Harryman the corrosion was inside the rubber. Should of included a photo
This explains all!

That pic surprises me, approx 80% of that break is new! I would've expected the rod to withstand a bump with only a partial break.

nah, once something's cracked, the sharpness of the crack creates a stress raiser, don't take much load to fully break it, as you can see.

That's why I'm surprised. I've worked with heavy plant and agricultural machines for years, they're industries where kit is respectfully 'abused' due to the nature of the work and environments, however I've seen more substantial breaks displaying 'old' corrosion and yet they've gone the distance so to speak. Genuinely surprised by the break in the pic.

I suspect that there are a lot of forces that go through the radius rod.
Once the structural integrity is compromised, it's curtain for the poor fella!!

My new bits arrived today. Feels like Christmas

nobbyfox wrote:I suspect that there are a lot of forces that go through the radius rod.
Once the structural integrity is compromised, it's curtain for the poor fella!!

My new bits arrived today. Feels like Christmas

Bright yellow by any chance?

Bright yellow? Do you mean the rubber bits?
No went for bog standard.