One down, one to go

[jlevie]

That would be a symptom of a loose adjuster.

[Skafrog]

Well, remember he was asking the questions about his car pulling to the left when accelerating on Saturday? He then spun in the morning session on Sunday. I think all of that was related to the nut falling off early in the weekend and then the bolt slowly sliding out....
I agree, I wish I could have seen the nut, but it probably melted in the afternoon heat :)

[jlevie]

For what it's worth, we found the bolt for Adam's car, the nut had fallen off. This was possibly the worst track surface in the history of mankind, so its no surprise stuff fell off cars :)

Interesting... My experience with a loosening bolt is that it causes a steadily worsening situation with handling getting worse each time the car is driven. But a bolt or nut failure results in a sudden and dramatic change. I wonder if the threads in the nut stripped?

[z31maniac]

Note to self.

Go ahead and modify RTA's with rod ends as opposed to eccentric bushings, since I have no class legality to worry about.

[Skafrog]

For what it's worth, we found the bolt for Adam's car, the nut had fallen off. This was possibly the worst track surface in the history of mankind, so its no surprise stuff fell off cars :)

[kishg]

aluminum rtabs are legal in SE30? not sure if i want it much stiffer than it is back there though.

[jlevie]

I don't know what was on my friend's car, but mine is none of the above. I'm of the opinion that the particular kit isn't important, based on the problems I've seen with the various kits. It is more about the eccentric bolts design and the choice in bushings.

[brian52555]

Are you using the AKG, e30tech, or bimmerworld kit?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were all the same, just wonderin.

[jlevie]

I had my failure early Saturday morning and a friend lost a toe adjuster bolt during Sunday's 45 minute race. Since the bolt was missing we don't know it the nut loosened or stripped. Since the car was fine for all of Saturday and suddenly went south during the race, I lean towards thread failure (like mine).

[brian52555]

Well +1 to the list of eccentric failures

After a few autocrosses and 1 HPDE, the left adjuster on the driver's side trailing arm has let go. Note that I had it tack welded by my mechanic post-alignment. Now, there is .5-1 cm of vertical play. When I drive over a crack or medium bump, i get a large clunking sound.

Going to have it re-aligned and re-welded this Saturday. Here's to hoping that it just broke free, vs. stripping or something worse. Can't really see as the exhaust is in the way.

Honestly, the setup has been kind of a pain in the ass so far.

[jlevie]

And the rest of the news...

I took the car to Memphis International Raceway this past weekend for the first NASA MidSouth race event. The threads on the left side toe adjuster stripped in the first session on track. That allowed the wheel to move fore/aft as power was applied or removed. Which in turn caused the car to drive to the right under power and the left under braking. In that condition the car is un-driveable.

I was able to affect a repair by stealing a bolt from the trailer, but I had nothing with me to properly set toe, so I just had to eyeball it. While not right and a bit skittish, at least I could race it. I think I understand the failure. There was plenty of thread engagement and the bolts are Grade 8, but the flats for the eccentric washer reduce the thread area by about 30%. It takes a lot of torque to have the adjusters hold and that reduction in thread area was more than the bolt could take.

I intend to replace the eccentric bolts with home made ones that use 12-point aircraft bolts, which are a good bit stronger than Grade 8. I'm not going to use an eccentric washer, as it really isn't needed with hard bushings and I'll tack weld the eccentrics once the alignment is done. The downside of that is that I'll have to drop the subframe to cut the tacks if I want to change the alignment or swap out a trailing arm.

[Wh33lhop]

Fair point, but I am not exactly easy on my car--I almost want to consider tacking the eccentrics into position after the alignment was finished. Technically if you tack the ring on the threaded side, you could still remove the bolt.

[jlevie]

Yes, we have had problems with the weld-in adjusters slipping, but keep in mind this is happening on race cars that see much rougher service than a street car.

[Wh33lhop]

Ugh--the weld-ins are slipping? That's unfortunate--is this a common problem? That makes me want to get subframe spacers...

[Moberg12]

what did you use to get the rear axel out of the hub...im curerntly replacing my left trailing arm (87 325is) cause the shock bolt snapped inside of the one on the car now. I have bushings but i think im gonna take em to the shop..im the only mechanic in my fam and dont have a lot of specialty tools to do the bushings and wheel bearing.

ive loosened all the six allen heads bolts from the inner cv joint but im not sure what ill have to do tomorrow morning to get the axel out the hub..any advice is greatly appreciated. and if you think i can do the bushings at my house i would read any links you have to keep the labor $$$ in my pocket
I have the haynes manual but it only says use a puller and has no pics

Once you get the lock plate and axle nut removed from the hub, take the wooden handle side of a hammer and put it against the axle spindle. Now use another hammer and drive the axle out. It really shouldn't take that much force, maybe a few taps then you can pull it out by hand!!

I've got a press to remove and install the trailing arm bushings, but akg sells a special tool, and it isn't very expensive $35!!