Worn Rear Beam, Need Advice

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

i now have 2 axles needing refurbishing. a 1.9 disk axle and 1.6 hub

 

i have the kit for refurbing them here and am going to do the 1.9 axle.. whats worrying me is the side that is very worn is a different height from the ground than the ok side. nothing seems to be bent and the shocks are off. my question is will this right itself once the bushings are done or do i have a problem.

thanks

 

ps the axle is upside down in the picture. and the worn side is closest to the ground. this is the 1.9 axle in the pic and i have a simular problem with the hubbed axle, only the height difference is not as severe

Edited April 4, 2013 by Ian205

[welshpug 1,622]

by bushes do you mean the bearings and trailing arm shafts?

 

the last beam I dismantled that sat like that was scrap and needed a donor crossmember and two new trailing arm shafts.

[jord294 87]

Typical drivers side seized trailing arm!

 

I gather the car is a left hooker, judging by number plates

[welshpug 1,622]

Irish plate, so likely to be RHD

 

the one I took apart was seized on the nearside...

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

right hand drive yes, and yes left hand side is very worm but can move, right hand side cant do much of ether lol.

 

and yes bearings,

 

i'm unsure what to do as the hubbed axle i have does not have as much of a height difference( only 10cm) but the backplates are on there way to rotting, one has a small hole in it.

disked axle has new disks and pads and is not as rusty as hubbed axle but is about 40-50cm of height difference

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

I would say that's likely to be scrap when you split it.

[welshpug 1,622]

I doubt the axles have 50cm of travel even, do you mean mm?

 

as Oli said, likely to be scrap, but you never know ill you take it apart and you cannot go on what it looks like on the outside, unless the arm is seized...

[jord294 87]

Doh!

 

If only bloody smart phones gave locations next to usernames

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

50mm yes sorry.

 

stupid question maybe but whats inside the cross section that will make this scrap? is it not just 2 bearing races inside the cross section? could i use 1.9 trail arms and 1.6 cross section if needs be?

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

Bearing races yes, but they rot the inner and outer sides (tube and arm) beyond economic repair

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

how would you determine if the crosstube is too far gone? if the trail arm was built up and re ran but a lathe smith would this solve any of the problem?

[welshpug 1,622]

take it apart.

 

I have no idea what your second paragraph meant.

 

Doh!

If only bloody smart phones gave locations next to usernames

 

mine does

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

Yes, it would as long as the tolerance is perfect. I have thought about doing this myself in the past also.

 

The tube needs to be smooth too...

[jord294 87]

All the load is on the outer bearings, and once the s*it gets in past the seals that's when they deteriorate.

 

1.9 and 1.6 crosstubes are the same. Or should be! More basic model 205s had a slightly narrower tube. But can still be used to build a gti axle.

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

so if i rip both, i can use the 1.6 crosstube and 1.9 trail arms? i can give the new bearing to a lathe smith with the trail arms..he has done simular work for me before is was perfect! this is not a problem. i still dont really iunderstand why theres such a height difference in the two trail arms, when nothings bent or looks out of line?

[Anthony 1,000]

Because the arm will be siezed in the position where it sat with the car on its wheels, whereas the free moving side has raised up as there's no longer any weight on it.

 

If it's serviceable, you can use the 1.6 tube just fine with the 1.9 arms.

[jord294 87]

Just check that when you do your rebuild, that the end caps on your arb line up.

 

I've had it in the past when the arb has been twisted, as the arm had been seized in position for considerable time

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

thats the thing, the car was jacked up on axle stands for about 3 years with no wheels on the car .. so basically when the car was jacked up, one side naturally swung down, and one side stayed as where it was on the ground?

 

also, ripping i the easy part lol, how do i go about putting my axle back to standard height? or lowered 1 nick.. do i just put the shock on and tap in the torsion bars ( i presume its 100% more complicated than this )

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

Build/buy a dummy shock is the only real way to do it.

 

Taking apart may not be as easy as you think!

 

I have hit them with 16 lb sledge hammers before!

[Vili 17]

And remember that sometimes it might be difficult to find parts for one good axle. At least if you're using used parts, so it might be wiser to just buy some parts new...

 

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

anf the dummy shock needs to be set to 312mm is it?

[welshpug 1,622]

depends what ride height you want.

[Anthony 1,000]

Indeed. 322mm is standard height for a 205 GTi beam (18.9mm torsion bars) and 312mm is about 35mm lower than standard.

[Ian205 3 1 Cars]

great thanks i was hoping to go for a 30ml drop! so i took apart both axle's today, one very good cross tube, one gone abit past it. both sets of trail arms were damaged so there gone off to a lathesmitht to be re ran and built up. i also got the new bearings but honeslty i have no faith in them , they look very light to say the least. might get brass bushings made up as this seems to be a common thing to do?

[Vili 17]

Absolute NO to brass bushings! It will make the rear suspension to feel like crap, because there is too much friction. Also you would be better with brand new set of trail arms. This is because the trail arms need proper heat treatment to harden the bearing surfaces. Otherwise they won't last very long.

I hate to be such a wet blanket, but there's not so many ways to do it right.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Vili