Trailing Arm Help

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

right,

 

nearly got the rear beam apart, well only problem i have had really is getting the torsion bar out of the arm, anyhow, did it and i have discovered this when the torsion bar was removed...

 

this side of the arm has no splines near the top.

 

 

the op side of the arm has splines as you can see.

 

heres another view of the damaged slines

 

 

 

if you look athe the pictures the splines have gone on the arm, so does that mean they are useless, or can they be used? also are 309 gti arms they same as 205 gti arms?

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

come on guys, some of you must have coem across this before... i hope anyhow ha

[jonnie205 1]

looks fine to me

[welshpug 1,626]

Blast it out with some de-greaser, and run a small screwdriver through the splines, there will be one spline missing in the Arm IIRC.

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

I can't see anything wrong with them either but the camera angle might be hiding it & the second photo is blurred.

 

If the splines are gone then the arm is no good, the splines are what holds the bar to work as a spring.

 

309 arms aren't exactly the same as 205 GTi arms, they have a different setting for castor, camber & toe apparently so its best to swap radius arms in pairs for some from another complete beam.

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...6644&hl=toe

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...st&p=698664

 

Graham.

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

right, sorry for the pictures, i have included below marked in red a picture for where the splines are damaged.

 

your ideas??

 

 

is the above reuseable?

 

also if i put 205/306 gti arms on the 309 beam, would it still make it as wide at the rear? Also isnt it right the 309 beam tube that makes it that bit longer, so it wouldnt matter which ams i use.

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

I still can't tell from that photo (its the same as one in your original post just with a red line) because the part you are saying is damaged is at a wrong angle to be able to tell. Can you tale a decent picture looking through the hole where the torsion bars fit?

 

Whatever arms you use the overall width won't change by much, its the 309 centre tube that gives the extra width so the radius arms will make a small difference if any.

 

Is the torsion bar loose in the splines?

 

Graham.

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

right here goes again

 

if you look closely you can see where the splines are damaged across ways, then start again. oh i dont mean the one missing spline down the middle hehehe

 

 

 

 

 

 

the torsion bar wasnt loose when it was togther as it was seized in. i think the damaged caused is maybe me banging it out with a socket. opps

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

give everything a good clean and try to fit the bars into the sockets and see how loose everything is. i rebuilt my 1.6 beam years ago and the splines didnt look too hot and the torsion bars weren't tight in the sockets , but it was fine .They soon rust up tight again!

 

Use your own judgement after all its your car and you drive it . Otherwise take it to a garage and let them decide.

 

personally if i were running standard wheels with standard bumpstops then whats the worst thats going to happen if they do slip?

 

its your choice but personally i think they look fine .

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

even with the bit towards the top where a inch are so have been knock flat if you like...

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

They look fine to me, I'll try to get some decent pictures of the splines from a radius arm I've got downstairs tomorrow.

 

If you've caused any damage to the radius arm I'd have thougth the torsion bar splines would be damaged also but like Al says, if you're not happy when its all cleaned up & you've done a trial fit of the bars into the arms then don't use them.

 

I wouldn't bother with getting a garages opinion, they'll just say its scrap rather than implicate themselves if you fit them on their word & anything happens.

 

Graham.

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

sweet thanks all, well if you look at these pictures it shows the tops of the splines are damaged then they got back to undamaged. I have manaed to tak some decent photos at last,

 

hope these help explain what i mean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

can you see the above where the tops are damaged?

Edited September 18, 2008 by pugtorque
Image file sizes again, changed to thumbnails.

[Tommer 0]

I see what you mean, yes it looks like you have put something, as you say a socket, against it to beat it out of there. only problem is what you have hit it out with has damaged the internal spines.

i did similiar to mine but not as bad.

 

try some little files to try and get the groves back where they should be, but looking at the pics you're gonna have a job getting it back together with that damage....

 

tommer

[jimistdt 1]

For what its worth, mate, and its only my opinion, but I wouldn't fit them on my car, the look like they could fail in use.

 

 

 

Jimi

[taylorspug 7]

What way did you get the bars out of the arms? IE which direction did they slide out from, did you pull the full length of them out of the radius arm so the smaller end of the torsion bar came out of the radius arm too?

[Anthony 1,000]

Definately odd damage to the splines, and not something I've ever seen in any of the beams I've taken apart.

 

Does the spline on the torsion bar that you removed look OK, or is that damaged in the same area?

 

It looks like there is still sufficient splines to hold the bar , but given that 205 arms are easy and cheap to obtain, I'd personally replace it as a matter of course. Certainly I wouldn't consider using that arm for any of the beams that I refurb, put it that way.

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

What way did you get the bars out of the arms? IE which direction did they slide out from, did you pull the full length of them out of the radius arm so the smaller end of the torsion bar came out of the radius arm too?

 

 

well when i took it apart, that torsion bar got stuck, as that was the side where the trailing shaft was stuck, but i managed to get that out, and the tube dont appear to be oval, im on wit painting it now hehehe.

 

so the direction was outwards, i dont think the bars are tappered are they? i will just fit new arms on as a lad i know said the arms are juts the same as others, plus cos its a 309 beam tube it will be still that extra width...

[Anthony 1,000]

i will just fit new arms on as a lad i know said the arms are juts the same as others, plus cos its a 309 beam tube it will be still that extra width...

There's lots of arms that are exactly the same fitment (205, 309, 306, ZX, Xsara) and to the untrained eye look the same in isolation, but as Graham said earlier, they can have quite significant differences in camber and toe. You really need to either replace the arm like for like, or replace the arms in pairs, otherwise you can end up with some odd handling characteristics...

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

I can see the damage properly now in your last photos & I wouldn't use them.

 

Very strange damage, the likes of which I haven't seen before but if I was stripping a beam off a scrap car & saw damage like that I'd start looking for another for the parts instead. (if one wasn't available I'd leave it)

 

Graham.