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I've had a problem with my E36 based wing stays as well. The problem on the E36 version is that the wingstay bolts to the upright with a piece of angle at the bottom. The 2 bolts that hold it on seem to create a weak point where the flexing causes it to crack through the middle making it flex more, making it crack more.... you get the idea.
I think its made worse by the length of the stays as well. I've tried a solution using an exhaust clamp, strip of steel and PClips - seems to work but the first P Clips were a tad too small and sheared so new ones are on order!
somehow it doesn't look as good as anyone elses solution but it has damped the wobbling quite a bit...
Andy, your solution looks similar to what I want to attempt, so I'm glad it works! My idea was to weld a bar to the existing stays but this may prove impractical/impossible to fit or remove.
Cheers
Tim
After just 250 miles both my wing stays have cracked in the same place. The crack is on the mounting bracket that bolts between the upright and the hub. 20/20 hindsight is great but I always thought that cycle wing struts which were as long as my E36 design were prone to a lot of flexing and possible failure. I just didn't expect it to happen this quickly ................ Here are pictures of the cracking. Its in the lower corner of the triangular end plate.
After searching Madabout last night I found Andy Dane's idea where the wing stays are braced to the top of the upright using an exhaust clamp and some P clips. I've done the same and it appears to work a treat. Not yet road tested but the flexing is significantly reduced when you give it a good old tap.
It will be good to get it back on the road tomorrow for a proper test. Certainly the knocking noise of what I now know to be the wing stay, against the rim of the wheel, should have now gone away
did your wing stays have that triangular end plate on when you got them or is that your own addition?
My stays came with the end plates already on them so perhaps the weakness was identified and the end plates were the seen as the cheap and dirty solution. But its clearly not, particularly with both mine failing after such a short time.
Your solution however does the job. I have now road tested it. The wing bounce is greatly reduced and the associated noise of the stay hitting the inside edge of the rim has gone altogether.
