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With my car having recently been stripped, it was possible to check the various suspension components for signs of excessive stress.
Something that was noted was the way the powder coat had flaked away in the region of the rear lower arm balljoint. Looking closer it was apparent the plate that the lower ball joint bolts to, was bent on both arms.
Whilst it's hard to predict what may eventually have happened had I continued to use my car before sending it away for surgery, I do wonder if a failure similar to that suffered by Patrick's Sportster could have occured.
I think it would be prudent for other owners to check the state of their cars, and even if nothing is obvious at the moment, unbolt the ball joint from the arm, and weld on some gussets.
It did worry me seeing Patricks outcome. I had already got the revised lower wishbones with the screw in type lower wishbone, and wondered why the change in mounting.
In addition to the above, and having looked at my front lower arms this evening, I've noted that on full droop my arms were trying to bend around the chassis rails. This has dented the tubes.
Part way through re springing the front end and resetting the bumpsteer....checked my front arms and they don't touch the chassis on full travel...a couple of mm clearance so no damage.
...BUT....having stripped the dampers and springs off I've found that the suspension pivot bushes are quite tight (AGAIN!!)
...so I'll be stripping them down again and relubing......anyone got a long term solution to this one?