I was cleaning up my drop links and noticed that both have a slight but noticeable curve. It is in the same direction.
In first of the pictures below you see them side by side with the curve/ bend in the same direction.
Is this supposed to be there ? If so is there a preferred direction ( bend to front or back).
If it is not supposed to be there does it really matter. I am thinking not as long as they are both installed the same way around.
I canât see any reason why they canât be used , after all the bit that is bent is in rubber bushes the part up from the shoulder to the bar looks straight , so once bolted down the 2 sides should be the same .
You could put them in a Vice and tap them straight , protecting the thread of course , with a lump of wood or the like .
every one I have ever looked at is like yours, bent! given the job they are doing and the size if the item its not a surprise IMHO
Little point in replacing them unless they are heavily corroded or some other issue.
not good/ great . mine were bent even on early small bar so was easy to change them when had subframe off and i had a very good heavy bar to attach with slightly different stock frame pads cheap used. agree about engineering geometry with other listers here. i believe bars are vulnerable also were supplied with very poor lasting bushings material from new. j
Slightly wonky is fine but the sleeve on the shaft area of the link needs to fit â often not fitted / omitted in repairs â I had to very gently grind such the sleeve fitted.
I changed the rubber bush for poly , had to make a slight mod to the bush , so it would fit the retaining washers , one of many mods one has to do to get new parts to fit
I had to cut one of the old sleeves off - rusted in place - but have new ones - they fit fine. I assumed that the sleeves had to be loose to ensure they could slide to their final resting place when the fitting is tightened.
The new bushes, both rubber and poly I have donât have a beveled edges on either end. The are just flat. Was the same with the last ones I fitted. They are a smaller diameter though than the retaining washers and should fit fine when they morph under pressure.
Cheers.
Dave
Yes !
On carâs with Alloy sumps there should be a alloy spacer and a metal cage for it to fit on , so the roll bar clears the sump ,between 3 and 4 and the chassis , itâs 1/2 inch , if you fit a XJ6 Engine spacer needs to be 1 inch !
I noticed the reference to an aluminium spacers used when mounting the roll bar to the chassis. They sit between the chassis and the plate which holds the split rubber bush. See #7 below. I donât have these. They also donât appear to be available from any of the usual suppliers. I wonder if their absence contributed to the extra stress that bent my drop links ?
I was going to fabricate them out of really dense hard âplasticâ I happen to have. Could anyone tell me how deep they are ?
I donât have an aluminium sump mind you so if they were only specific to that then I donât need them - hence why I donât have themâŚ
Metal sump cars donât need them.
My MK2 metal sump didnât have them. My S Type, aluminium sump, had the packing pieces. They were about 10mm thick.
The drop links on both cars, and in fact, the complete front sub frame was the same in both cars.
hi dave - there is a chance you have been mismatched with parts from previous owner or wrench person etc. ithink that #4 is a heavy mild steel bent piece fitted to many of these cars after about 1963 toheld reinforce and retain bushing which had a tendancy to split or pop out??
Will use as is.
