Club 80-90 Forums

I reversed the van off the drive this morning with full lock on when I heard a loud bang from underneath the front of the van( 1990 Bluestar) the drivers wheel was also touching the front mudflap. Closer inspection revealed what I think is a snapped radius arm.

I have a couple of questions if anyone can help answer please 1. is this a job I can do on the drive? 2. Should I replace the bushes at the same time ( i think they look ok). 3. Is it advisable to replace both sides together?

Any advice appreciated before I get my local garage to take a look and start spending money.

Thanks

James' vid should do the trick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D5WCIBmB7Y

A hot air gun, stilsons, mole grips, good quality spanners and drown it in penetrating oil for days beforhand; wire brush all the threads thoroughly and even rake them out with a "sharpened" hacksaw blade (tedious but better than the inner nut seizing up on rust)
Good luck!

Sent from my S60 using Tapatalk

Awesome video just the job thanks for the link

I guess it's best to replace both sides from a bush point of view?

Yes definitely use new bushes unless you've replaced them recently.

Where did it snap? Bush end?
Ta and good luck.

Yes It sheared off at the nut at the top of the arm. Managed to get the top bit undone using a heavy duty battery gun and breaker bar on the other side wedged on the floor. Unfortunately it looks like the chassis has suffered a little bit the hole is elongated and is corroded. Has anyone tried to repair the hole I can see a chassis repair section is available from Brickwerks but this seems a little drastic to cut such a large section out for a little hole.

Thanks for the reply,what about using using thicker walled tubing for where the arm goes through the elongated chassis and clean up the elongated hole so it's round?
Good luck.

I going to let an experienced welder have a look at it hopefully this weekend to see what ideas they have. He reckons if the metal is sound around the hole which it is pretty much, then he can weld in a plate and cut the correct size hole into it. Question is how do I know the exact specifications of the original hole in terms of its exact location on the chassis. I'll report back when he has had a look.

Take measurements from the nearside mounting point?

After sitting on the drive looking sorry for itself I got someone to look at it and he advised that the hole was only marginally bigger than it should have been and if we replaced the arm along with new bushes etc it should be fine. So it's all back together finally and driveable again. The other side wasn't too bad other than the bushes definitely needed replacing. I'd advise anyone replacing the bushes to also replace the arms as well just as a precaution it's probably a one off job you'll never do again.

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/b ... -left.html

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/b ... right.html

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/s ... od-t3.html

See the related items section of the radius rods for the nuts, washers and bush kits

Ian