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Cliff Beer · 08-27-07, 11:34 PM

Looks like a beautiful piece of work Ian. I suspect I'll be calling you and placing an order for front uprights shortly.

Unfortunately, I had a front suspension failure occur while driving modestly down the local freeway here. It was a non-fatal incident, but definitely hairy. To be precise, the upright did not fail, rather, the top two bolts attaching the upright to the ball joint block failed. I believe the two bolts loosened over time allowing the ball joint block to move away from the upright sufficiently to put a sheer force upon the bolt which it couldn't handle. I can only imagine how bad things could have been had this happened on the track at speed.

I encourage anyone who owns an earlier CAV to absolutely check the upright bolts on a regular basis and if they are loose to reapply locktite. To get the car back on the road I ended up using very long 12.9 bolts which thread all the way through the ball joint block and then have a lock nut on the outside (and threadlocked).

Thanks Ian for a super nice upgrade option.

08-27-07, 11:34 PM	#11 (permalink)
Cliff Beer Cliffbeer2 2 Tenths Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sand Point, WA GT40: CAV Posts: 282 Rep Power: 4	Re: More New Upgrades Looks like a beautiful piece of work Ian. I suspect I'll be calling you and placing an order for front uprights shortly. Unfortunately, I had a front suspension failure occur while driving modestly down the local freeway here. It was a non-fatal incident, but definitely hairy. To be precise, the upright did not fail, rather, the top two bolts attaching the upright to the ball joint block failed. I believe the two bolts loosened over time allowing the ball joint block to move away from the upright sufficiently to put a sheer force upon the bolt which it couldn't handle. I can only imagine how bad things could have been had this happened on the track at speed. I encourage anyone who owns an earlier CAV to absolutely check the upright bolts on a regular basis and if they are loose to reapply locktite. To get the car back on the road I ended up using very long 12.9 bolts which thread all the way through the ball joint block and then have a lock nut on the outside (and threadlocked). Thanks Ian for a super nice upgrade option.