Forums/Z31P/z31-repairs-forums suspension-chassis-and-brakes-aa/Welding coilovers to spindle
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Raven: (2015-03-12 06:48:19)
Ok, I'm going to preface this by putting my flame suit on.
I was driving to school today when my front passenger coilover failed at the welds. This is the second time it's failed on this side. Both times it's been ground back down and cleaned before re-welding. I hit some pretty nasty bumps on the interstate daily so I'm sure this is a factor in them failing but this is the second time in 6 months.
First time they were welded was MIG, second was stick welded. (This is where the flame suit comes in handy). I've discussed this issue on here before with how the person who welded it (a family member) talked me out of welding gusset plates the first time. Dumb, I know however I had seen his welds in action before and they took a lot of abuse without fail and decided to trust him on this.
Second time they were welded (same person) told me after he got here he didn't have time to weld gussets but could at least get it welded back so I could be on the road. I had no choice but to do it. So here I am with it broken AGAIN. This person will not be welding on it again. I'm willing to attempt it myself before that happens.
My main dilemma lies with fixing the problem. I am no welder, while I can handle small stuff I don't trust my skill to weld suspension parts. I only have a stick welder operational, I have a Lincoln MIG welder but no gas. Nearest place to refill the tanks is a 30+ mile trip and no car. None of the local welders will touch it, I've called and always get the same answer, "If it goes on a car take it somewhere else."
I'm kind of up a big creek here. I have to have it fixed by Monday night to get to school. Any suggestions? Please no trolls on this. I know this is my fault with how previous things were done. I'm trying to fix that.
V8srfun: (2015-03-12 12:21:18)
I hate to say this but it is the person doing the welding not the equipment. Just bite the bullet and pay the price to have a professional that wields every day for a living and you will not have any more problems
reddzx: (2015-03-12 12:38:30)
In some cases it is necessary to pre-heat before welding. I suspect there were insufficient penetration and you are right, gussets would have helped. It may be that the equipment is not being used correctly as in the settings. Have a professional weld it, your life could be at stake.
Raven: (2015-03-12 17:47:50)
Thanks for the fast responses guys. I would love to have a professional do it but no local welder will touch it. I've called multiple welding shops and it's always the same thing. They don't want to touch anything automotive much less suspension related. This is the issue I went through the first time it broke. I'm going to do a lot of searching for a shop that will take it on and pray they can get it done with a quick turnaround.
Also, what are the spindles made of? I have Powertrix coilers and I believe there tubes are stainless, or regular steel at the very least.
V8srfun: (2015-03-12 18:09:32)
If you were in central Florida I could recommend a guy but he will not do shipping it is a cash only type deal
reddzx: (2015-03-12 18:34:36)
I paid to have mine welded by powertrix when I bought the coilovers
Raven: (2015-03-12 18:54:44)
Hindsight being what it is. If I could do this over I would do the same thing from the beginning reddzx. This has become such a nightmare I've considered getting stock suspension out of a junkyard and running that.
I may have found a place but I need to be positive on what the materials are. The spindles are cast iron correct?
adamvann3: (2015-03-13 02:25:21)
In some cases it is necessary to pre-heat before welding. I suspect there were insufficient penetration and you are right, gussets would have helped. It may be that the equipment is not being used correctly as in the settings. Have a professional weld it, your life could be at stake.
In all cases you should pre-heat the casting before welding it.
Fillet the shit out of the bottom of threaded tube and make a double pass. Wrap it up in an insulation blanket or bury in sand to slow cool the casting. Whom ever is doing your welding doesnt know what they are doing.
Hindsight the extra it would have cost to have the service done the right time doesn't seem so bad now.
If you need your car for monday install the stock suspension back in it.
G-E: (2015-03-13 08:24:44)
That's a silly thing to tell him adam, it's almost certain he chopped up his stock suspension to do it…
Other than that, all the advice about heating/chamfering etc are correct, the spindles have a cast steel base, with a steel tube welded in -- when you weld the adapter, you weld to both idealy
I highly recommend adding a gusset, I did nice curving ones following the upper angle of the brake ears
Axel kain: (2015-03-13 13:45:09)
Reading competition, G-E… getting stock parts from a junk yard.
Hindsight being what it is. If I could do this over I would do the same thing from the beginning reddzx. This has become such a nightmare I've considered getting stock suspension out of a junkyard and running that.
I may have found a place but I need to be positive on what the materials are. The spindles are cast iron correct?
Raven: (2015-03-13 19:27:07)
Well, time for a bit of an update. Drove out to two of the most recommended welders in the area that told me over the phone that they deal with automotive. Only to be turned away when I got there. They took one look at the parts and said they wouldn't do it. I know the parts have some slag that would need to be cleaned up and some surface rust that will come off with a wire brush but still. Got the same old answer. "Our insurance won't let us touch that." One place even told me "I don't think I want to weld that." Not that they couldn't but that they just didn't want to take the job.
Junkyard is out of the question too. No z31's in junkyards around here. And yes I did chop the factory suspension for coilovers. I'm down to the last option that I wanted to avoid at all cost. I'm going down to the welding supply store to get some gas for the MIG welder and I'm just going to have to attempt it myself.
Raven: (2015-03-14 04:05:08)
Picked up gas for the welder just to find that the regulator is busted. That explains why the tank was empty. Picking up a new regulator tomorrow. What thickness metal should be used for the gusset plates? G-E, what did you use?
Also, should I drill a hole into the spindle to allow any water that would accumulate to drain? On closer inspection today it seems that could have also attributed to the welds failing because I can see rust on the inside of the tube and even some moisture inside one of them.
reddzx: (2015-03-14 05:02:40)
Put the spindle in the oven for a half hour on high and heat it up before welding
G-E: (2015-03-14 06:06:05)
Picked up gas for the welder just to find that the regulator is busted. That explains why the tank was empty. Picking up a new regulator tomorrow. What thickness metal should be used for the gusset plates? G-E, what did you use?
Also, should I drill a hole into the spindle to allow any water that would accumulate to drain? On closer inspection today it seems that could have also attributed to the welds failing because I can see rust on the inside of the tube and even some moisture inside one of them.
Drainage holes are a good idea, also you may be able to use some acid to remove the rust, rinse with distilled water and blowdry if you do before welding… also nothing wrong with painting on the inside too
The gusset should be 1/8th or so
weld.jpg
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-14 11:53:27)
Raven: could you give us some more info on your welder? Pictures of your spindle before and after prep? I would suspect that is is a 120V lincoln of some sort, which can weld these coils; with proper prep and preheat. The problem your having is from lack of penetration, it seems your friend that welded these in the first place did not get good penetration.
The problem with welding our spindles to your coils is a difference in base metals, one being cast and the other being steel or stainless steel. Typically this configuration is welded with 309 stainless wire.
Our spindles however can be welded with regular er70s which is the wire I am sure you have, remember a weld is only as strong as the prep. Take your time and bevel the coils well also clean as much rust as possible. As adam suggested make mutiple passes.
Also as you mentioned; your no welder which scares me that your forced to weld something so critical....
Raven: (2015-03-14 19:31:52)
I spoke out of turn when I said it was a Lincoln. Found out last night that it is actually a Chicago Electric Mig 151. I believe these are Harbor Freight welders? I'm headed out to get the new regulator now. I'll post some pictures of the before and wherever I happen to end up tonight when I stop for the night.
I plan on taking this as slow as I can afford to. I have until Wednesday because thats when my new tie rod ends come in. Noticed the threads are messed up on the driver side so I ordered new ones. I plan on just doing all the prep tonight and getting them back to their base point and welding tomorrow. I should have enough time today to get all that done.
G-E, Thanks for the photo of the gusset. Did you lay it on top of the spindle or butt it up to the side. If I'm correct in what I know about welding shouldn't I put it about half way on the spindle so I have a nice little channel to weld into? Then make a pass on the underside before putting the threaded tube on the spindle?
Spooledup, believe me I'm scared too. I've welded before but nothing like this.
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-14 23:03:46)
Yep Chicago electric is Harbor freight. Do you have a torch to preheat?
james: (2015-03-15 00:56:48)
Make some passes on some scrap of similar thickness to get your settings dialed in.
Be nice and comfortable at your welding table / or whatever your using. Make "dry" passes with the welder turned off to work out your angles and how far you are going to go each time.
All of that is part of the prep, remember you are preparing yourself as much as you are preparing the metals to be welded.
reddzx: (2015-03-15 01:10:50)
heat, angle and travel speed.
G-E: (2015-03-15 05:39:37)
G-E, Thanks for the photo of the gusset. Did you lay it on top of the spindle or butt it up to the side. If I'm correct in what I know about welding shouldn't I put it about half way on the spindle so I have a nice little channel to weld into? Then make a pass on the underside before putting the threaded tube on the spindle?
It's on top of the edge, I hoped my little blobs would represent weld beads ok :P
Mine doesn't point upward as seen from the wheel side, but being at an angle helps triangulating, the high point on the forward edge is about 90 degrees apart from the low point on the sleeve…
Raven: (2015-03-15 05:55:48)
Ok I see what you mean G-E. Hopefully I have good luck with mine.
I'm going to get some 1/8 tomorrow for the gussets and use some of that for practice. I do have access to a torch. Small propane all the way up to an oxy acetylene torch. I didn't get much done tonight because I went to check my workspace and make sure I didn't need anything else while I was at harbor freight.
Shop was a wreck so I spent a few hours cleaning it up so I would have room to move. Also discovered only one of the florescent lights work currently so I had to pick up some double halogen floor lights. Managed to get everything cleaned up and ready for work though. Also got the broken coilover on the table. It suffered total weld failure. 1 hit with a rubber mallet and it will move.
I have to figure out how I'm stripping the spindle. Need to get the control arm off and the two bolts won't budge. Going to try the impact in the morning but our compressor is worn out so we will see how well it works.
Well as promised I can atleast show you some pictures of what I have to work with. I'm embarrassed this was even on my Z.
[archived image: IMG_20150311_125503154_zpsy45vlwdi.jpg]
You can see from the tire angle how far it went when the welds let go. I think the height that we left the original tube is the only reason it didn't completely come apart on me. You can also see where the locking nuts cut some nice grooves into the tire. For reference I had it set at -3 degrees camber. Now for the close up. If you have a weak stomach you can look away now…
[archived image: IMG_20150312_153120532_HDR_zpsp7eyl26v.jpg]
Sorry If the pictures are too large. I resized them but photobucket has been weird for me lately.
G-E: (2015-03-15 09:12:57)
Probably not what you want to hear, but honestly I'd scrap that… that needs some machining to make right again :\
The only other viable solution would be my coilover adapters because they sit inside the tubes, so that mess would be largely irrelevant, the major hurdle is you'd need my adapters, plus s13 brackets from powertrix
You'd be down for weeks....
So the unenviable choice you have is to make it work:
- grind down the sleeves to be round, then bevel the lower edge
- grind the spindle around the old tube further down to create a new surface free of weld damaged metal (probably 1/8th will do)
- weld the sleeve back on
- weld a strap around the whole back/inner side like a patch, making sure it overlaps by say 1/2" and therefore your weld doesn't overlap the first sleeve weld
- add the gusset on the outer side to add dimensional strength
- dunk the whole thing in enamel rust paint :P
PS. you'll have to make sure the sleeve is welded exactly the same angle as the other, so it's not as easy as my instructions sound, measure 13 times in every direction, with the other "good" spindle nearby for verification
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-15 09:52:15)
Whoa… yep you have your hands full on this repair, seems like after the first break the spindles were welded in place with little to now prep work.
Lack of penetration is an understatement… Grind all of 'that' off and see what you have to work with.
Please post before pics after your prep work, so that we can see what metal is left to weld.
gardner86zx: (2015-03-15 21:55:01)
Yours should have come out looking like this
[archived image: 20130227_153450_zps36dc6104.jpg]
These are professionally tig welded and powder coated
NissanEgg: (2015-03-15 22:18:08)
I hate to say this but yes they need to be scraped. No wonder the other welders said no, and for good reason.
reddzx: (2015-03-15 23:26:29)
I hate to say this but yes they need to be scraped. No wonder the other welders said no, and for good reason.
I agree, those are FUBAR.
Raven: (2015-03-16 04:19:56)
Yes, I agree they are fubar. However, they are all I have. When I say this is my daily, this is my only vehicle. I'm hoping when you see the cleaned up pictures some hope in the parts will be restored. I started by taking a wire wheel to the broken one to get a better idea of what I was working with…
[archived image: IMG_20150315_143511598_zpszkhiiu9s.jpg]
After fighting to separate it from the spindle I got the two apart. I also did a test grind to see how much the weld had built up in the event in was a thin pool, nope…
[archived image: IMG_20150315_204103_zps3yiw4ltu.jpg]
Here, on the adapter, you can see that most of the original surface is still intact as the welds didn't penetrate. Starting to feel that I could clean that up enough to make it usable.
[archived image: IMG_20150315_151300514_HDR_zpswycqh5tv.jpg]
Just a bit of the cleanup process…
[archived image: IMG_20150315_161617050_zpsfju2ngcc.jpg]
Here the adapter is all cleaned up, you can tell at about 4 o'clock theres a divot. This is from where the stick welder burnt through the metal and to get a nice clean area I had to take it down some…
[archived image: IMG_20150315_170259360_HDR_zps69off2sv.jpg]
Here is how the spindle came out. There's some material loss near the round hole (what is this thing?) but other than that it came out alright I think. On both sides I was able to save the original surface area so I can at least use that to level it up.
[archived image: IMG_20150315_185123248_zpsiuoifmer.jpg]
Last is a shot of the driver side. the welds are holding but they could use a grind down and another pass. I see some spots that could be problematic in the future so I'll address it now. I'm also going to weld a gusset to this one. I haven't done any work to it yet but I thought I would go ahead and show it (yes I realize my boot on the control arm has a tear).
[archived image: IMG_20150315_185409204_zpstte5itvt.jpg]
Thoughts?
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-16 09:36:15)
They cleaned up surprisingly well with little material loss. Bevel your coil tubes to half the original thickness, preheat then weld.
I would reweld the passenger side also..
Paint your welds once your all done to protect from the elements.
jaqattack02: (2015-03-16 13:24:46)
Not really helpful, but this is a perfect example of why I discourage people from doing mods on their daily. When something goes wrong, you're f'd if you don't have a backup vehicle.
G-E: (2015-03-17 01:39:45)
Good start, make sure it sits straight, doesn't look like your new surfaces are level…
A good possible solution is some threaded rod, clamping the sleeve with some fat washers or plate, and through a hole in the bottom of the tube area, so you can shim it and re-check until perfect -- but that will require separating your knuckle and things which seems to be a problem
Butter: (2015-03-17 16:52:17)
Jeez, that was some real bird poop welding.
The ones I've done, I've cut that inner stub (the part that probably saved your life when the weld broke) so it sits level with the interior bevel of the adapter once installed. Then I also weld that inside there, reaching in with a stick welder. If you do this along with a gusset, it's pretty impossible for it to break.
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-18 21:53:27)
Raven, how did you make out?
Raven: (2015-03-19 05:23:36)
Sorry guys I've been in class all week. Spent the whole weekend working on the Z so I had to rush to get papers written. Barely had time to breathe this week. I'm most likely going to start welding tomorrow. Only think I have to do it some light clean up on the coilover that didn't break to get it ready to weld the gusset. I also have to get some more cutting disks. Chewed through what was apparently our last one before I could get the fully cut.
G-E, yeah I'm going to be super careful with the alignment.
Butter, thanks for that information. I agree, the length we left it at is what saved me from major damage.
One thing of note that just occurred to me. What wire should I be using in the MIG? I noticed that the machine is loaded with what appears to be copper colored wire.
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-19 09:49:32)
Raven, please look at some welding videos online to help understand what is what. The copper coated wire is mig wire and should be fine for your need.
The copper coating protects the wire from rusting.
Butter: (2015-03-19 20:35:36)
ER70S-6 with Argon/CO2 mix. I hope you're not using flux core.
I've also stick welded them with special rods for cast repairs like Radnor Cast99. They are pricey and stick welding isn't for novices however. I use that same rod for welding cracked exh manifolds and wg flanges too.
The tube isn't cast tho, so you can hit that with your standard E7018 or 6013 stick if you want to do what I said earlier.
Axel kain: (2015-03-19 20:58:28)
^verify solid core (usually is the copper washed like you see) and it requires use of shielding gas 25%/75%. and make sure the size of the wire suits your welder, and the size of the materials you're working with.
Raven: (2015-03-20 02:00:55)
Got a late start today but I did get my gusset plates made. I also verified that the wire in the welder is ER70S-6, wire size is .030. Everything looks good to go on welding. Just have some last minute wire wheel work before I start to clean off some surface rust from the weather we've had.
Butter, there's a gap between my inner tube and the adapter due to the length of the inner tube. Would it still be fine to hit it with the stick welder? Not necessarily to make a full weld but just a few spot welds. Would that even make a difference?
G-E: (2015-03-20 05:52:10)
With the gusset there's no real need, but you'll want to cut the tubes down to a max of 1cm tall either way, the rest is just dead weight
adamvann3: (2015-03-20 18:28:19)
I would leave some length on the tube. You biggest strength is from penetrating the strut tube, plus it aligns everything nicely.
Raven: (2015-03-20 19:51:19)
Yeah, I plan on leaving them the length they are. I'm really not concerned with the dead weight and I fully believe the length attributed to them not coming completely apart when the welds failed. I hope they never fail again…but just in case I would like to have that failsafe. I realize that catastrophic failure is always a chance but knowing it was what saved me before leads me to want to keep them how they are.
adamvann3: (2015-03-21 01:15:59)
The tradeoff is the bottom of the damper will bottom out on the strut limiting how low you can go.
In the past this was an issue due to damper length but I pretty sure it has been addressed. I have not measure the damper free lengths in a while to see the evolution
Raven: (2015-03-21 23:12:47)
Well, I got them welded. One side is not pretty at all, well neither are amazing welds but there are no pinholes and I made sure to make two passes.
Here's the first side that I welded. I believe this was the side that I didn't completely separate so that could also have played a part in the messy welds. I believe it was from not preheating the metal well enough. Gusset is messy due to me having some issues with wire feed.
[archived image: IMG_20150321_161221085_zpscsj5qmwl.jpg]
[archived image: IMG_20150321_161233897_zpsadjift8w.jpg]
This side I made sure to really preheat the parts. I also seemed to fix my wire feed issue I was having on the gusset from the first one.
[archived image: IMG_20150321_161208270_zpshykgconf.jpg]
[archived image: IMG_20150321_161215171_zpsrtiendqm.jpg]
So…how did I do? Like I said I'm no welder but I think these look pretty good all things considered. They seem like they will hold.
V8srfun: (2015-03-21 23:27:48)
I am no professional to be honest I have never even used a welder but I know lots of welders and seen a lot of there work. To me it looks like you need more heat and less wire. Although what you have there looks like it is good enough to drive on next time you may want to preheat more and turn the wire feed down. Once again I may be totally wrong on this but that is what it looks like to me.
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-22 11:52:20)
Raven: the welds on the spindles appear to lack penetration, without going into to much theory. I would suggest you grind off all of the welds and try again. Prep Prep Prep its more important than the actual weld. The spindle is under stress and need to have a sound strong weld.
The purpose of beveling the metal is to help with penetration, I would assume your welder is only 120V(plugs into a standard wall socket) so prep and preheat with mutiple passes is even more important.
Did you watch any videos on yourtube?
Raven: (2015-03-22 18:23:09)
I don't believe I could have prepped that any better than I did. Like I said, preheat could have been an issue on the first one that I did but I don't see where you can tell wether the spindle got penetration or not. Also there is no way possible that I can grind that all down, clean it up AND re-weld it before tomorrow.
Metal was bevelled, welder is 220V, this are with multiple passes. I didn't go all Ghostbusters with the welder and leave it at one pass. The first pass looked really good to me but as I didn't have 100% penetration on my test pieces with the same welds (I mean how uniform they looked) I made sure to make multiple passes to be on the safe side.
V8srfun: (2015-03-22 18:30:22)
You can judge penetration by how the wield looks if it looks like toothpaste squeezed out on top of the metal you did not penetrate
When you have proper penetration the wield should look fluid with the material like they totally melted together
reddzx: (2015-03-22 18:54:30)
I absolutely would not drive on that.
Raven: (2015-03-22 19:10:00)
I hope no one thinks I'm being defensive here. I'm having to use this as a learning curve, it's not ideal but here we are.
V8srfun: Thanks, that's the sort of thing I'm looking for. On that note I have a question. Yes I realize there is a lot of pool up going on. If I grind down the welds and it becomes totally solid and smooth due to my earlier passes would that not satisfy the criteria?
For an example…the rusted side that didn't fail. I forgot to snap a picture but on this side when I ground down the welds I found solid metal. There was no place (aside from the occasional gaps, 95% was solid) were I could tell where spindle started and adapter stopped. Now from the outside I could not have seen that because the welds looked, as you described, like toothpaste. However on the inside they fit your melted together criteria.
V8srfun: (2015-03-22 19:20:35)
The problem is when you grind it it becomes harder to judge the penetration what I mean is that you can make a not so good wield look better by grinding the top of it off but in all reality it is still the same wield
If I was you I would at least try and redo the first one with a better preheat. I understand your situation and believe me I know it is tough when you are pressed for time and need your car.
Raven: (2015-03-22 19:32:21)
Ok I think I understand now, thanks for the clarification. I don't see why I couldn't at least try to get the first one redone. I honestly don't feel I would do any better the first go around, aside from preheat, but I could do it. My thing was wanting them to cool for 24 hours before hitting them with paint(which I planned to do today) and then install them early tomorrow before school.
boosted300: (2015-03-22 20:22:27)
I hope no one thinks I'm being defensive here. I'm having to use this as a learning curve, it's not ideal but here we are.
V8srfun: Thanks, that's the sort of thing I'm looking for. On that note I have a question. Yes I realize there is a lot of pool up going on. If I grind down the welds and it becomes totally solid and smooth due to my earlier passes would that not satisfy the criteria?
For an example…the rusted side that didn't fail. I forgot to snap a picture but on this side when I ground down the welds I found solid metal. There was no place (aside from the occasional gaps, 95% was solid) were I could tell where spindle started and adapter stopped. Now from the outside I could not have seen that because the welds looked, as you described, like toothpaste. However on the inside they fit your melted together criteria.
Why are you getting so defensive??
[archived image: wink.png]
Spooledup300z: (2015-03-22 20:40:52)
It's your car man, if you feel as though your welds are sound then its all good.
G-E: (2015-03-22 22:59:01)
Maybe I'll be the contrarian today haha :P
The welds look ugly and I'm sure there's isolated spots of bad penetration (effectively like solder) but overall with the multiple passes and the gusset, I believe they are adequate…
Butter: (2015-03-23 01:12:48)
It looks like you were moving too fast. Take your time so it has the chance to penetrate. Watch youtube mig videos for proper techniques and practice on some 1/8" thick scraps. Try to break your own welds, to find your strengths and weaknesses.
Raven: (2015-03-23 02:12:03)
Boosted300: So funny :roll eyes:
Spooledup300z: I understand that's what it really comes down to I really just don't have a lot of confidence when it comes to welding. If people tell me my welds will fail wether or not they are qualified to say that it's going to make me second guess the whole project…if that makes sense.
G-E: That's pretty much how I feel about them at the moment.
Butter: That's what I figured out today. I took the advice and re-welded both of them and cut my wire speed back, kept the heat the same and slowed down and the welds seemed to improve. They still look horrible but I feel more confident about them now than I did yesterday. I'm going to keep up with learning for future projects. I have all the scrap 1/8" stock from making the gusset I can practice on.
So as I said there I did re-weld both sides. Still nothing amazing in how they look but I do feel better about them. I let them cool earlier and hit them with some primer a few minutes ago. Going to paint them early, install my new tie rod ends and get everything back together. I'll post some pictures of how they turned out.
Just a side note…I am trying to purchase another set of adapter tubes from Powertrix. If I can then source a pair of 4 lug spindles I am going to send them in and have Powertrix get me set up properly. That is my endgame plan with this if I can get the adapter tubes.
adamvann3: (2015-03-23 14:49:46)
You can swap you hubs onto any spindle. Just find a spare set of spindles, cut them down and send them in.
V8srfun: (2015-03-23 17:01:23)
This is not the safest thing to do but to test your wield and build your confidence back up you could always find a really bumpy back road and give them a good test just don't go to fast so if any thing does happen (not that it will) you can still keep control of the car
I also want to say the wields you did are way better than the original ones that failed. They do not have to be pretty to be good
Raven: (2015-03-23 20:11:23)
Adamvann3: That's good to know. I was under the assumption that the spindles were different between Turbo and N/A. Maybe it was just strut tube diameter?
V8srfun: Good advice. Just knowing they are better than the original ones that failed make me feel better about them. They lasted a long time with some pretty heavy abuse before they failed so if I take it easy and navigate bumps carefully enough I should be able to make them last until I can get a replacement set. Still waiting to hear from Powertrix so that will determine what I do next.
Thanks for all the help everyone. I'll keep this thread updated to let you know how they hold up.
ShamWow: (2015-03-24 02:41:55)
holy shitttttt
G-E: (2015-03-24 04:03:15)
Post pics of the finished job eh… don't leave us dangling in a stiff breeze
adamvann3: (2015-03-24 04:06:16)
Adamvann3: That's good to know. I was under the assumption that the spindles were different between Turbo and N/A. Maybe it was just strut tube diameter?
V8srfun: Good advice. Just knowing they are better than the original ones that failed make me feel better about them. They lasted a long time with some pretty heavy abuse before they failed so if I take it easy and navigate bumps carefully enough I should be able to make them last until I can get a replacement set. Still waiting to hear from Powertrix so that will determine what I do next.
Thanks for all the help everyone. I'll keep this thread updated to let you know how they hold up.
There is a difference between kouki and zenki with the angle of the spindle. However its negligible since you have camber adjustments up top and the track width is minimal. There is a difference between NA and turbo tubes, but they are cut low enough its all the same diameter.
Depending on what dust shields you use you may need to trim or switch rear seals on the hubs. All very easy to do.
Raven: (2015-03-25 18:04:48)
Awesome that takes some stress off knowing that there is minimal differences. I don't have an issue with trimming the rear shields if I have to.
G-E: Sorry I forgot to get some good pictures. I was in a rush to get it all back together. I do have one of the driver side off the car and one of the passenger side (that failed) installed.
Here is the driver side…
[archived image: IMG_20150325_015353_zpsj9btrbxd.jpg]
…and the passenger side…
[archived image: IMG_20150324_145253131_zpsc2dycjvt.jpg]
V8srfun: (2015-03-25 19:22:43)
just to clarify the wields that you just have fixed did not break?
Raven: (2015-03-26 20:40:19)
The picture of the spindle on the ground is the drivers side that did not fail. I re-welded them anyway when I added the gusset plate to them. The picture that shows one installed is the passenger side that failed.