Rear beam rebuild

[MOK]

   


Can anyone recommend a rebuilder to prepare me a tarmac rally spec axle.  Over the weekend we replaced the rubber mounts with solid Baker BM units and noticed a bit of play in the offside torsion bar end.  We have one more event this year then a mild rebuild before next season.  Also on the last event we had lower front wishbones fail on both fronts.  Are there uprated versions available anywhere ?

[wainwrightj]

Can anyone recommend a rebuilder to prepare me a tarmac rally spec axle.  Over the weekend we replaced the rubber mounts with solid Baker BM units and noticed a bit of play in the offside torsion bar end.  We have one more event this year then a mild rebuild before next season.  Also on the last event we had lower front wishbones fail on both fronts.  Are there uprated versions available anywhere ?

Stef205 is usually your go to! He's on here or you can find him on facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/axlesbystef/

Some feedback of his - https://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=34311

There's also a couple of guides on how to rebuild them if you were interested in doing it yourself

As for up-rated wishbones I can't really help you unfortunately

[RetroPug]

How did the wishbones fail?
Are they genuine ones or aftermarket?

[MOK]

How did the wishbones fail?
Are they genuine ones or aftermarket

They were OEM albeit of dubious age.  The first unit failed at a hairpin at the end of a long straight on an airfield. The surface tarmac was rippled with a lot of loose on the surface.  It felt like we had a puncture until braking for the hairpin when the suspension collapsed and the nearside wheel was forced back into the wheel arch.  On the 3rd stage we again thought we had a puncture at the same place and carefully brought the car through the stage and into service.  On this unit the stub going into the P clamp had sheared and there was evidence that the bobbin mounting was beginning to tear away.  This, I think, was the sequence of events with the first failure but with heavy braking the pin sheared then the mounting ripped off.  I have replaced both with MOOG units from Spoox motorsport.  Any good ? 

   

[pug306driver]

Blimmey, any corrosion at the pin to arm joint/area ?

I suppose a brake reaction link could be taken forward from the ball joint bolts to the body, an extra link/strengthening for braking ??

[Mighty306]

Pretty sure those weren't genuine wishbones as the ball joints are secured with rivets. Originals have bolt-on (& hence replaceable) ball joints, as do most better quality aftermarket replacements. Not sure on the quality of the Moog ones but have often seen Lemforder recommended as decent aftermarket options.

As for beam refurb, can give another strong recommendation to use Stef205. He's based in the South West of England though so you'll have to ship your beam to him.

[MOK]

Blimmey, any corrosion at the pin to arm joint/area ?

I suppose a brake reaction link could be taken forward from the ball joint bolts to the body, an extra link/strengthening for braking ??

No corrosion evident.  The pins look to be cast - maybe steel pins would last longer.  I guess with suspension parts there has to be a 'sacrificial' weak link so if the wishbones were made bomb proof, the sub frame would take all the pain.

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[miles]

Moog are really really cheap, I;d be temped to try TRW as these where OE spec at £40.00 each with some Vibra Tec 'P' bush's, I've got Motaquip ones on mine and these have coped with bouncing off Kerb's to date

Seen the breakage a few times before even after a few miles in some cases, Got to love aftermarket parts and to me the lack of testing of them plus companies willing to sell them to make more margin over decent brands

[welshpug]

moog is just cheap motorfactor stuff, no need to go to a expensive 'motorsport' supplier for stuff like that!!

[MY95]

Go for TRW, I paid £40 for each wishbone a few years ago and they are still spot on now with a lot of miles on them. I've heard the roller bearing wishbones are an upgrade - think there's a possible group buy on going for them also (not cheap however). Nice car by the way.

[Mighty306]

A quick check shows that Mr Auto (https://m.mister-auto.co.uk) do the TRW ones at very reasonable prices. Not sure if they come with ball joints tho. (Can't always trust the pictures). Stuff from them can take a week to arrive as it often comes from France.

[MOK]

Thanks for all your help, I'll bear that in mind for the winter rebuild. Main jobs are rear axle rebuild, offside quarter repair where we slid into a large chemical container. Possibly need to replace front bumper - get through them like sweeties ! The car is vinyl wrapped so no paint required.

[pug306driver]

Yep, some after market stuff is crap, dont buy off the internet. A car crash a few years ago locally was all down to an after market wishbone fitted some 3 years before the crash failing due to corrosion !!!

[Mighty306]

.. dont buy off the internet.

Not sure I totally agree with that but yea, you have to be careful that you use a reputable supplier and get quality parts.

[pug306driver]

IMHO stuff described as "new" on the internet at very cheap prices can only be shoddy stuff. A case in point, a mate very much into e bay purchased a"new" transit bottom ball joint for a £5 ! How the hell can that be made for a £5 and be any good ?

About a week after it was fitted it failed in quite a dramatic way, thankfully in a tesco car park rather than 5 mins earlier or later as he would have been doing 60 down the by pass with the kids on board !

[Mighty306]

IMHO stuff described as "new" on the internet at very cheap prices can only be shoddy stuff.

I don't disagree ...it CAN be.  Doesn't mean quality branded parts aren't available at very competitive prices.  Also, sometimes it's the only place to get what you're looking for.  Could get in to a long discussion about how to avoid the shite on eBay but am conscious that this is a thread about rear beams!

[Frosty]

If i was you i would try and get hold of some second hand genuine bottom arms and get some decent bushes put on them. I've seen it a lot with aftermarket arms breaking.

If you are interested i've got some arms with powerflex p bushes and front bushes fitted to them, i bought them off piggy but im not going to be using them now.

[RetroPug]

I've got some spare genuine arms as well. They've only done about 65k but the bushes are perished.

[pug306driver]

Could get in to a long discussion about how to avoid the shite on eBay but am conscious that this is a thread about rear beams!

pictures suggest front wishbones but what do i know.

[Mighty306]

Yes, they were clearly rubbish. Don't disagree with that!

[MOK]

Thanks for all your input.  One more event this season and will have to go with the new MOOG units as time is against me changing that decision.  Last time out at this venue the Peugeot run sweetly all day and we ended up 18th o/a, 3rd in class.  A repeat of that performance would be great.  Thankfully it is a smooth tarmac venue albeit last time there were two speed bumps included on 4 stages which proved a car breaker with engine mounts and driveshafts getting broken on various cars.

[MOK]

Has anyone any experience of using Citroen Xsara Picasso lower arms on the 306 /  -  they look a bit stronger.