Front Suspension Reinforcement

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V8 burble
Posts: 278
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:13 am

Front Suspension Reinforcement

Post by V8 burble » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:03 pm

If your front suspension assembly is off the car at any time, it may be a good idea to strip down the unit to the bare crossmember and reinforce some potential weak spots, using a MIG welder or similar.
Do not use excessive heat, especially on the relatively delicate top wishbones.
The main areas are:
1) The top shock absorber mounting. Weld all 4 edges on the square plate.
2) A few inches below the above: The 2 sides of the spring turret, where the vertical plates meet the top of the circular section. Welding the third (inner) side may possibly cause fouling against the chassis.
3) On the outer face of the spring turret, there is an oblong vertical hole, which ideally needs a small plate welding into position as extra support.
4) Underneath each top wishbone there is a splined boss which is only spot welded to the wishbone and can sometimes come adrift. Remove the spring steel circlip from the top swivel joint, support the wishbone and then press (not hammer) out the joint.
Without using excessive heat, weld a few beads between the splined boss and the wishbone. Carefully press the swivel joint back into position, ensuring that its groove faces outwards, away from the car. Refit the spring steel circlip.

michael-king
Posts: 438
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:35 am
Location: Melbourne Australia
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Post by michael-king » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:59 pm

Doing the front cross member reinforcement is a good idea, but one of the first things you should do before this is to make sure the member is still true.

The Tiger suspension members have a habbit of sagging. If there is evidence of cracks and buckles its best to get everything back and true so that when you reinforce it its goes back in as it should be.

If you plan on driving it hard or on track days etc and have more time/expertise it is advisable to open them up and weld strengthening gussets inside the shell of it.
Michael King
63 Alpine SII - 65 Alpine SIVGT
65 Tiger MKI - 66 Tiger MKIA
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