back in the garage this winter.

[BillJoBob]

Hello gents! and merry xmas and Happy New Year to everyone. I have been out of the loop lately in regards to the project on our TR3A. But we are back into it this winter. One question we have been pondering is: How can you tell if you have a bent spindle. I have seen the correct toe out in the manuals. I beleive we may have a bent spindle on one side and I have been told that these are not very strong and can bend pretty easily. Also, the check valve on top of the brake proportioning valve seems to be a hard peice to find. Any ideas where to get this or what it takes to rebuild it?
Thanks in advance for the help and info!

Bill

 

[tdskip]

Most exact way is to pull everything apart and check it. What makes you think it if bent?

 

[BillJoBob]

Our reason for thinking this is because after assembling the front suspension, one wheel seems to not be properly toed out at the top like the other side is. we have determined that it has to be either a bent spindle or a bent front axle. everything else seems to be properly aligned and symetrical. The only other possibility is that we may have used spindles from two different model years, and they may have been made differently from year to year.

 

[TR3driver]

The spindles do sometimes bend, but usually only from an accident (like sliding sideways into a curb). Should be identical/interchangeable for all TR2-TR6.

One way to tell is to take it to an alignment shop and have them measure both camber and king pin inclination (aka steering axis inclination). If the KPI is right but the camber is wrong, then you've got a problem with the vertical link or spindle or possibly the upper ball joint. But if the KPI is off as well, then the problem has to be with the pivots or arms (or one of the joints).

 

[TR4nut]

Maybe we're talking about the same thing, but by spindle are you talking about the vertical link or the stub axle? The stub axles probably bend but I've never seen one, however I've owned several bent vertical links! They are easier to spot when they are not installed - you can see the misalignment between the lower threaded portion of the link and the upper hole for the ball joint.

 

[BillJoBob]

Well, I am refering to the axle stub, but Im also not sure about the vertical link either. We compared them before install and they both looked the same. But eyeballing it is not really a good way to tell if one is slightly bent. The passenger side tire sits out at the top about a 1/2 inch. the drives side is pretty much plumb, which means its not correct. Thanks for the info...as always...priceless...happy newyear!

Bill

 

[BillJoBob]

Hello Gents....been a while since Ive been on this site...TR3 has a new motor and trans in her chassis and now we are getting set to drop the body...Thinking the difference with the the front end situation resulted from the vertical link not being turned down all the way into the lower trunion during install. My uncle installed that side and he likes to drink a lot when he works on cars...and I guess he didnt notice that the link had to be turned all the way down and backed out a bit. Anyway...Glad to be back and hope all is well with all of you!

Bill