YKC Rear Suspension.

[soundelectricalservices]

Yesterday I moved the car a few feet and heard a strange sound from the rear, on investigation I found that the bottom of the AVO coil-over damper had broken off and was just resting in position, had this have happened on the road the possibility exists that if the coil over damper had not wedged itself against the axle then that corner of the car would have dropped causing the road wheel to come into contact with the wheel arch.

This would have certainly destroyed the wheel arch and possibly acted as a brake on that wheel possibly resulting in loss of control of the vehicle.

AVO are aware of this piece breaking off and their new units are made from a single billet of steel.

It is possible that the design of the rear suspension also played a part in this, I'm not sure yet but it may not allow for any slight side to side movement of the axle and this stress is transmitted to the damper unit causing it to fail. I will be investigating this in the next few days. Possible modification may be required to allow some bushed sideways movement of the damper.

I will also be looking at installing additional bump stops to restrict the movement of the suspension to prevent wheel contact with the wheel arch in the event of this occurring whilst driving.

There are some pictures on our facebook page "ykc bloxwich" please feel free to paste them on this forum if you wish.

Please check your rear suspension for any signs of damage around this fixing.

[Michael Turpin]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

Sorry I don,t know your name but a couple of questions If I can.
1 What year is the vehicle?
2 are the Avo,s original?
3 you say Avo are aware, have you been in touch with them and have they offered any replacements/discount on new ones?
4 what are the design changes?
5 Mine have been on for over 20 years and are still in good condition, however I appreciate looks can be deceptive


The picture look as we all need to inspect our Avo,s so thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[Michael Turpin]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

do you have the product code for the shocks?

[soundelectricalservices]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

Following another inspection and information from others on facebook, I can now see that there is a design fault with the lower mounting onto the axle, when the axle is not parallel to the car, on wheel up or down with respect to the other wheel there is a twisting force applied to the bottom of the damper, the rubber bush cannot accommodate this movement because of the metal to metal contact at each side of the fixing.

I am amazed that I have not thought about this before but when you have the snapped off component in your hand and with one side of the car jacked up it's very obvious what's happened, I'm surprised how long the bottom weld on the damper unit remained in one piece, you can see from the fracture how it's been rocked from side to side, the worst possible motion.

There is no point in fitting new units until I have come up with a design change, possibly a rose joint for the lower mounting, I have emailed AVO for assistance.

Please inspect your suspension and see if the same situation applies, if necessary jack up one side of the rear of the car and look to see if the axle applies this twisting force at a right angle to the bottom of the damper units, for example across the fixing bolt.

The last few weeks we have been using the car a lot including motorway driving, I feel very lucky that this did not happen whilst on the road.

[milliemarlin]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

There are some pictures on our facebook page "ykc bloxwich" please feel free to paste them on this forum if you wish.

Hi, I tried to view the photos on your page but I can only see public events that you have shared. Please can you put the pictures on here or send them to me so that I can post them.
Thanks, Paul

[soundelectricalservices]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

Working it out now. everything on the facebook page should be public, I'll look at that too.

[h_m_cumming]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

I saw them OK last night!

[Michael Turpin]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

I too can see the pictures and I have to say what Tony has described is quite true and really needs to be addressed any offers of solutions i'm sure will be gratefully received.

[soundelectricalservices]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

For some reason I can't seem to upload my pictures of the suspension.
AVO have been in touch and think the new unit may solve the problem due to the bush arrangement.
I will fit one when it arrives and make a decision, it could be OK but may result in a short life of the bushes, perhaps if a bush last twenty years the reason is not doing anything, could end up with a rose joint arrangement.
The land rove bump stops have arrived today and I will be looking at where and how to fit them, the possibility of the wheel hitting the wheel arch cannot be allowed to exist. I do not consider the vehicle to be safe until these are installed, one component failing must not result in a disaster.
Next we have to look at the stresses on the trailing arms, I suspect these will require modification
I have looked at the loop on the other AVO unit, this is still carrying the weight of the car but I can see the start of a fracture on each side.
This failure of the weld is not the fault of AVO in fact on looking at the setup I'm amazed it's lasted this long.
At the end of the day the cars are our hobby and we must try to improve their performance and safety, we will end up with a car with better suspension and safety, I'm just amazed how this design fault was never spotted during the SVA or MOTs .
Tony Jones
YKC Julietta Bloxwich

[stevejgreen]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

For some reason I can't seem to upload my pictures of the suspension.

Non members have restricted rights on this forum, maybe you have bee caught out.

[soundelectricalservices]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

Non members have restricted rights on this forum, maybe you have bee caught out.

You raise a good point there Steve and yet I get my pit stop book, I've paid my membership every year for the past 15 years or so, but it doesn't say member by my name, perhaps you could assist in correcting that error.


Tony Jones.
Bloxwich

[soundelectricalservices]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

Membership Number 04/010 Tony Jones. Bloxwich.

[stevejgreen]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

You raise a good point there Steve and yet I get my pit stop book, I've paid my membership every year for the past 15 years or so, but it doesn't say member by my name, perhaps you could assist in correcting that error.


Tony Jones.
Bloxwich

Out of my hands, despite my enthusiasm!

[milliemarlin]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

I can confirm that Tony is a fully paid up member. I have asked him to send me the pictures. I can't see any problems with his membership or id that would prevent him adding pictures. For reference there is a description of how to add pictures here:

http://www.marlinownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?7031-How-to-add-pictures-to-a-post&highlight=Attachments

Paul

[dogoncrazy]

Re: YKC Rear Suspension.

Tony
How many miles has your car completed out of interest? It may not be of major concern to others out there who only use their cars occasionally.