Millie antiroll bar

[ggrum]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

On the assumption that the rubber compliance bushes in the lower arm and the ARB mounting under the chassis absorb a certain amount of the impact or shock load I'm wondering if the potential problem is aggravated if the harder poly bushes are fitted. I have a standard set up albeit with a 28mm diameter ARB. I scraped the paint away around the weld between the ARB mounting block and the chassis and was a bit concerned to see the amount of rust on the chassis directly next to the weld even though the paint looked good. This may be caused by the fact that the weld fillet is probably a different steel alloy to the chassis material and so you effectively have dissimilar metals in direct contact. The residual stress in the weld could also contribute to the corrosion. Having said all this, once I wire brushed the rust away there was no sign of any cracking or splitting after over 40k miles.

[danny_nelson]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

As soon as I have worked out how to put some images on here I shall show just how serious a failure this is. Danny.

[scott h]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

As soon as I have worked out how to put some images on here I shall show just how serious a failure this is. Danny.

Click the icon of a framed pic of a tree, third from the right. You will probably have to resize the pic, which is easy to do if you took the pic on your phone by using an app. When you add the pic it only shows as text, but you can view it when it is live on the forum, and you can then edit or delete if you are not happy with it.

[dcunn]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

Danny, hope this will help you, I’ve also emailed it to you :
To add pix to a typed reply, when you’ve finished the typing, hit the "Go Advanced" button, and then the lower down "Manage Attachments" button.
You then use the "Browse" button to look for the pix you wish to upload, and having found a pic hit the "Upload" button, and then repeat
this for as many pix as you wish to upload, then hit "Submit Reply" when you’re ready to do so

Before adding them, you may need to downsize the pix if they are too big – if that’s a problem send them to me and I’ll do it for you and return them to you
Rgds DC

[danny_nelson]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

Thanks Dave.

[dcunn]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

Here are Danny's pics - I'll leave him to type up and add anything about them that he wants to !

[cabrioman]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

I wonder if the failure is due in part to the welding together of significantly different thicknesses of metals, it would be interesting to get the view of a professional welder boiler maker or such, sadly not in my sphere of expertise.

I would be interested in seeing pictures of the repairs that have been done and the approach people have taken. I spoke to Marlin a week or so ago about the fix they were looking at, they confirmed the "fix" would be to weld and plate the chassis and mounting rather than re-engineering/re-designing a solution to the split arb they originally went with on the M20 cars.

[danny_nelson]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

Okay so the pictures above speak for themselves to show how serious this failure can be. This was the first car I discovered with this problem. The car had covered minimal mileage (car shows etc

[A_Hogg]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

Not pretty! Enough of a reason NOT to go down the route of compression struts.
Its a pity that Marlin didn't adopt the sportster front suspension for the Cabrio then this situation could possibly have been prevented, particularly on the BMW engined version where they chopped the centre out of the ARB . Others should have just left the original ARB in place. Hindsights a wonderful thing.

[milliemarlin]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it should also be remembered that the main reason for fitting the struts to Millie was because I had a bent estate car anti roll bar. I had no idea the ARB came in different sizes.

I agree that the sportster suspension is an improvement on the Cabrio (although that too has had problems). Given the correct ARB the Cabrio suspension is perfectly serviceable.
Paul

[milliemarlin]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

To finish off this tale; I have now fitted the modified un-bent ant-roll bar. Despite all my careful measurement the castor angle has come out at almost 7 degrees on both sides. I am very happy with that. As mentioned before castor angles of between 6 and 12 are quite acceptable. I notice that toe-in has a more significant effect on the feel of the car (and tyre wear). The camber is still slightly negative on one side and slightly positive on the other but it is the best it has ever been.

Way back in post #36 I mentioned that the Renault Clio was close to the weight of Millie and had a 2.1° castor. By sheer coincidence I hired a Clio and can confirm that the power steering is good enough for Nicole and Papa but nothing special.

I have covered a few miles now over rough and smooth roads and can confirm that I am very happy with the feel of the car. You can certainly tell there is no power assistance when slow speed manoeuvring but it’s perfectly acceptable.

My thanks to all who have contributed to this thread and the dream team pass on their best wishes too.
Paul

Pit crew 2.jpg

[ggrum]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

That pitstop crew are definitely looking a bit puzzled! Make up your mind, do you want soft, super soft or wet?

[milliemarlin]

Re: Millie antiroll bar

That pitstop crew are definitely looking a bit puzzled! Make up your mind, do you want soft, super soft or wet?

Unfortunately, I had to go for a wee.