Rear wheel toe in (on one side)

Turn & Burn

Club Member
My thoughts..
Ur leaving a unit u know to be damaged in place if u go down the TTT arms route. It may have been like this for years but it could fail, worse case it could be hairline cracked now. So at best I reckon this is a sticking plaster approach that would always bug you!
It sounds like an uncommon problem and finding a replacement shouldnt be too hard and you would be unlucky if it were damaged. Possibly SacC has one already. I know of a guy in the states who brakes these cars.

Un-stitching the weld is tricky but not impossible, ask an engineering/fab shop for an opinion.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
Looks like you've found the prob for sure which must be a relief. I agree you don't really have an option but to replace the hub - risk of it being compromised is too high.
I would have thought it very possible to cut and grind the old hub off the coilover and attach another. Would be much harder if you wanted to retain the hub, but you don't!
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Glad you have found the problem Paul - you have been driving it like that!

Are you out of warranty now? Jesting apart it should not have been sold to you in that state.
 

Paul_S

Club Member
Glad you have found the problem Paul - you have been driving it like that!

Are you out of warranty now? Jesting apart it should not have been sold to you in that state.
Warranty? Good idea! I'll have a chat with Nissan Customer Services ;)

I've not been driving it much mate. I've only done 100 miles since it passed the MOT earlier in the year. I've not wanted to put too many miles on it with the wheel at that angle.
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
Hi Paul, PM me if you are unable to source the parts you need locally and I will see about getting you the parts your after.
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
Glad you got to the bottom of it, and top marks for the Transverse Link jig fixture.

I have to say, I can't see how the damage to the hub casting/upright could happen without domino-effect damage to the original Transverse Link. It takes a good whack to bend that upright casting, and the Transverse Link is a weak link. It makes me wonder what the history of the car is, or the history of the upright is, and/or who the previous owner was...

I might be able to help with a replacement upright (I have some 'on the shelf') but they normally change hands in matched pairs. If I sold you just one, I'd have a odd one left over as a swinger with not much likelihood of finding a home. It might be better/easier for you to buy a pair and refurb them as a matching pair? Just putting that out there...
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
try new bearings first, or at least have a look?

Good point, and I think it's certainly worth further investigation. There's a remote possibility that the half shaft is cocked in the bearings/upright casting. You'll be stripping it down anyway...
 

Paul_S

Club Member
Glad you got to the bottom of it, and top marks for the Transverse Link jig fixture.

I have to say, I can't see how the damage to the hub casting/upright could happen without domino-effect damage to the original Transverse Link. It takes a good whack to bend that upright casting, and the Transverse Link is a weak link. It makes me wonder what the history of the car is, or the history of the upright is, and/or who the previous owner was...

I might be able to help with a replacement upright (I have some 'on the shelf') but they normally change hands in matched pairs. If I sold you just one, I'd have a odd one left over as a swinger with not much likelihood of finding a home. It might be better/easier for you to buy a pair and refurb them as a matching pair? Just putting that out there...
The previous owner had the car up on axle stands in the garage for 10 or so years and tinkered with it (never drove it) over that time. The owner before that imported it from the US and had it converted to RHD. I am not sure when the suspension was modified and I'm not sure if the original components were used or if they were sourced from elsewhere. The good news is that I've had a good look around the body and the underside and there is no sign of any damage.

I'll drop you a PM :)
 

Paul_S

Club Member
OK, a good news update, I bought these off eBay and have stripped down the side I need:

s-l1600.jpg


I've just measured put a spindle pin through the hub casting and measured it - all square :)

I have a new set of bearings being delivered next week (thanks Mr.F!) so all I need to do now is find some talented sole to remove my Arizona coilover from the old strut (top) and re-weld it to the replacement one (bottom):

gallery_245_510_64148.jpg


If anyone has any advice on the best way to do this, or can recommend someone who could do this in the Kent area I would appreciate it :)
 

Paul_S

Club Member
Oh, I forgot to say, once I've cleaned up the replacement casting I'll see if I can identify exactly how it's twisted. One thing is for sure, the spindle pin slides nicely through the 2 legs on the replacement one but needs some encouragement on the twisted one...
 

Paul_S

Club Member
Just to close the loop on this.

I measured the replacement casting and it looked good so I cleaned it all up and got rid of the terrible gloss black Hammerite that had been smeared all over it! My local garage did a good job of grinding off the old weld and transferring the threaded tube from one strut to the other (replacement on the left, old one on the right):

gallery_245_510_329472.png


It was a good opportunity to see what damper cartridge is fitted:

gallery_245_510_214973.png


Mr F supplied some new bearings and I fit those and rebuilt the hub:

gallery_245_510_176907.jpg


Although I was confident I'd found the cause of the problem it wasn't until I'd put everything back together again and put the car back on the ground that I was happy.

Here's a before and after pic:

med_gallery_245_510_709003.jpg
gallery_245_510_582832.png


Thanks to everyone for their advice :)
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Well done Paul.

The joys of secondhand 'classic' cars.

I bet you got some satisfaction from sorting it though.

Next job?
 

Paul_S

Club Member
Yes, the whole adventure was an unexpected expense and took quite a lot of my time but I'm very pleased it's fixed. I'm also very pleased that I made the decision to find the root cause and not just fit adjustable lower arms. It has been satisfying to sort it all out.

Now that's over I plan to get the front alignment done then the engine professionally tuned. I want to find a local bodyshop I can trust to sort out a few areas and do a respray over winter.
 
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