Broken my car :(

[jeffw]

At North Weald today one of the lower wishbones has sheared cause me to come to a unexpected halt. No other damage I can see (yet).

Where can I get a pair of wishbones for a 1996 Stiker/Phoenix ? Prefer new and high quality.

[jeffw]

Luckily I towed the car there so we where able to get it back on the trailer. It failed on the stretch of tarmac we use which is next to the working runway. As I was stood there, sulking, a fire tender rushed (blues and twos) from the Tower straight through the gate the Phoenix was parked in front of (flattening the posts in the process). It then shot off down the end the runway to attend a Hurricane which had tipped onto its nose while landing. I never noticed till the fire tender went past. I'm guessing the Hurricane will cost more to fix than my Phoenix !

[dopdog]

wow that was lucky, did it break at the outer joint or inner? I think raw would be the place for the new lower wish bone, i have a newer striker and the bottom wishbone looks stronger than on my old car and also has an extra rose joint for adjustment, had the camera out next to the pc and the car jacked up so have taken a quick pic for you, hope this helps.

[matt_gsxr]

Jeff,

I haven't heard that this was a known fault, so maybe you got a dodgy wishbone.

http://www.striker-cars.co.uk/ would be my first port of call.
Their present model is IRS with square tube, so I would have thought should have identical wishbones to your (and my) car.
I'd get a couple of new lower ball joints from them at the same time.


Given that it was going to break, it couldn't have chosen a better time.

Matt

[petercoll]

Got any pics Jeff ?

It would be useful for a comparison with what others have.

Pete

[jeffw]

In the process of getting the arm off and once I've done that I'll get some pictures. It looks a lot like the Fury ones I've seen and as Steve is closer I might try him first.

It had failed right at the end of the thread for the ball joint on the front part of the arm. It had then folded the rear part of the arm back on itself pushing the tyre into the side pod. Without the side pod I think it would have been a lot worse as I reckon I might have lot the hub & wheel.

It looks like the chassis and everything else is fine so I just need two new wishbones (I'll change the other one just in case !) and new ball joints.

[jeffw]

Right...some pictures


These are the broken ends which I think failed first, note that they are not shiny all the way round which leads me to believe there was a crack which has rusted over



Does this look like the standard Striker or Fury size ?

[clairetoo]

My wishbone on my Fury were the same as yours (but I think mine were a bit more substantial ! ) - during a bit of a rebuild , I found cracks at the weld to the ball-joint end on both sides , so I added the cross tubes as on later Strikers .
Four years on , and no problems .


This picture allso shows the slightly non-standard ally hub I had so much trouble with on holiday.......

[petercoll]

They look identical to mine Jeff (2000 live-axle Striker). The measurement shown in your pic is pretty much identical.

Pete

[jeffw]

Thanks Guys. I'll be on the phone tomorrow to organise a HD set (!)