Mast 69

Hi Guys My first car was a 1600 Vitesse, front suspension was a good layout, back end was a shocker. Driving up a hill, l heard a loud clonk, when l reached the crest the brake pedal hit the carpet. I had to stall to stop. The bolt holding the hub carrier within the vertical link had sheared on both sides, the hub carrier twisted within the vertical link and the flexible brake hose wrapped itself around the drive shaft, instant loss of fluid. First mistake, brake lines should not be located in proximity of revolving shafts. Likewise the handbrake cable had wrapped itself around the driveshaft. Great no brakes. The bolt that had sheared takes all the acceleration/braking stresses. It’s supposed to turn within the steel bush, but lack of grease by Canley employees, water ingress due to poor sealing caused it to seize. Lots on the forum re leaf springs, but that 10mm bolt could be a life changer and for that reason would never buy a Triumph with that method of hub carrier support. Whilst carrying out the repairs, l inverted the third leaf on the spring to achieve negative camber, it made the suspension 100% better on a layout that was 200% bad. The Mk2 GT6 set up was far superior, better located, but lower wishbone far too heavy, unsprung weight and all that. A tip from Triumph dealers, when replacing the rotoflex coupling, remove the strap, place in hot water, then lever it over the yoke on the half shaft without removing it from the hub carrier and fingers crossed the rubber doesn’t tear. Happy memories