>~ I've cracked several a-arms on my sprite when using tube shocks.
>
>So have I; I've also had the upper bolt snap off while driving.
>The shop I bought it from replaced it, and gave me some technical
>advice that helped me later.
I had the same thing happen! I just had a good welder remake
the conversion kit and never had another problem of this sort.
>The worst thing you can do with those tube shock kits is use
>the existing holes in the A-arm. For ease of manufacture,
>the lower A-arm in Spridgets has holes drilled for mounting
>the anti-roll bar link in both sides of the A-arm. Most people
>do what I did and bolted the shock absorber to the lower A-arm
>using those holes.
Ah, no my car predates the sway bar, I made my own holes
and even custom made the mounts. All to now avail, still
cracked everytime, eventually only near the fulcrum pin
where it was impossible for me to strengthen the a-arm.
>I pulled my front suspension apart, drilled the holes much more
>carefully in the new lower A-arms, and reinstalled the shocks with
>stock springs and a stiffer front anti-roll bar (I'd previously
>been using stiffer "autocross" springs, which lowered the front
>about an inch -- just what the Midget needs, less ground clearance!)
>The bigger front bar (3/4" from FASPEC), stock springs, and Werace
>tube shocks made a phenomenal improvement in the car's handling,
>and I never had cracks again for as long as I owned the car (though
>that's not saying much... see below).
Yeah, I did essentially the same thing. But, I discovered much later
that brand new lever shocks and the big sway bar were really
pretty comparable. I didn't notice this in the first place since I
went shock conversion, bar not bar then shock conversion.
>
>I don't know how long that tech tip would have worked, as the
>Midget on which I'd installed the Werace kit was totalled while
>parked exactly ten months later (and exactly one year to the DAY
>after I took it down to rebuild the front end). Sigh.
I got my best version to last for two years of racing and street
driving. Then, I once again luckily avoided catastrophic
failure while zooming around the back roads of Ithaca.
I just don't see this as good for a street car.
Mark M. Banaszak Holl
Brown University
401-863-2738
mark_banaszak-holl@brown.edu
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