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Wing stays
mike2704 - 27/7/13 at 11:52 AM

Hi I was wondering if anybody has the same problem my wing stays keep snapping original ones at welds so made some myself in less pieces (less welds) and of a heavier material, haven't snapped but vibrate like hell.
Need some pictures of designs and mounting points HELP!!!!!!
Thanks Mike


rallyingden - 27/7/13 at 12:31 PM

Are you on Cortina hubs Mike
Mine are a pain in the Ass, my mate says they need hardening and tempering after welding so the plan is to weld up a new set and give them to him to sort out
I'll report back

RD


rodgling - 27/7/13 at 04:50 PM

Yeah, I think this is common, I've lost count of how many I've been through. Noticed a few days ago that mine are starting to fatigue where they bolt on (they bolt on only where the upper bj attaches). A quick look through the pits at Bedford today shows that most of the "proper" cars (Caterham, Atom, etc) mount them in two places which is obviously more robust.

Ariel have done it nicely by mounting on the upper bj and where the steering rack attaches, but obviously this only works if your steering rack is in the right place (behind the wheel centre in this case).

My plan is to attach something to the lower shock mount and run a link up to the rear stay so that it can't vibrate about so much.


mike2704 - 27/7/13 at 10:16 PM

Seems like I'm not alone then, seen some reports on madabout kit cars that they use a exhaust clamp round the uprights but that's a different setup to mine.
I am going to try to connect another stay to the upper portion of the hub will mean drilling and tapping, I'll keep you posted to see if this works.
Mike


steve m - 28/7/13 at 08:34 AM

My wing stays are made from 5mm x 25mm steel bar and have never failed, and ive done more than 10,000 miles
(speedo mileage counter has not worked in years)

I do have some pics in my archive, that roughly show how i made mine, and on cortina hubs

Steve


David Jenkins - 30/7/13 at 07:43 PM

The only way to be certain is to stop it vibrating - support it on both sides!

Lathyrus 7, post-repair.
Lathyrus 7, post-repair.


My original stays fractured 3 or 4 times, and every break was the same - the classic curved stress fracture. Since doing this mod the mudguards are rock-solid with no chance of failure (he says while crossing his fingers behind his back!).


coozer - 30/7/13 at 08:03 PM

Mine broke a few times and I just added more flat bar behind so there was more contact point and some triangular gussets at 90 deg's.