reaction rod

Front axle, springs, shock absorbers, wheels, bearings, calipers, drums...
Tuning: suspension, discs, alloys upgrade...
NO parts requests here, please use our V3M BUY & SELL corner
Post Reply
karoliens
Posts: 37
Joined: 12 Dec 2012 05:50 pm

reaction rod

Post by karoliens » 20 Jul 2013 10:10 pm

Hi,

I was wondering if I fitted lowering blocks to the back how do I adjust reaction rod? It should be all the way to the back or to the front (variant with elongated hole in bracket on rear axle)? And reaction rod is only on one side. How do I adjust another side correctly?

Ride_on
Posts: 2262
Joined: 26 May 2009 05:34 pm
Location: Belfast, N. Ireland

Re: reaction rod

Post by Ride_on » 21 Jul 2013 12:16 am

I'm not sure if reaction rod is the right name, it keeps the axle at the right angle as it moves up and down. Because the axle is fixed and wants to rotate as the spring compresses, it needs angle controlled to stop the negative camber turning into toe-in. Toe-in is very bad.

I think the mods will increase the length requirement of the rod as the axle is moving away from the spring and we now have less paralell arms, so I'd say it will tend to be adjusted towards the front of the car, but you are aiming for a level box section.

I'd suggest putting the car on axle stands under the jacking points (making sure car is level) and putting a trolley jack under the axle. Then raise or lower it until the axle box section is level, then clamp up the radius arm. If the bushes are worn/distorted they may relax when you release it, you need to renew or change to a rose jointed arm, or you might find the standard rod is not long enough.
Attachments
Radius arm adjustment.JPG
Radius arm adjustment.JPG (7.58 KiB) Viewed 6300 times
1980 345 DL_______1987 360 GLE (project car restored to GLT spec and B230FT'd)
1984 360 GLT______1987 360 GLT
1983 360 GLS______1989 360 GLE
1985 340 GL_______1986 340 1.4
1985 360 GLS______1995 940 SE 2.3 Turbo Estate (daily)
1987 340 GL 1.7

karoliens
Posts: 37
Joined: 12 Dec 2012 05:50 pm

Re: reaction rod

Post by karoliens » 21 Jul 2013 05:10 pm

At the moment mine is sits there:
Image

And if I adjust this rod but it is only on one side. How do I adjust correctly other side because even after tightenig rod I can move axle on other side either to the back or front.

Ride_on
Posts: 2262
Joined: 26 May 2009 05:34 pm
Location: Belfast, N. Ireland

Re: reaction rod

Post by Ride_on » 24 Jul 2013 02:25 am

I'm not sure what you mean but you are not positioning the axle in the front-back direction with the rod. The axle should be bolted securely to the spring and centred properly before you attach the rod. I'm not sure how well the lowering blocks achieve centring, but they should replicate the locating boss from the spring.

The rod adjusts the rotation of the axle (in the same axis the wheel rotates). The axle has negative camber in the vertical direction and needs to be kept flat so the camber does not turn into toe-in.

The axle is solid, rotation on one side will translate to rotation (or lack of) on the other side.

The rod adjusts the rotational position.
1980 345 DL_______1987 360 GLE (project car restored to GLT spec and B230FT'd)
1984 360 GLT______1987 360 GLT
1983 360 GLS______1989 360 GLE
1985 340 GL_______1986 340 1.4
1985 360 GLS______1995 940 SE 2.3 Turbo Estate (daily)
1987 340 GL 1.7

karoliens
Posts: 37
Joined: 12 Dec 2012 05:50 pm

Re: reaction rod

Post by karoliens » 25 Jul 2013 10:00 am

But how do you center lowering blocks correctly? Because the spring has a boss which goes into lower axle bracket:
Image
But the upper part of the axle which goes on to the lowering blocks hasn't any boss you could align:
Image
Without lowering blocks i imagine short bolts don't let to move axle front or back but for my e.g. when lowering blocks are 5cm, bolts are quite long how do you adjust so that the block is centered on the spring. And even when you center blocks on the spring upper part (axle) still could move front or back basically of the longer bolts.And with lowering blocks bolts should be like this // or II looking from the side?

classicswede
*** V3M DONOR ***
Posts: 5461
Joined: 25 Apr 2005 06:52 pm
Location: Anglesey North Wales
Contact:

Re: reaction rod

Post by classicswede » 25 Jul 2013 10:58 pm

The bolts will pull up square when you tighten them.

Contact RJ at http://www.born-built-beauties.eu/ if you would like to buy a kit as he keep them in stock (for Europe)
Dai

Please email me directly on dai@classicswede.co.uk

http://www.classicswede.com

phone/text 07824887160

Web shop http://www.classicswede.co.uk/

Image

Ride_on
Posts: 2262
Joined: 26 May 2009 05:34 pm
Location: Belfast, N. Ireland

Re: reaction rod

Post by Ride_on » 26 Jul 2013 01:36 am

I see now, the bottom plate locates on the spring and the axle locates with the bolts on bottom plate, that should control the front to back position.

Because of the longer bolts there will be a little more play in the position as the bolts will not be tight in the hole, but I don't think it should make that much difference. Mainly the friction should stop it moving once the bolts are tight, but do make sure the bolts are 90 degrees to the spring as they are tighened. If it moves alot then try this; As the gap is closed but not tight, move the axle from front to back and then select the middle of that position (Mark the maximums with tape or something). This is what I mean by centring. If the movement is just a few mm, its close enough, if its say 10mm or more then try to centre it.

Adjust the radius arm after the spring-axle bolts are tight.
1980 345 DL_______1987 360 GLE (project car restored to GLT spec and B230FT'd)
1984 360 GLT______1987 360 GLT
1983 360 GLS______1989 360 GLE
1985 340 GL_______1986 340 1.4
1985 360 GLS______1995 940 SE 2.3 Turbo Estate (daily)
1987 340 GL 1.7

karoliens
Posts: 37
Joined: 12 Dec 2012 05:50 pm

Re: reaction rod

Post by karoliens » 26 Jul 2013 09:45 am

Thank you very much.

Post Reply