Jack,
First of all, make sure nothing is bent or mangled in the suspension (I assume
everything was OK before you took the suspension apart, but then why would
you start such an aggravating task ;)
Anyway, the bottom trunnion of the half (stub) axle is pretty straightforward;
I'll assume you got that together correctly. About all I can think of is that
you
must tighten the A-arm bushes (on the frame) and the top trunnion with
all parts assembled (minus the springs) with the suspension set at normal
ride height. Put a 2-inch spacer--I found a large bolt about the exact length--
under the rear pad on the shock arm (the front should bottom on the beehive-
shaped rubber bumper). Then tighten the A-arm bushes and the top trunnion
pin--the lower trunnion should move freely. You'll likely have to loosen the
bolt that clamps the two shock arms together.
If you tightened the A-arm bush pins before you assembled the top trunnion the
bushes could apply a "kink" to the lower trunnion, causing it to twist the
stub axle and throwing the caster angle off. Loosen everything, then assemble
and tighten when at the correct ride height. Then add springs.
bs
***************************************************************
Bob Spidell San Jose, CA bspidell@comcast.net
'67 Austin-Healey 3000 '56 Austin-Healey 100M
***************************************************************
> Friends,
> Assembling both left and right front wheel suspensions of my BJ8 I find
> that on the left side the suspension link trunnion is nicely centered
> between the two 'arms'of the shock absorber, whereas on the right side I
> shall have to use quite some force - there the metal of the trunnion
> touches the forward shock absorber arm. Is this normal? The lower links
> and the trunnions all have new rubber bushes. If the above is not clear
> (after all I'm Dutch!) , I can send a picture to the person who thinks
> he can help me.
> TIA
> Jack Aeckerlin, The Netherlands
> 1964 BJ8 29432
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