Day Runined & lucky escape - please read

[creationblue]

Hi Guys,

Van was taken home on a low-loader today for the first time Bottom training arm came out :shock: came to a shuddering halt at around 40mph, luckily the steering was neutral when it happened and we didnt swerve of the road!!! Was in the van with my wife and 3 kids, just glad it never happened a few miles earlier on the M4 at 60mph :shock:

We stripped and put it back together by the side of the road (Thanks to Mark and Spence) only for it to come out a few hundred yards down the road :?

I should point out im running a Red9 EZ rider 2" kit up front and my initial thought was a failure.....

Got back home and on the drive, started to strip it down and see what the damage was.

Turns out that nothing was damaged fortunatly, was my fault completely in that i didnt check the bottom trailing arm was positioned correctly so that the grub screw was properly sat in the V of the Tie-bar, instead it was about 2mm out :roll:

After hitting the 'arm with a mallet the end cap popped off and a peice of weld dropped out, this was stopping the 'arm going in fully

Luckily no one was hurt and now its all back togeather with no damage down other than a ruined day :roll:

So please anyone rolling with a Red9 kit check that the trailing arms are fully home, its impossible to see the top but the bottom is visible and if not linned up correctly this could happen to you!!!

Just

 

[mysteryspots]

Glad to hear you and the bus are ok fella.

 

[Doris]

Wow - close call! glad to hear everyone & everything escaped unscathed! good call - Thanks for posting up,you may have unknowingly saved someone's life - what a gent!

lovely bus b.t.w.those wheels are delicious 8)

 

[Grazy]

Shit Mate :shock: , I hope you and the family are ok and you are back on the road again real soon

Caps look nice though :msn4:

 

[sparkywig]

:shock:

Everyone OK mate?
Stiil going this weekend or not?

 

[creationblue]

Thanks all, everyone was fine, was a bit scarey but fortunatly didnt vere violently to the side :|

Its all back together now and fixed 8)

Sparky, I double booked next weekend and cant get out of it, so, will only be down on Sat or Sunday not sure which yet. :roll: what i w*&ker I am :roll:

Just

 

[flynster]

looks nasty fella....glad all are ok, bloody worrying with kiddies ,

ste

 

[Pete B]

Firstly and most importantly, glad to hear no one was hurt. Secondly, where did that lump of weld come from? Could it have been in the trailing arm before but only become a problem when the kit was fitted? How long ago did you fit the kit? Plenty questions I know but am sure many people will be wondering. Oh, and much respect for holding your hands up and taking the blame. 8)
'The man who has never made a mistake has never done anything.'
I've done lots!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[creationblue]

Firstly and most importantly, glad to hear no one was hurt. Secondly, where did that lump of weld come from? Could it have been in the trailing arm before but only become a problem when the kit was fitted? How long ago did you fit the kit? Lots of questions I know but am sure plenty of people will be wondering. Oh, and much respect for holding your hands up and taking the blame. 8)

Hi Pete

The weld is used at the factory when the leaves are installed, the weld was used to keep them together for installation, its common for it to then get stuck in the training arm on removal. I fiited the kit about 5 weeks ago and have done around 100mile since. And yes my hands are held up high

The end cap popped off the upper trainling arm when installed and a piece of weld fell out, but the bottom one looked fine as it was only on closer inspection today i could see it wasnt home fully. So hitting the trailing arm in with a large hammer causes the weld to push the cap off.

Just

 

[faux]

Glad you are all safe.

Jon

 

[Pete B]

Just.
Knew the leaves were welded, but didn't make the connection and wasn't aware of them coming off in the trailing arm. Never too old to learn
Would also explain why the end cap came off when I fitted a replacement arm a while back...... looks like a good job it did :shock:
That's the beauty of a forum such as this, very valuable information shared that could save a lot of grief, heartache and more. 8)

 

[Marvel]

Glad the family is safe buddy. Bloody scary stuff. :shock:

 

[creationblue]

Running a bit of camber

Just

 

[ballbag]

Bloody hell dude, you're lucky there :shock:

If it was me I'd be checking the other trailing arms.

Glad yo hear you're all safe man.

 

[robins]

:shock: glad you can tell the tell mate



rich

 

[cunning plan]

Good you and family are safe. :shock:

I am just about to fit a R9 kit - and to anyone reading this who is starting to worry about the kit, I have read the instructions over and over - to be fair to R9, the instructions do say to ensure grub screw is positioned correctly along with an explanation about the weld that you may need to bash out to get the screw to seat correctly. The instructions also state to check the screw along with usual service intivals. My plan is to look every time I look at the oil or something..

You can also buy the safety 'bump-stops' that R9 do that go into your old bump stop holes and act like a fail-safe if this was to happen - it would * supposedly* keep your wheel upright.. - maby an idea for you Creationblue?

Hope this doesn't come across as one of those 'you should have read the instructions' post - it isn't intended to be - more than anything it is justifying the safety of the R9 kit to myself!

 

[mattd1984]

I have got this kit fidded, and I am a little worried now. I dont think my lowers ones fitting back together as flush as they were when they came out.

Also when I took my old leaves out there was no welded bit, so Im guessing that could be in the end cap?

 

[easy]

If anyone is any doubt, please call the guys at Red9 im sure they will be able to guide you through your thoughts and help where they can. 8)

 

[ant]

Just to clarify this is not a fault of the kit.


I popped the end caps out of the trailing arms when mine was installed and i never saw the need to put them back. If the installations instructions are followed there should be no issues.

 

[creationblue]

Just to clarify this is not a fault of the kit.


I popped the end caps out of the trailing arms when mine was installed and i never saw the need to put them back. If the installations instructions are followed there should be no issues.

Thanks for your concerns guys, but the purpose of this post was to bring to light the correct fitting of this and any kind of suspension modification. I am in no way as stated above blaming the Red9 kit in anyway, it was purely an oversite on my part, and this post mearly is aimed at any of you guys fitting it yourself to be aware af the dangers of not checking what you have done is correct.

The instructions do indeed state the weld my be stuck in the trailing arm and if I had of looked and checked closely I would have noticed it wasnt fully home and the grub screw was not sat in the dimple on the tie-bar. Once fitted correctly i dont see that this grub screw will work loose causing the insident that i experianced, but alway worth checking these along with other routine maintanence.

Play safe

Just