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Dart vertical links

silverdart
Posts: 285
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:49 am
Location: West Midlands

Dart vertical links

Post by silverdart »

Hi, Did anyone else see the pair of vertical links in need of refurbishment, just sold on ebay for £1000.
Obviously quite rare nowadays but, I am a little surprised at what they sold for.

Dave.

Fossil
Wise Man
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Posts: 516
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 5:08 pm
Location: Helensburgh, Argyll

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Fossil »

Dave

I'm sorry to have missed that. However I may be wrong but think that they used to be about £1000 each side? Their availability has been a problem for decades, so its handy to grab a spare pair whenever the opportunity arises, but can be expensive!

Alternatively one can convert the car to TR6 front suspension in order to use the much cheaper TR links, although I believe that TR stub axles cannot be used on an SP; the TR suspension also resolves some of the steering geometry issues that arise with rack & pinion steering conversions, so may be a worthwhile exercise for the long-term owner.

Regards

Fossil

Ian Slade
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Posts: 792
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:54 am
Location: Sevilla Spain

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Ian Slade »

Vertical links were the first item that became obsolete on the SP, Barry Thorne sourced supplier to manufacture new ones in the early 70's, the minimum order I think was 100 pairs at about £100/pair, Barry and I were able to order 60 pair with our own cash but needed another 40 people to join in, despite requesting members to join in we were unable to achieve the required amount, had we known what an SP would be worth today perhaps we should have taken second mortgages and sat on them, better investment than property :D
Owner since the 70's, Genghis is slightly to my left.

Vortex O'Plinth
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Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Vortex O'Plinth »

Exact reproductions of the originals are going to be very expensive since the links are machined forgings and the all-important trunnion thread is rolled, not cut. About three years ago I came across this pair of beauties.......
P1320189.JPG
....original, unbent and unrestored, complete with trunnions and no slop in the threads and I snapped them up at £584.55. They sit on a shelf in my garage.... awaiting their day. :D
Nick

"Don't bother with the Air & Space Museum - there's nothing to see.......".

daimlersteve
Helpful Person
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Posts: 496
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2016 11:20 am

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by daimlersteve »

Of the eight or so i have , only two are up to spec. to use. the rest are badly worn or have been welded and re-threaded.
Steve

Reedweaver
Posts: 93
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 2:20 pm

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Reedweaver »

daimlersteve wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 11:04 pm Of the eight or so i have , only two are up to spec. to use. the rest are badly worn or have been welded and re-threaded.
Steve
How do they get worn? The two on my dart are original from 1962 and they only thing wrong that I can see is the one has some wear on the thread that could do with sorting out.

Patersoncm
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 1:20 pm
Location: Rugby

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Patersoncm »

Coincidentally I have just got round to rebuilding my A Series front suspension today.

Can anyone advise how much play there should be between on the threaded connection between the vertical link and the trunnion? I have attached a short video of mine (without any grease). Is this acceptable? If not what do I need to do?

Thanks for any advice.

Chris
Attachments
trim.0B77BB78-FDB3-4DEA-A553-9C497D225A72.MOV
Vertical link trunnion jointc
(2.3 MiB) Downloaded 150 times

Vortex O'Plinth
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Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Vortex O'Plinth »

I'm afraid there is no definitive answer to how much play between vertical link and trunnion block is acceptable. The vertical link is a safety crucial part of the front suspension. This type of suspension is quite common among cars of the same era and I suspect some of us will have seen Morris Minors kneeling at the kerbside with a failed vertical link. This type of failure was also quite common among Triumph TR's, whose front suspension is very similar to the SP's. Failures have occurred in SP's too - see this thread in the old forum - although fewer than with TR's, Probably mainly due to the smaller number of cars. This type of failure is nearly always due to lack of lubrication.

When play becomes significant steering and handling will have deteriorated noticeably. Ultimate failure is usually the fracture at the junction of the thread with the link and regular greasing is essential to minimise friction between the thread and the trunnion and ensure no corrosion at the top of the threaded portion.

Other not always identifiable problems in steering or handling can arise from damage in an accident. The link may become bent or even cracked and in this case should be replaced.
Nick

"Don't bother with the Air & Space Museum - there's nothing to see.......".

Reedweaver
Posts: 93
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 2:20 pm

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Reedweaver »

Vortex O'Plinth wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 7:37 pm Exact reproductions of the originals are going to be very expensive since the links are machined forgings and the all-important trunnion thread is rolled, not cut. About three years ago I came across this pair of beauties.......

P1320189.JPG

....original, unbent and unrestored, complete with trunnions and no slop in the threads and I snapped them up at £584.55. They sit on a shelf in my garage.... awaiting their day. :D
I need these please, they look fantastic!.... ;)

Sydsmith
Extremely Wise Man
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Location: Aberystwyth Wales

Re: Dart vertical links

Post by Sydsmith »

Chris, Not easy to be sure from your video but when I rebuilt my SP chassis, I stripped and cleaned my units, they had a similar amount of play to the ones you show when they were reassembled dry. When greased they tightened up and have been perfectly OK in service, granted they have only done about 3000 miles in the past 7 years.

Important thing is as VOP says, grease regularly applied. Most of them break, not because of wear, but either from a shock as in a collision or from hitting a pothole or because they become so dry the force put on them by turning the steering shears them off, especially on roundabouts when there is extra side force pressure put on them. Syd

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