FRENCHMICK Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Can anyone tell me the best lifting / jacking points on my Westfield SWEI and is there any jack that works best with a Westfield, thank you. Also I have noticed today that the previous owner has left me with a safety issue, he had fitted the Westfield cycle wings along with the Westfield cycle wing brackets ( entitled Cortina LH and RH brackets, part nos 5585002 and 5585003 ) the brackets are secured in two places, one of them is the upper ball joint thread which leaves the nyloc nut not having enough thread to be secured properly. Has anyone come across this problem before and if so is there a solution ? Once again thanks for all the help previously and I hope someone will have some answers on this one. Cheers, Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welly Jen Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hello Mick, There is a FAQ on jacking points, which I am sure that someone will be along soon to locate for you. On the top ball joint question. Do you have Ford Cortina cast iron front uprights? With the Westfield cycle wing joints and the Cortina uprights they need some material machining off the surface where the ball joint nut goes to allow for the cycle wing bracket thickness and to ensure that there is enough thread protruding for safety. It sounds like this wasn't done on your car. Two options are: Get the uprights machined, removing 3/16" from the underside of the top mounting point. The build manual has details. The manual is available from several places on line, if you don't have a copy. My car had the machining done by the builder. or, Use Tiger wing stays. These locate on the three M8 holes that are in the upright and on the original car were used to hold a brake dust shield. Hope this helps. Jen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrie Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Found the manual!. "To fit the mounts to the front upright you must cut away 3/16 from the underside of the upright...." I'm not entirely happy with Joe Public taking an angle grinder to suspension parts, so suspect this may have been changed (to a calliper bolt?) Mine were done by Westfield and have lasted. Also the top ball joint should have a "Metaloc" nut, well in 1996 anyway, and there's no spare thread. As for jacking, you need a jack with a flat pad, rather than a metal cup, or a piece of wood to fit. Your best jacking points are under the suspension mounts, but must be on the chassis tubes. If you jack on a floor panel, it will just bend. If anything slips, you'll have damage 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Handy source of manuals here 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 The top ball joint may not be the correct one, it should be Ford Transit '75 to '85 drag link, worth checking. They used to come with the oval locking nut but some now come with a Nyloc nut, the oval being not as thick so will go fully on the stud. The cycle wing stay mounting is only 1mm thick so should not be the problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Here you go on jacking points, Page 6 I think: http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/files/file/17-westfield-world-autumn-2012/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FRENCHMICK Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Thanks for all your replies, I am pretty sure that the top ball joint is a Ford transit drag link from pictures that I have found on the internet today, mine definitely has nyloc nuts all round, but who is to say that these were not the originals, I am going to try and find the oval nuts, I think the thread is M12 but I am not sure about the thread pitch. Does anyone know the pitch or have a source for these oval nuts. Thanks ones again, . Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welly Jen Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 The top ball joint may not be the correct one, it should be Ford Transit '75 to '85 drag link, worth checking. They used to come with the oval locking nut but some now come with a Nyloc nut, the oval being not as thick so will go fully on the stud. The cycle wing stay mounting is only 1mm thick so should not be the problem. I've just been out and measured the wing stay bracket on my car. It is 4.25mm thick, including paint where it is clamped by the drag link nut. This is close to the manual recommendation of removing 3/16" from the upright. I replaced the top ball joints with factory ones a few years ago and they came with the oval locking nuts then. They are about 9mm high. It was difficult to get a caliper to them, so that's only approximate. The bottom ball joints on my car have M12 nylocks and these are 10mm high, so not much in it. Around one thread turn, or less, depending on the pitch of the thread on the drag links. At the moment, your car isn't as Westfield recommend in an important safety area. Getting the upright machined by someone with the appropriate equipment will solve it, with either oval, or nylock nuts giving threads protruding. Using the Tiger wing stays, which are attached at different points would allow you to use cycle wings without machining the uprights, as the Transit drag link fits well without the extra thickness of a bracket. Clamshell wing cars with Cortina uprights are like this and don't need machined uprights. Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I bought 2 new Top ones a couple of weeks ago, the problem was one of them did not pull into the taper enough so ended up like you with not enough stud to screw the nut on. Went back the parts shop and had it changed for another and that fitted ok. So do your studs pull into the upright enough? there should be no gap between the rubber boot and the top flat surface of the upright. If you going to buy some oval nuts then take your existing Nyloc nut with you, it is M12, a fastener shop will be able to match the threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Everall Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Sounds like the ball joint might not be right down and therefore needs checking as I would be careful about reducing the thickness of the upright any more if its already been reduced in thickness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welly Jen Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Mick, A couple more measurements to compare with your car. On mine, the upright is about 16.5mm thick where the top ball joint goes through. You can see where the machining was done on the underside. The end of the thread protrudes about 6.5mm from the end of the oval nut. How does this compare with yours? Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FRENCHMICK Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hi Jen, I have just measured the upright, it's 22mm, which compares well with removing 4.5mm ( 3/16" ) bringing it down to the 16.5mm like you car. I'm in engineering so the machining won't be a problem, I have ordered a hydraulic jack this afternoon ready to do the job. Thank you once again for all the information, i'll let you know how it goes. Cheers, Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clansman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I presume the jack that came with the car (scissors type I think) just goes anywhere on the chassis closest to which ever wheel needs changing? Have not looked to be honest but no doubt the day will come when I will have to use it and better find out where. Then again a can of that instant repair type stuff might be enough to get me home........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I presume the jack that came with the car (scissors type I think) just goes anywhere on the chassis closest to which ever wheel needs changing? Have not looked to be honest but no doubt the day will come when I will have to use it and better find out where. Then again a can of that instant repair type stuff might be enough to get me home........... Sort of, ideally you should only place the jack under "strong" points of the chassis, and not in the middle of spans of chassis tube, where, in theory, you risk bending them. The "strong" points are anywhere a bunch of chassis tubes come together in a joint. That said, some are better than others! At the rear, the ideal point on either side is the corner of the chassis where the vertically running chassis tubes just behind the seats join with the horizontal tubes that run along the outer edges of the floor. At the front, you have a similar spot at each corner, where the vertical tubes meet the main outer tubes that run front to back. if you have an SEi with a Sierra diff, it's also possible to use the bottom of the diff as a jacking point. Whatever you use, don't forget to protect the chassis tubes, either from scratching through the powder coat, or if using a jack from a tin top, be careful it doesn't have any locating lugs that could dent the tubes. As for tyre repair. If you want to carry something, the type, (most commonly sold for motorbikes) that come with little rubber plugs, adhesive and a can of compressed air to inflate the tyres are much better than the sealant types. (With the rubber plug system, you may be able to get the tyre repaired, whereas with the gunge type sealers, most tyre places won't touch them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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