Upgrade to Seight Suspension

[AndrewBClarke]

I am the proud owner of a 2009 Westfield Seight with chrome pack, and lowered floor and for a number of reasons have upgraded the front and rear suspension.

 

I have learnt that this is not a job to hurry, take on lightly or expect it to be cheap. It has taken months (since Stoneleigh in May) to acquire all of the bits, refurbish them and I have just finished this December.

The reason - apart from the aesthetics of chrome peeling off, was that the car failed its Mot due to two cracks in the chassis. Both cracks were in identical places on each side just in front of the front lower wishbone. Another reason was that we hit the ground too often and when it is your seat bolts grating on the tarmac and sending vibrations up your back, it is something to fix.

At Stoneleigh, I picked up from the WSCC auto jumble, a second hand set of front chrome wishbones followed by a visit to the Westfield parts stand where I purchased new bushes, a ball joint set and two new front springs. New cycle wing brackets were purchased via the WSCC Parts for Sale listings and all painted items prepared and painted. After several attempts to persuade mechanics to remove the old bushes without success, I had to resort to trying myself. I tried heat, long threaded bolts etc then brute force. In the end, I found that by drilling out the central sleeve, melting the rubber slightly and setting off the smoke alarms, I could then feed in a hacksaw blade and very carefully cut the outer sleeve until with the aid of a hammer and cold chisel, managed to extract the bush. This process was repeated eight times and took well over a day. Told you the job couldn't be hurried!

The four wishbones and two front springs were then ready for re-chroming. I managed to get three quotes ranging from £600 to £400 and plumped for Custom Chroming at £450 as they offered reluctantly to press in the new bushes within their price if I supplied them. These parts were sent off in June and returned at the end of September - the six weeks quoted did not include the factory shutdown....

 

Out on the WSCC trips, I sort advise from those that know and it seemed a common thread that the Westfield ARB's fitted to my car may be slightly too robust and some of the forces were being transferred to the chassis. I contacted Luke at Plays-Kool who confirmed that this may be the case and it was suggested that I should replace the front ARB with a softer version and then would have to match up the rear with the equal grade bar. I also sent him photos of the rear dampers and springs in an effort to resolve the issue of hitting the ground and ended up purchasing some heavier grade springs.

As I was now down for dismantling the rear suspension, I thought it wise to complete the job by replacing the four rod ends.

So having gone though all of this, I settled down to actually getting my spanners out at the beginning on November and tackled the front first. One wishbone at a time, counting the turns whilst taking off the ball joints etc and putting new parts on like for like. One lesson learned was that in my effort to paint everything, I painted one of the locking nuts over the tin of Hammerite - obviously it fell in followed by quite a long time 'sticky fishing' trying to get it out. At least it was well coated.

The new springs would not simply slip into place so I had to make my own spring press - don't try this at home!

Having finished the front and adjusted the ride height to be as before, I stood back and noticed that the tracking was clearly out. Bummer. How could this be when I had been so careful to put this back counting on the turns? Mmmm. Did you know that there are less thread lengths on the new ball joints? I do now.  Next job was to put in the old ball joints into the old wishbones by the thread count and then calliper measure, take apart the new suspension and adjust to match the measurement. Lesson learnt.

Another lesson I had already learnt was that if you are having the tracking checked by a normal tyre company in the short term, leave off the cycle wings as they cannot fit the equipment and normally charge for the time spent taking off the wheels and removing the wings and likewise after tracking. I dry fitted my new cycle wing brackets before having the tracking checked.

Now to the back. Having learnt from the front, I measured the rod ends so that I could put new ones in the same distance. There is a vast array of qualities and prices for rod ends - from £8.50 to over £200 each. Again sort advise and went for the Mba stainless steel version - a decision made easier when the bearing specialist said that he would not want to drive a car with cheap rod ends! There are four so £49 each becomes another £200 bill. Don't tell my wife but a business PayPal account hides a lot of expenses.

Repainted the rear wishbones, fitted the new springs and rod ends and back down on the ground. 

Ok then - costs -

• both thumbs had large gouges and the red stuff oozing out. Puncture wound in index figure and torn nail. I am bad with the sight of blood so it seems silly to keep on hurting myself. Priceless.
• Wishbones £30 second hand
• Westfield parts department - ball joint set, front springs, bushes. Total approx. £120
• Re-chroming £450
• Plays-Kool new front and rear ARBs and higher strength springs Approx £350
• ABC Bearings Rod Ends Approx £200
• Cycle wing brackets, Hammerite, calliper paint etc £60

Time - months and months to get the bits and have some re-chromed etc. About 5 full days work - please remember I'm not a mechanic, learning on the job and with a V8 it takes over an hour just to get the front nose cone off!

I'll add a photo of the finished article when it is daylight and I remember to take a photo.

First trip out with two people in the car is tomorrow - wish me luck - hopefully the new springs will give a better ride and no hitting the ground!!

 

 

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

Nice write up and good luck for tomorrow.

[DamperMan]

I could  have done you some sparkle silver powder coated dampers for you to match the springs ..  and fitted the springs for you. 

[AndrewBClarke]

11 minutes ago, DamperMan said:

I could  have done you some sparkle silver powder coated dampers for you to match the springs ..  and fitted the springs for you. 

Now you tell me  

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

Interesting and informative write up. Looking forward to photos of finished job, and feedback after test run. Well done.

[CarbonWest - Chris Broster - Bristol & Bath AO]

Certainly food for thought when dreaming up winter to do lists....make them in spring so you are ready for winter! 

[AndrewBClarke]

As promised, here is the follow up!

Trip out on Saturday went really well. Over 4 hours driving with no issues. 'Rubbed' the road surface a few times but didn't hit it hard like before and this will be resolved by raising the rear slightly - I did set it up on the low side.

One comment on my post expressed concern about needing to compress the springs - this was only the front Westfield supplied springs and I only needed to compress them slightly in order to fit the retaining ring. The rear heavier duty springs fitted without the need of my staircase cramps to compress them.

The comments received on Saturday were complimentary with only one suggestion - to fit collets or spacers in the ARB drop links to take up the space between the rod ends and the brackets. This is an easy adjustment so I will get stainless washers and pop them in.

The intention is to get the car corner weighted and set up properly by a specialist and I will do this when the weather is a bit more predictable so I can enjoy the drive to either Northampton or Thetford

Now the photo of the finished front suspension -

Next job is to get my Image Split Rims tidied up but this will probably have to wait till next November!

 

 

 

[RobP]

7 minutes ago, AndrewBClarke said:

The comments received on Saturday were complimentary with only one suggestion - to fit collets or spacers in the ARB drop links to take up the space between the rod ends and the brackets. This is an easy adjustment so I will get stainless washers and pop them in.

Good write up and very informative.  I'm just in the process of overhauling my suspension.  Please could you advice what size the rod ends are on the ARB drop links?  Mine need replacing.

[AndrewBClarke]

@RobP

I think this may vary with the manufacturer of your ARB. Just popped out and measured the Westfield ones that I have taken off - M8 RH threads with a 7.5mm bore reduced with collets to 5.5mm. The Plays-Kool ones now fitted are different hence hesitation in giving you a straight answer. I also believe that you can get drop down links with RH and LH threads so you can adjust by turning the link. Have a chat with Luke at Plays-cool armed with the make of your ARB and he will be able to help.  

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

Very smart set up on the front. Sounds like the rear has been "tamed" to the benefit of your back and other parts of your anatomy .

Thanks for follow up and photo.

[AndrewBClarke]

Before and after photos of the chrome lower front wishbone