Problem No 1:
Pulled off the highway on a grass verge to do a u-turn. Bit of a rise onto the highway so gave it a bit to get on top without spinning wheels and the left rear trailing arm bent like a banana, deadset 45+ degrees straight up. Had to pull it apart on the side of the road and flog it straight with a lump hammer. They are made of really thin crap and obviously can't handle the torque. When i returned home i cut them both off and replaced them with about 4mm seamless tube........Problem No 1 fixed.
Problem No 2:
The 25mm pipe that goes from (under) the exhaust manifold around the back of the motor to the intake manifold broke off at the intake side flange, spewing exhaust gasses directly onto the firewall. To cut a long story short i cut the pipe out with the gas axe and blanked off both ends on the engine with 1/4" plate. Apparently it is to do with emission controls to recirculate burnt gasses back through the motor, which i am sure would do the motor a world of good.
This problem particularly affects vehicles like mine that spend a fair bit of time off road and on corrugations. If yours is a town car you probably won't have a drama with it. The pipe has a convoluted vibration dampener in it which "DOES NOT WORK" as i found out. Problem No 2 fixed.
I am not advocating interfering with the emission controls on your vehicle (which is illegal) but when this pipe breaks, (and they do fairly regularly apparently), you don't want to be sitting on the side of the road 4hrs from home trying to fix it like i did. The pipe is gone and i never have to worry about it breaking again, that is a job i don't want to repeat.............
I will be away for 5 days with work so if you have any questions i will be back on next week.
Cheers.......................Pete!
