Re: [DML] Re: Front End Drop

["Don Golden" <Don.Golden@xxxx>]

To update everyone.

This symptom was caused by a broken trailing arm bolt. I put the car on a
rack today, and first checked out the front suspension.
It was OK. In shaking the right rear wheel, it moved forward and aft about
1". As it turned out the right TAB bolt was actually broken, which makes
some sense given the symptoms.

Needless to say the car is parked and new TAB's have been ordered for both
sides.

I'm a firm believer now in checking the TAB's.

Also a bit shaken. Last week I drove over 500 miles on Interstate 70. I
shudder to think what would have happened if a failure would have occurred
at 75+ mph.

Thanks for all the help.


----- Original Message -----
From: "dmc6960" <ultra@xxxx>
To: <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 3:45 PM
Subject: [DML] Re: Front End Drop


> CHECK YOUR TRAILING ARM BOLTS!!!!! Same thing happened to me last
> year. What had happened is I lost all the alignment shims on one
> side, causing the wheel to have a lot of freeplay in the toe. This is
> noticable under acceleration because of the torque put upon the wheel
> by the driveshaft. If you check both your bolts, I'm almost certain
> you will fine one which is very loose and missing shims. It is very
> dangerous to drive like this as it will put extra strain on the
> trailing arm bolts which may already be damaged. May I suggest
> getting new washers, shims, bushings, and Toby-TABs to remidy the
> situation. Otherwise, if the bolt doesn't show any signs of being
> bent or damaged in any way, you may be able to get by with just new
> shims and re-torquing the bolt. Good luck.
>
> Jim Reeve
> MNDMC - Minnesota DeLorean Club
> DMC-6960
>
> --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Don Golden" <Don.Golden@xxxx> wrote:
> > Hi All
> >
> > Something new came up which is baffling. When shifting out of 1st
> gear the right front of the car seems to drop and I feel a slight
> tendency to swerve to the left. This seems to be more pronounced the
> higher the revs are when I shift out of 1st. I hear no clunks or other
> sounds.
> >
> > Other than this the car seems to drive fine. I don't notice this in
> any other gear. It's almost as if this is caused by either 1) the
> front weight shift as the car decelerates, or 2) the engine torque as
> it decreases revs, or a combination of both. This isn't noticeable
> during braking, only during accelerating out of 1st gear.
> >
> > A visual check suggests that the engine mounts are OK. I tried
> another test: with the parking brake on and the the car in 1st gear I
> let the clutch out slowly. The engine doesn't twist (there is a slight
> downward movement). The same thing happens in with the tranny in
> reverse (except the engine moves upward slightly).
> >
> > I can't see any visual problems with the shocks/springs, ball
> joints, tie rod ends. I'm at a loss of where to go next. Could the
> trailing arm bolts or transmission mounts have a similar effect?
> >
> > Thanks Don VIN 4835
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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