Rob Edwards

Couple of other angles, if these are helpful to stimulate the discussion. Carl, let me know if this is too much thread creep and I can kill this post!

Carl Fausett

That's Mark Anderson's old racer, right?

I think that might be confusing for some - the Weissach system is gone and only the trailing arm remains. The Weissach spring we have been discussing is also gone.

Anecdotaly, Mark mentioned to me that his and Joseph's 928's were almost twins. Replacing all the rubber with spherical rod ends was one of the differences, and he said it made his car much harder to drive well and fast. He could hop in Joe's car and turn laps that were just a wee bit slower than his car, and his car (this one pictured) took much more skill and effort.

I would think, for purposes of this discussion, photos of a stock 928 rear link system would be more helpful. Remember, the point of these new poly bushings is to help bring the Weissach back in to range without pinning it, and without removing it.

Leave them up for a bit, see what the other fella's say.

M. Requin

My suspicion exactly, but the only collateral problem is the half shaft, and I'm having trouble putting those two things together, like Occam's Razor wants me to do...

I'll have mine on the lift again in a few days for routine maintenance, and I'm going to have a good look at that leaf spring again (I'll be replacing it later this fall) and see if there are any pecker tracks from a bad tow job, or anything else. I'll post pics if I find anything interesting.

Leon Speed

So was the kink oriented towards the rear or the front?

RKD in OKC

Mine wasnt kinked, it was just arced enough that it couldn't be aligned any more. No curbs or rumble strips and wasn't transported (i.e., tied down).

M. Requin

IIRC towards the front- I'll post a pic when I have it back on the lift.

Carl Fausett

I've had bent ones here, but the cars had been in accidents (I was parting them out) and I always assumed the damage came from the accident. Maybe not! Maybe they were driving around like that for a while before the accident happened.

It is really interesting to hear how often others are reporting a bend/kink/fold in their Weissach leaf spring link.

FredR

Carl,

When I wrecked my late S4 one of the arms had a kink in the spring plate that was definitely not there before the accident. The damage did not seem to make sense as the impact was about 30 degrees from head on at the front passenger side impact point. The rear wheels and other components of the rear suspension were not damaged but maybe the spring plate was overwhelmed by the sudden violent thrust vectors induced in the crash as the car rebounded off the protective concrete barrier I hit. Maybe the violent decelleration resulted in excessive toe changes [amplified by the bigger wheels] that overwhelmed the spring plate as the rear of the car simply changed direction too quickly.

I have also wondered if the damage was done when they dumped the wreck on a recovery truck and then perhaps tied it down [excessively?] with come-alongs on the tie down straps but I think that is unlikely.

I'l run with the mods you propose any day compared to the set up on Rob's photos![ha ha]. Indeed very much appreciate any feedback/analysis on how they perform. I am pretty sure that any rubber bushing eventually dies in our heat and I am amazed at just how well mine have stood up relative to the wiring that that continues to fall apart around me.

Nevermind "choices"- we are running out of OEM options period - or so it seems.

Regards

Fred

76FJ55

I would guess it bent due to buckling from the spring being put into compression as the rear swung sideways from the impact. Which side did the rear swing to and which spring was bent?

James Bailey

It is very common for tow trucks to hook onto the spring plate with a chain and crank it down with the winch....very common. Saw several arrive at 928 tied down that way. Many others that were bent with a sharp kink like from a chain hook !!
The tow trucks look for an easy connection and the spring plate just looks so inviting.....

FredR

James,

A very logical suggestion- may not explain why one side was affected and not the other, but then some of these folks are not too sophisticated and perhaps just a randomness type of thing

James Bailey

Having observed something like 75 auto tows in the last two months.....rarely do both sides end up under the same tension due to chain length and location on the bed.

FredR

Simon,

I have no clue what trajectory the car took after impact- I was KO'ed on impact and suffered a fracture on L1, neck whiplash [no airbag] and first thing I knew about it was being sat in a very dead 928 with a chronic back ache.

I was told my 928 bounced off the concrete barrier [the impact was on a bridge over another motorway below], careered to the other side, whacked that and came to rest in the middle of the highway completely blocking it. I never bought that though as there was seemingly no secondary damage to support the theory unless by fluke chance the same spot hit both sides- for sure it was utterly fubar'ed with the chassis disorted.

The trailing arm bent was the driver's side [I think]. I suspect the car hit the barrier and bounced off it with the front passenger side wall riding up the 1 metre high barrier, rotating anti clockwise to stop with the rear end pointing towards the near side of the road.

regards

Fred