smnbyt

Active Member
I'm going to take the lower suspension arms off

While there off is it worth seam welding them??

What do you guys reckon??
 
:behindsofa:
By lower suspension arms I presume you mean the wishbones ?

There is bound to be rust present which will be inaccesible and greatly affect the weld quality. If you are thinking of putting a run of MIG weld along the join there is the probability that the wishbone will deform due to the heat.
Brand new wishbones are readily available complete with new front bush and balljoint for around £25 plus VAT upwards depending on manufacturer.
 
:behindsofa:
By lower suspension arms i presume you mean the wishbones ?

There is bound to be rust present which will be inaccesible and greatly affect the weld quality. If you are thinking of putting a run of mig weld along the join there is the probability that the wishbone will deform due to the heat.
Brand new wishbones are readily available complete with new front bush and balljoint for around £25 plus vat upwards depending on manufacturer.

+1

Are Golf wishbones the same?

I doubt you're gonna be putting much more than 150 bhp through a Gaylander?

Replace or rebush your's if your desperate... ;)
 
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no don't be daft. vdub forum, give me a break, has your brain fell out? you need to assemble vw properly cos they can't, who lost the war?










Nurse has been, had injection, world is a happy place now bye
 
:behindsofa:
By lower suspension arms I presume you mean the wishbones ?

There is bound to be rust present which will be inaccesible and greatly affect the weld quality. If you are thinking of putting a run of MIG weld along the join there is the probability that the wishbone will deform due to the heat.
Brand new wishbones are readily available complete with new front bush and balljoint for around £25 plus VAT upwards depending on manufacturer.


Hmmm, okie dokie fair points :)
 
To give them more rigidity and strength, read it on a vw golf forum

What then if you hit a pothole or some other nasty.
Where does the stress that the wishbone would have absorbed by bending get tranfered to.

As Irish rover says there only £25 quid a pop.

A Freelander is not a lowered street car.
 
What then if you hit a pothole or some other nasty.
Where does the stress that the wishbone would have absorbed by bending get tranfered to.

As Irish rover says there only £25 quid a pop.

A Freelander is not a lowered street car.

Nail hit on the head ;)
The wishbone is designed to bend at a given load. The idea being that should you be off road and clout a big rock, the wishbone will bend as will the track rod!! This stops more expensive damage to the body and steering assembly.
Having said that, my wife managed to demolish a 2ft high loose lay stone wall one day with our 50th anniversary 1.8. The poor Freelander plowed it's own ramp using the front wishbone as a bulldozer!! The damage was confined to the strut and the track rod. The wishbone looked fine but I changed it as a precaution along with the wheel.
 
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The wishbones are cast, only a fool would weld them up! Cast steel has very different properties to a sheet of steel, you'd need to pre-heat them for a start

Unfortunately there are too many numpties on VW forums and the like who'll do anything for some extra lows, more often than not making things dangerous and unsafe in the process
 
The wishbones are cast, only a fool would weld them up! Cast steel has very different properties to a sheet of steel, you'd need to pre-heat them for a start

Unfortunately there are too many numpties on VW forums and the like who'll do anything for some extra lows, more often than not making things dangerous and unsafe in the process



I think you will find they are 2 pressed mild steel sections spot welded together.
The one I replaced was £29 quids inc Vat including ball joint.
Ball joint on its own was £16
 
I think you will find they are 2 pressed mild steel sections spot welded together.
The one I replaced was £29 quids inc Vat including ball joint.
Ball joint on its own was £16

They're normally cast, haven't spent that much time looking at my wishbones to be honest
 
When I was doing a bit of rallying ( many years ago ) I "seam-welded" a mini bodyshell for a little extra strength - but I used braze, not weld - braze is relatively softer, and will therefore allow a little more flex
 

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