128 front suspension issues

The rubber was in the groove but it was broken so ONLY the flange was in the groove the rest had slipped further down the coil.

I ordered the shorter bump stops from Matt, will attempt another replace when the new parts arrive. Will also take pics and measurements to document this mess for the handful of us lucky enough to have out hands full with 128 stuff...
 
with new parts in place I CANNOT get the spring to stay seated on the perch.

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Those springs have been cut...

There's no chance those springs will stay on the perch or are usable in the current condition. Someone cut the spring to shorten it, without reshaping the bottom coil.

Yes, they can be fixed, but it will lower the car another 2+ inches to reshape the bottom coil, probably not what you're looking for.

-M
 
The "best practices" method of flattening the end of cut springs seems to be heating up the coil (with a torch) to reform the last coil so it sits flatter and will let the last coil wrap properly around the spring seat to center the spring. Matt put up a nice picture of 128 springs a while back. Take a look and you'll see what the uncut spring end looks like: http://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/29452/

Whatever combo of springs and bump stop tubes you end up with, make sure there is enough travel for your driving conditions. The practical drawback to lowering cars is the spring rate should be increased to compensate for reduced travel, else the car will be bottoming all over the place. If you're running 128 tubes with X1/9 bump stops, make sure the bump stop limits the travel on the rubber bumper, and that the top of the strut tube doesn't contact the underside of the bump stop tube. I wish I still had an original front strut to measure!

Did you get any pics of the cracks in the body? Hopefully it's not that bad. I had to scrap my first 128 when I hit a pothole going around a corner, the body tore at the firewall to frame rail junction, and things flexed so bad the axle popped out (and continued to do so the whole way home). It was beyond my meager fab skills back then to repair.
 
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Cracks...

128kid said:
Did you get any pics of the cracks in the body? Hopefully it's not that bad. I had to scrap my first 128 when I hit a pothole going around a corner, the body tore at the firewall to frame rail junction, and things flexed so bad the axle popped out (and continued to do so the whole way home). It was beyond my meager fab skills back then to repair.
Click to expand...

I'd definitely be interested in seeing any photos of the typical crack-areas on 128's - I know a few of them, but probably not all. My daily-driver 128 Wagon has been "grounded" for the last 3 weeks due to the passenger-side axle randomly popping in/out of the transmission, often at the most inconvenient time/place. :hrmph:

I've checked all suspension components numerous times & even replaced the 3 engine/trans mounts, all to no avail. With the car having nearly half a million (fairly) trouble-free miles on it, I came to the conclusion that excessive chassis flexing due to fatigue was most likely what's causing the driveline to shift around, & I've checked the engine bay for any obvious firewall/inner fender cracks, but so far haven't found anything. Very frustrating! :wall:
 
Man, that sucks, Jeff... I have body detail photos from a couple of different cars that I have parted over the years. One was a high mileage car that was really cracked up; sold to me because it had been hit in the rear but the front end cracks were all fatigue related from what I could tell. I was surprised it had still been driveable (before the accident). I'll try to find time to upload those in the next few days.

A lot of the trouble spots are hidden behind things in the engine bay so it makes it tough to inspect. The wheel well ones are fairly easy to see but can be obscured by undercoating. Crossmember and firewall areas are usually covered in muck on non-enthusuast-owned cars, and the various components in the engine bay even on clean cars. Where the frame rails go through the firewall there is lots of seam sealer and you can have cracks under that and not even know it. Inside the car the firewall insulation, wiring, and dash do a great job of obscuring things even if you pull the carpet back. I have some pics from my Rally, which currently has the interior firewall stripped for rustproofing and new insulation, that show some of those areas pretty well.
 
My friend had some 124 Spider rear shocks so we cut one and pigtailed it and it installed just fine. We just cot the second one so I have to pull it out and re assemble the right side. The new ride height is "lofty" but since I use it as a daily work vehicle it is often laden with white a bit of weight in tools.

Please do post the areas where stress cracking occurs and I will inspect. I will also take photos of the area where my fender came loose.

Thanks again to all, I'm really continuing to learn a lot and it'a very valuable stuff!

BTW:Bought my first X today! Will go pick it up next weekend.
 
Got the second spider rear spring cut, pigtailed, assembled and installed. Ride height is now nosebleed worthy. Definitely better for my use of the vehicle but reminiscent of an Eagle Talon...
 
Jeff Stich said:
I'd definitely be interested in seeing any photos of the typical crack-areas on 128's - I know a few of them, but probably not all. My daily-driver 128 Wagon has been "grounded" for the last 3 weeks due to the passenger-side axle randomly popping in/out of the transmission, often at the most inconvenient time/place. :hrmph:

I've checked all suspension components numerous times & even replaced the 3 engine/trans mounts, all to no avail. With the car having nearly half a million (fairly) trouble-free miles on it, I came to the conclusion that excessive chassis flexing due to fatigue was most likely what's causing the driveline to shift around, & I've checked the engine bay for any obvious firewall/inner fender cracks, but so far haven't found anything. Very frustrating! :wall:
Click to expand...

If you can find the measurement specifications for the various points of the chassis (like from the top of the strut tower to the front/opposite corner... and similar point-to-point locations under the car), you could use a tram gauge or just a tape measure to see if the chassis has flexed out of spec to the point where you need to pull it back in spec on a frame puller. Just a thought I'm not familiar with the stress/metal fatigue points of the 128 yet either. Using a tram gauge and comparing measurements to the stock specs could allow you to localize damage to the chassis.
 
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