Is the a trick to mounting the 2wd cossie rear beam with solid mounts? Mine wants to go in on the piss. Can't fugue out why. Seemed ok when I took it out.

 

Ive always found the rear beams to be a bit of a chew on to put back in. I think if you remove the prop shaft from the diff it might be a bit easier.

 

The whole rear has been out. I am only fitting the beam and diff at this point. No props haft or anything else is on yet.

 

Or right. I know ive struggled in the past to get my beam back in and i just thought it was the prop stopping it.

 

if you solid mount the beam solid mount the diff. I had solid mounts from MK motorsport. They went straight in. swapped them for polys in the and due to the supra diff covers breaking but i may try them again later.

 

No way mine will go straight in. I think I may need to make some checks, I expect that the thread in the chassis leg should be positioned the same both sides.
I can't see where the car has had any repairs or damage but the beam sits weird even when you put it in on its own And when you do there is no chance the diff will bolt up.
It has been rolling about a panel & paint shop on castor wheels getting a fresh coat of paint, it's all very strange...
maybe back to poly mounts is the way. It all seemed okay when I took it out.

 

You sure the beam isnt bent?

 

Could be a chance of that I guess. How can I check that?

 

Pictures tell a thousand words! Seems a bit of an odd conundrum you have there....!

 

I thought the solid mounts were supposed to be the easiest of all the beam mounts to fit!?

 

That is why I got them. I am very suprised.

 

I will try get some photos up. I have to travel to the car though so might be a day or two.

 

prob got a bent beam mate - i would get it checked and whilst at it get the 6 degree mod

 

Lol if only it was that easy. I live in New Zealand. If it is bent I have a load of homework to do. There won't be a 6 degree beam in the country. I wouldn't even know where to find a spare.
What cars have the same beam as 2wd Sapphire?

 

All mk3 Granadas will have the same rear beam, except for the 4x4's as those have the beam for the 7" diff.

 

Awesome. Can't say I have ever come across a granada in NZ.

 

I guess it's all Ford Falcons over there?!

While I'm sure a Granada or Sierra isn't a common car in Oz (or NZ), would that sort of thing cost a fortune to get shipped over from Oz?

 

Yeah I would have to look into it. Cost out of UK will be astronomical to the point where I could probably get a full tubular sub frame built by a local race car fabricator Within the same budget especially if I looked at getting a 6 degree beam.

 

And yeah Falcons are very common here. With the Sapphire I usually get "You don't ever see these about" when you are out around town in it. And at track days I get "couldn't catch that on the straights, what is in it!"
This is why I love my old Sapphire.

 

Be a shame if it's bent.

 

If it's bent the tracking must have been out. But even on poly bushes it can be difficult to get them line up exactly. On solid mounts 1 mm misalignment is already too much, I would just use poly bushes if the solid mounts really don't fit.

 

Back to poly is what I am thinking at this point to see where it ends up. I will dig up an old wheel alignment to see what it has to say too.

 

This is what has been bothering me... The beam does go in without the diff but doesn't look square.


Left rear, see how close it is to the wheel arch






Now see the right side. Looks further back.




Does this look the same on other people's Sapphires?

 

Hmm, that indeed looks strange. But I can't see that being caused by the beam since the mounting points are very close to that spot. It looks more like if the shell is wrong.

 

That's my opinion but my panel beater says he measured everything using the autorobot chassis machine. I said to him it might be as much as 20 mm out and he says impossible "maybe 1mm but 20 mm is huge, no way" he said.

It also feels like if I push the left side forward the diff mount may line up. I have a day of measuring this weekend I think.

My panelbeater did do the typical rust repair work they all seem to need in the rear legs but he never had to move the beam mounting holes or the diff mounting holes. He also measured the car after the work was done.

It would be good to get some dimensions off other cars relating to the positions in my photos if possible.

 

2wd? i'm local in Auckland if you want to look at an un-molested one?

 

That would be great. What part of town you in?

 

Thanks for that Jase. that helped heaps. Looks to me like it is out on the right side looking at yours.

I also found some old wheel alignment data. Rear toe is the only inconsistent reading I see. It says left toe is +4.1mm and right toe is +0.0 mm. Left camber is -2°38' and right camber is -2°50'.

 

Having one of the beam mounts too far forward or backward would indeed only cause an issue on the toe setting. But 4 mm toe in on one side and 0 mm on the other isn't much. To cause that the beam would only need to move about 4 mm forward/backward on one side (if I didn't mess up with the calculations). If the beam was really out by 2 cm the tracking should have been about 10 mm instead of 4 mm.

If the beam mounting points are also that much out it should be clearly visible that one wheel is further back in the arch than the other.

 

I probably exaggerate on 20mm. Those tracking figures were done when it had poly bushes in and so they probably had enough give in them to square up a bit. I won't know until I get back to measure it but perhaps the reality is close to 10mm out. The solid bushes just highlight it having no give. The new diff mount also has much less give the the soft rubber one so that won't help either.

 

I have been doing calculations too and based on the wheel alignment I need to find the 4mm you came up with. I think I have a plan now.

 

Sounds promising and slightly ominous...!? Hope you can sort it, what are you thinking?

 

I can go back to the poly bushes and make an eccentric sleeve with the top section machined concentric and press that into the bush. That will relocate the centre of the bush. if I only need 4mm that means 2mm offset per side and it should end up nice and square.