track rod tie rod steering ends

[Tony Press]

If as shown is the radius arm 'unrestrained ' with a pivot through the axle and a ball joint at the rear ? Looks a very complicated way of setting up the front on what is after all an Austin 7 .

[Amilcar John]

Not the question you asked and I might be wrong, but doesn't the VSCC only allow A7 tubular axles on replicas of the works cars? I'm not sure how that would apply to a hybrid like yours (which is fantastic btw). Worth checking.

[Colin Reed]

Hi All,
Just to clarify a few points.
The chassis mounts on the original beam axle from austin were a straight pin bolted to the Chassis and a bushed end on the Radius rod not a Spherical rod end, movement was catered for at the connection with Axle.
Any  rotational movement of the Beam( MUST )take place Between the points on the beam where the rods are attached, only one rotational joint is required,Reason being it is the rods that cause the twist
The design of the joint is open to your own interpretation

Colin
NZ

[Bob Culver]

For those interested, the topic of the rotating end of tubular axle was covered at length some time ago. A photo of that part would make the arrangement clear. For those who grasp the workings of the "modern" torsion axle the basis is obvious.
But the virtues of the very complex arrangemnt for the front of the radius rod assembly to rotate cf a simple ball joint at the rear taxes the grey matter somewhat. Especially bearing in mind the way castor changes on the standard Sevens when the radius rod is rotated.
An inportant point is that none of the complex pieces drops onto the road or into the spokes. When I fitted Girling brakes to my Seven with the early radius rods the increased stresses on them were so obvious I fitted a safety wire in case the spigot broke off.

[a7grenade]

mines completely original-found it in a barn last summer in france 

there is one other austin riley with a similar but more nash esq front
it is still a special so I'm keeping my fingers crossed
as well as keeping it mainly austin cough cough

I've seen some very different 'works' copies over the years
thanks tho for your comment
jeremy

[Bob Culver]

Hi Ian
 
To labour all this yet further...
 
I was not absolutely sure which of the following you meant
1) the radius rods fine thread directly into the T bracket instead of the complex fittings ex track rod ends
2) The T piece fine threads into the axle (so no external nut required)
3) the rotating action for the axle tube ends is derived through one end being fine threaded over the main tube rather than the trapped flange arrangement of the original.
 
It is faintly possible others may also be curious!

[Ian Williams]

Bob, answer 3 is the one.