Post by Brian M on Oct 28, 2008 12:47:25 GMT
From: Sylvesteruk1 (Original Message) Sent: 03/05/2006 19:47
Brian,
In a couple of your pictures sometime back you point out a weakness in the chassis near the hub assembly but do not elaborate on it.
Having cut up the chassis of a 1979 14/2 and then having taken two of us and six hernias to lift the axle beam and hubs I was wondering if you could provide some guide lines on the weakness.
The whole assembly is unbelievably over engineered in comparison with my twin axled tilt bed car trailer with a max capacity of two tonnes. These axles are nothing more then 2" square steel tube with rubber suspension units compressed indside. All four wheels are braked and it runs on 13" wheels.
Perhaps the SAFARI design was to cushion the caravan from rough terrain so that the SAFARI glasses did not break!
Hows the front end restoration coming on?
Regards
Mike
From: OliverShaw1 Sent: 03/05/2006 20:07
> Perhaps the SAFARI design was to cushion the caravan from rough terrain so that the SAFARI glasses did not break!
Or perhaps so that when Safari Owners' Club members took them on their Continental rallies and loaded up with duty free wine the chassis was up to the load!
Even so, on one rally Ted Billington had to hurriedly uprate the suspensions of several members' 'vans during the course of the rally, and he then incorporated the modification into the later production.
Regards,
Oliver
From: Brian Sent: 03/05/2006 22:08
In the original message over two years back:
Message 1 of 1 in Discussion
From: Brian (Original Message) Sent: 17/03/2004 07:58
Our Safari expert, Gareth has sent me some photos showing how the damper mountings can break where they meet the chassis. So it would be a good idea to have a look at yours before it's too late!
I have tried to post the pics as part of this message but in case they don't appear, I have also put them in a new album called KNOWN FAULTS.
Brian
I had a look at mine and saw the plate that seems to be broken in the picture was fixed between the chassis and the bottom end of the damper. Consisting of a flat plate welded to the chassis with a horizontal rod attached to it. Mine were in good condition.
I have always thought that the chassis seemed to be a remarkable bit of over engineering, more appropriate to the Forth Road Bridge! Mike comments seem to bear this out.
I know Gareth gets the threads from all messages so perhaps he might like to comment further.
Brian Miller
Brian,
In a couple of your pictures sometime back you point out a weakness in the chassis near the hub assembly but do not elaborate on it.
Having cut up the chassis of a 1979 14/2 and then having taken two of us and six hernias to lift the axle beam and hubs I was wondering if you could provide some guide lines on the weakness.
The whole assembly is unbelievably over engineered in comparison with my twin axled tilt bed car trailer with a max capacity of two tonnes. These axles are nothing more then 2" square steel tube with rubber suspension units compressed indside. All four wheels are braked and it runs on 13" wheels.
Perhaps the SAFARI design was to cushion the caravan from rough terrain so that the SAFARI glasses did not break!
Hows the front end restoration coming on?
Regards
Mike
From: OliverShaw1 Sent: 03/05/2006 20:07
> Perhaps the SAFARI design was to cushion the caravan from rough terrain so that the SAFARI glasses did not break!
Or perhaps so that when Safari Owners' Club members took them on their Continental rallies and loaded up with duty free wine the chassis was up to the load!
Even so, on one rally Ted Billington had to hurriedly uprate the suspensions of several members' 'vans during the course of the rally, and he then incorporated the modification into the later production.
Regards,
Oliver
From: Brian Sent: 03/05/2006 22:08
In the original message over two years back:
Message 1 of 1 in Discussion
From: Brian (Original Message) Sent: 17/03/2004 07:58
Our Safari expert, Gareth has sent me some photos showing how the damper mountings can break where they meet the chassis. So it would be a good idea to have a look at yours before it's too late!
I have tried to post the pics as part of this message but in case they don't appear, I have also put them in a new album called KNOWN FAULTS.
Brian
I had a look at mine and saw the plate that seems to be broken in the picture was fixed between the chassis and the bottom end of the damper. Consisting of a flat plate welded to the chassis with a horizontal rod attached to it. Mine were in good condition.
I have always thought that the chassis seemed to be a remarkable bit of over engineering, more appropriate to the Forth Road Bridge! Mike comments seem to bear this out.
I know Gareth gets the threads from all messages so perhaps he might like to comment further.
Brian Miller