Citroen Specials Club - the club for all lightweight cyclecars

Hi all can you help.
I’ve recently taken my Lomax for it’s Mot. It passed but during the inspection they showed me that the rear wheel is quite badly out of line top to bottom and it appears to be that arm is straight but the extra wielded part of the end isn’t. What is my best course of action.
Just on another subject there are a few new rules on the mot now. 30 years on manufactured kits for cars which do not then need mot.....odd but more on that another time.
Thanks for any help. Dave

Dave,
I presume your rear arm mod has not been gussetted to take the extra strain of potential overloading and modern potholes.
Any attempts to straighten the bent tube will inevitably lead to more damage to either the arm or hub so there are two options.
1. ideally cut off and replace the bent tube section.
2. alternatively, saw or angle grind 90% through the bent section of tube (from the bottom towards the top). This will then allow the hub to be twisted back to the vertical relatively easily (remove more metal from the bottom end of cut if needed to achieve vertical). Then reweld round the tube with wheel hub vertical.
Now that arm is back to Lomax original (with vertical wheel hub) via either 1. or 2. option above it is essential that you add some gussetting to the arm. This can be achieved by adding a steel strip to top and bottom of the arm, from the square to round section change piece all the way to the wheel hub. I use 30mm x 3mm (or 25mm x 4mm) steel strip rolled (use a spare wheel as former) to mimic the curve of the arm.
Now along the edge of nthe strips that will attach to the arm, cut / file / grind small V notches every 100mm or so (2-3mm deep is plenty). Now stitch weld the strips to the arm, one along the top of the arm and one along the bottom of the arm, avioding putting weld nr the V notches.
The V notches can then be used to cable tie the brake line to the arm so that the pipe sits neatly in the corner joint of the gusset and arm, and thus is protected.

Bob

Thank you Bob for the quick response. I think I’m going to have to remove the whole arm, any tips would be greatly appreciated. I’m a bit worried about the fact the ‘bend’ seems to be right at the end of the arm near the braking plate. I think there will be no other option but to cut and reweild the arm....can’t say I’m looking forward to that.

Got this on a 223 I bought earlier this year. It leans over in exactly the same way as yours, plus it is not straight along the axis of the car and I suspect it is not straight in the horizontal plane either as I cannot get enough ride height.

I’ve spoken to the chap at Lomax and he will straighten it on his jig and weld in the missing gussets.

It would seem that this is a home modified arm - a bit mad really as there’s no way to get it dimensionally accurate without a jig and missing out the strengthening gussets is a bit mad too.

Thanks for the response Karl.
I intend to attack the problem this afternoon. Having had a cursory look at the arm it looks like I would have to remove the bodywork to slide the arm off the bearing. Another thing that’s bothering me before I start is the nut which holds the arm on, do I need a special tool.
It great to find somebody who has been down the same route and I would very great full it you could forward me the details of the guy at Lomax who did the work on your suspension arm. Many thanks

Not just a lomax problem

Wow, that looks like a long walk home,at least mine has been bent for a good few years. I had a look today and made a somewhat tentative start. The conclusion I’ve arrived at is the whole arm and it’s supporting bar will need to come off . The big question is whether I can remove it without removing the body work.

Ta Keith

I bet that was interesting when it went south. The big question for me now is can I remove the rear arm without removing the body work? Is it possible?

I would suggest to remove the rear arm, you'd have to remove, or at least lift the body.

You can remove the locking nut without the tool by using a large flat headed screw driver and blows with hammer or mallet. Once the nut is loosened, it is easier to use the tool to do the rest of the unwinding, but not mandatory, you'll just be there longer!
I'm not sure what the best thing to do with the rear brake line, as this coils in the rear cross member and comes out of the end cap, then along the arm to the piston. Might be best to disconnect it from the arm and as the arm is removed carefully unbend and thread it through.

To get the arm off the beam, sometimes they will wiggle/pull off with some heavy persuasion. If not then you'll need to get creative. Its just the inner race of the conical bearing on the arm that gets a bit tight here. With the front arms you have a nice area to bolt a puller to and apply pressure that way on the end plates. No such luck at the rear.

I've attached some pictures of front arm removal, which is very similar to the front, but with a brake pipe coming out of the tube and no mounting tabs for a puller.