Lomax 223 rear wheel problems.

[namster]

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All apart.

This is the front. Rear is largely the same. On my next pembleton I intend to design a removable lower rear side panel so that rear arm removal is possible. On my current car you'd have to reach for the tin snips

[billp]

Hello Dave,

I need to remove the rear arm on my 223 as I intend to fit a shorter modified arm to take a wire wheel. I'm planning this as a next winter job and looking at the underside of my 223 I think(maybe wrongly) that I will be able to detach everything that needs detaching and then unbolt the cross member complete and wriggle it out. Dismantling will be easy then. I'd have thought that someone has tried this already as it looks feasible. I shall photograph my job as I go, for sure - anything other than cutting holes in the body tub.

When you get your arm off send it to Bob at Cradley Motor Works for repair, as he has the necessary jig. Bob has already replied to your post above as CMWBOB.

[Dave Guest]

Many thanks for the information. I will be giving it a go this weekend. I intend to remove the rear body supports and then the four bolts that hold the trailing arm support bar then slide the whole unit off the end of the frame thereby negating the need to remove the bodywork......well that’s the plan.
What I really need to know from more expert members than myself is, is there any reason I should not attempt this method.

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[Ken Hanna]

Dave,
when reassembling the arm, I hope you won't follow the advice given in the Lomax build manual, 'tighten up the large collar and then slacken off by 1/4 of a turn'...
Citroen's workshop manual instructs that the retaining ring should be tightened to a specific torque, 36 ft.lbs for a front axle and 40 ft.lbs for the rear, then 'bring the slot which is nearest to a locking pin hole opposite this hole by tightening the slotted nut'.

[Dave Guest]

Maybe that’s the answer....The arms not bent just 1/4 turn too loose.

[Karl Mulcahy]

I removed the arm from our Lomax this morning by removing the axle. Very easy no problems at all.

After removing the arm from the axle we took the paint off with a wire wheel on a grinder. Underneath the paint and body filler there was much corrosion and very poor quality welding to cover up corrosion. There were large rust holes and cuts that looked like they had been made with a grinder wheel in order to bend the arm. Some of these were welded up poorly and others were just filled with body filler. Under the slapped on Hammerite and filler the metal is heavily corroded, pitted and wafer thin.

I will be finding a replacement arm and sending off to Lomax for modification. Probably not going to buy another Lomax after this. We will stick with Avions.

[Dave Guest]

Hi Karl thanks for the reply. I can now crack on with mine. I gues you removed the brackets that hold the rear tub of the body work from the frame and just slid it out. One part I don’t understand is the brake pipe system must have a flexible connector somewhere to allow the pipe to move with the arm, but I can’t find it.

[Karl Mulcahy]

No flexi. The pipe is hard line all the way through. It is a spiral inside which allows the arm to move freely. Just undo the tube nut going into the threeway union and pull the pipe out.

Just get the body support tube out if the way. Ours had the nuts birdshit welded on to the bolt for some ridiculous reason so I cut them off and will make some new ones.

When you take the arm off the axle tube just gently straighten out the brake line if you’ve never extracted one before - rather than trying to extract it.

[cmwbob]

Well spotted Ken, good to see someone takes the time and care to read every word of the build manual.

There have been a few bits I have picked up on and changed, but I had never noticed that. Do not know who originally wrote it, but assume it was way back in the early days of Lomax and probably on the assumption most home builders would not have facility to apply a known torque and would tend to use a drift to overtighten, so on that basis perhaps end result was somewhere near right.

Anyhow, manual now updated with torque setting added. Website link will be auto updated when doing next upgrade due soon.

Bob

[Dave Guest]

After a bit of a fight, the arm is now out and I can see we’re it failed(see pics) I shall be contacting Cradley motor works in the morning. Thank you to all that took the time to post.


One last thing ...Is this quality of wielding from CITROEN normal