Rear suspension - Toyota conversion...

[bazzbazz]

What makes the final version of the upper 'wishbones' better than the earlier ones?

The latter arms are a little lighter & had narrower necks around the ball joint as the revised TRW units do. Geometry is unchanged. (correct me if I am wrong)

As for the forks, the main difference is weight and ease of production, Johns will use a Torx Bolt that fixes to a threaded hole in the fork itself to attach to the shock, where DVs will use the standard bolt & nut.

One thing I should point out, production continuity is NOT something Alfa Romeo is renowned for.     

[Divano Veloce]

Hi all,

i've started a thread for suspension/tuning here:

http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php?topic=18059.0

Please use this thread to continue the discussion about overall suspension and tuning.

Cheers, Matt

[johnl]

The latter arms are a little lighter & had narrower necks around the ball joint as the revised TRW units do. Geometry is unchanged. (correct me if I am wrong)

So if these are 'the' differences, then the answer seems to be that for all practical purposes there is no significant difference between the earlier and later upper wishbones...?

As for the forks, the main difference is weight and ease of production, Johns will use a Torx Bolt that fixes to a threaded hole in the fork itself to attach to the shock, where DVs will use the standard bolt & nut.

One thing I should point out, production continuity is NOT something Alfa Romeo is renowned for.

Again it seems as if any difference is so slight as to make no practical difference, except maybe for a race car where any reduction in unsprung weight is a 'good thing' so the aluminium forks would be the ideal way to go...?

Without going outside to double check (in the rain), from memory I'm pretty sure my forks use hex headed Allen bolts and nuts, and not Torx bolts and nuts. This might support your point re production continuity...

Regards,
John.

[bazzbazz]

Depends on if yours is a facelift 147 and it's production date. I assumed yours was, and a later model.

[johnl]

Depends on if yours is a facelift 147 and it's production date. I assumed yours was, and a later model.

Mine is a non facelift 03 build.

Regards,
John.