brakes Caliper bracket on strut is bent. Advice appreciated.

[Taymar]

Could use some advice & opinions on this one please.

I have a set of tii struts, which I'd like to get converted into coilovers.

Eyeballing them, one of the caliper brackets appeared to be sticking out a bit further than the other. Checking with a straightedge confirmed that the upper mounting tab does indeed seem to be bent.

I would assume that the bent tab is no good to mount a caliper on now, as the assembly would not be parallel to the disc. I would also assume that since this part is cast iron(?) that any kind of bending is not advisable.

I know the struts are not specific to the left or right side, so my question really is are these worth investing the cash in to convert (with the view to using bent one on the left, and mounting the caliper to the 'good' side), or should I keep searching for a straighter set?

I really don't want to be in a position where I've sunk a bunch of cash into them to find out I've got weird braking or steering issues once it's all back together, and the integrity of the part is important too.

Here's a few pictures.

'bad' strut, bent side. The ruler is over the metal along the length, it's not 'hanging' between the mounting tabs in the middle. You can make out the gap below the ruler.

'bad' strut, other side. The ruler sits flush against the entire length on the other side of this strut:

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[Ravensix]

Looks really pitted from corrosion... Especially on the tubes... As for the bent bit, I reckon with a lot of heat you could bend it back straight, but after that I wouldn't mount a caliper to it, I would use it to mount the backing plate. Swapping the struts left and right seems like it would work (non-expert opinion... Just eyeballing my struts) I would let corrosion be the determining factor for these. (More so on the tube than the cast bits)

Edit: basically I agree with your plan to swap sides... Clean up the corrosion to see how deep it really is.

[Mike Self]

carefully file the protruding ear, keeping the file as parallel to the surface as possible. File a little, then use your straightedge.

It's not like the mating surfaces need to be perfectly flat, as if it was the joint between valve cover and head, where surfaces must be parallel to prevent oil leaks. You just want the caliper to sit straight on its mount. I think a little judicious filing should do the trick.

Or have a machine shop make a couple of passes on their milling machine.

cheers

mike

PS--make sure the struts aren't too rusty to use first...

[M3M3]

if those are the struts i think they are, the top pic is what the bottom pic looked like after 5min of surface rust removal with a wire wheel.

Email me Aaron.

[Hans]

It's hard to imagine how it could get bent short of a major collision, but if you suspect it was bent, I wouldn't be trying to salvage it.

[TobyB]

Yeah, that would take a bit of force to distort it-

I'd measure the whole strut very carefully, magnaflux it,

then, if it's ok otherwise, just use the other ears as you suggest.

And again, if it was me, I'd mark that bent ear so I didn't use it later.

Put a plug in it, maybe.

Given what a set of tii struts costs these days, it's probably worth some effort.

But if the whole thing's skeewhumpus, then it might be cheaper to find

another.

t

[stone02]

Hi,

i am no foundry expert but from the pictures

you show i believe that the straight edge is on the

rough cast side and the side you should look at is

the mounting side of the casting. the caliper

overlaps the casting to the back side and then the

bolts go thru the caliper and then into the strut

mounting bracket. additionally, the caliper is not

floating and the pistons align in the caliper to move

against the brake pads. i don't think that you have a

bent strut. was there some symptom that you had

and then began to investigate? if the straight edge

hits both of the ears on the mounting bracket reason-

ably then i would use the strut. if you had some

other problem then i would get another strut. by the

way, the struts can be used on the opposite sides.

so if only one part is not acceptable you might switch

them side for side.

good luck, and tell us the outcome,

stone

[M3M3]

good point on the rough cast side. i just straight edged several tii struts i have laying around. same findings. rough side not perfectly flat, but machined side is.

[Taymar]

Thanks for the help all, once again this forum has taught me some new things.

Checking the strut tube side instead of the wheel side it was a lot closer. Holding the straightedge against the lower mounting point, there was perhaps 0.5mm gap between the straightedge and the upper mount point. Measuring on the rough side it was more like 1.5mm. Strange that the rough side could be different enough that it's visible to the naked eye.

The corrosion doesn't seem nearly as bad as it looks in the pictures. The cast sections are pretty lumpy but I assumed that was largely due to the casting and not pitting.

I may still try and get them magnafluxed as it could be cheap insurance. Should anywhere that can do cylinder heads handle a strut?

[TobyB]

Yup, and it's not very expensive.

t

[Taymar]

Brilliant. Thanks ever so much guys.