X Frame info

[Major_Tom]

..anyone know the tightening sequence? I took a couple of the arms off to do maintenance and now it's making a hell of a noise when going from reverse to forwards.

[Bug]

Not sure there was ever a defined sequence?
You must do it with the weight on the wheels though. If you do it while the suspension is hanging you will introduce pre-load and in fact the leaf spring clamps may not be in exactly the right place on the spring.

[Major_Tom]

Thanks. Yes by sequence I meant what gets done up with weight on and what doesn't - Ah cannae remember laddae!

[Bug]

Ah, with you now.
I would personally do it all up tight-ish then lower it down. Finish tightening the axle clamps, then slightly loosen the leaf spring plates, bounce the rear a few times to be sure it's settled, then torque them up.

[Major_Tom]

[Bug]

Also do a bit of measuring. If the two sides are not spaced the same down the leaf spring you could inadvertently introduce a bit of preload.
Bit of a bugger if it's a fight to get round a roundabout but relaxing pings you off at the first exit.
Or worse the other way round, once you're on the roundabout you can't get off.

[Mc Tool]

I'll bite .Why do you fit this X frame thing ,which to me looks like something Isambard Brunel could have come up with , I mean , obviously to stop Capri wavin her arse about ,but wouldn't a simple panard rod be better? I think there is something fundamentally wrong with clamping stuff to leaf springs .
So , what am I missing ( and dont nobody say a right leg ).

[Bug]

I'll bite .Why do you fit this X frame thing ,which to me looks like something Isambard Brunel could have come up with , I mean , obviously to stop Capri wavin her arse about ,but wouldn't a simple panard rod be better? I think there is something fundamentally wrong with clamping stuff to leaf springs .
So , what am I missing ( and dont nobody say a right leg ).

It's what Tickford did, though they welded the brackets to the axle casing. Simpler solution than the bracketry required for the panhard set up I'm told.
Think I was one of the first to fit the original Skorpion kit to my 2.8i back in 1992. Worked so well I had to uprate the front end to get rid of the understeer. Ended up with a beautifully neutral car that would four wheel drift in the wet.
Most prevalent on the Mk1 3 litre, the issue with the leaf springs is that they would twist lengthways, allowing the axle to move up to an inch out of line with the body, from side to side.
So you hammer into a corner and the axle stays put but the body moves outwards over it. Mid corner you hit a bump, the axle jumps outwards to line up with the body and you are taken backwards to the scene of the accident.
I agree that the x-frame is an industrial scale solution, but it does work.
To a smaller extent it also helps prevent the front of the diff trying to climb up under acceleration, by transmitting that twisting force into the leaf springs. On the original A-Frame this pushed all that force into the front end of the springs, which couldn't have been very good for them.
In the X-Frame it transmits the force equally to both ends of the spring. Still the same force in total applied to the spring, but not such great point loads.
So the simple answer is: a cheap solution which turned out to be more effective than anyone thought it would.
My old 2.8i is still on the road and still wearing it's original X-Frame and leaf springs. I'm told it still handles well. That could be due to the 1" front ARB and 5/8" rear ARB, and the 175, -1" front springs, plus the Skorpion strut brace as well though.

[Major_Tom]

I'll bite .Why do you fit this X frame thing ,which to me looks like something Isambard Brunel could have come up with , I mean , obviously to stop Capri wavin her arse about ,but wouldn't a simple panard rod be better? I think there is something fundamentally wrong with clamping stuff to leaf springs .
So , what am I missing ( and dont nobody say a right leg ).

I had a guy in a modified MX5 pull up next to me at some lights, after I overtook him at 60+mph on a tight bend of dual carriageway heading into town. Big smile on his face, his shakes his head and goes "that's the best handling one of them I've ever seen."

That's why you fit them

[Mc Tool]

yeah I get that it improves handling .........so does the bag of cement or paving stone ( I believe it has already been discussed ) just I think that its a bit crude. Im trying to find some decent pix of one fitted .
I have mentally gone thru some options for my Capri back end , starting with a four link and panard , then maybe a mk4/5 teeny box diff and links but in the end I think I'll just go for the panard rod ( escort kit off Burtons ), mostly because Im knockin on 60 , the car has to be an auto box , petrol is 3 bucks 20 a litre (FFS ).......and all my other vehicles ( maybe not the boat ) would leave it for dead no matter what I do to it......