Is this part dead?
 

I am cleaning it up before I fit it back on the car, and noticed that the holes for the ride high adjustment has a lot of corrosion on it. Not having a lot of experience with Aluminium, I do not know if this is so bad that I need to replace it or if it is still acceptable to go back on the car?

What do you all think?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1178449025.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1178449053.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1178449072.jpg

I don't see a problem. The holes look like they are just fine with no visible cracks.

Thank you Wayne. The leading thin edge has a lot of corroded aluminium. Does that edge take a big load? If not then I am not to worried.

My opinion? I'm totally unqualified to render judgement, but I'd want an engineers thoughts, like Chuck Moreland or one of the WEVO boys myself.

That is why I posted the question ;) :D

FWIW here is another opinion.... the area that takes some weight is at the end of the adj screw, and that area in my opinion looks fine . If your concerned about the area that looks out of shape you could always weld some fresh aluminum there with a TIG welder just to be on the safe side . It does look OK , not perfect but OK. SmileWavy

Hey Pål!

Let me contribute with...eh.....ehh.....a bump! SmileWavy

I knew I could always rely on some good advice from you Markus :D BTW, How are things with you, the kids and the white 911?
Thank you for the comments Herman. I was also wondering if that part takes any load. If not then i do not think I have anything to worry about..

+1 on a tig weld. just had a perforation in my high pressure line coming off of the a/c compressor tig welded. friend charged me beer money basically. if you know someone with a tig, i'd go to them rather than pay for a new part..

Kroggers,
I brought my car to a welding shop with TIG weld. The guy put a thin piece of aluminum on the out side and put lot of weld on it. Look pretty sturdy. This is for $100 with it on the car. So I don't think it'll cost you much when you already have it off the car.

+1. with it off the car, a friend will treat you very well. he asked for $3-4....i gave him $5 and he said he owed me 'another job'. wow.

Thank you for the recommendations, I will try to find someone with a TIG welder. But I am still interested to know if that part (or more that thin edge) takes any major load when you are driving the car?

It keeps the torsion bar end cap from coming of. But the end cap is under load from the suspension so it should not move. I THINK the load on this part is zero.
I've seen pictures here when that little part has been broken of by being hit by something and the end cap was still in place.

One thing you could be more concerned with is if the end cap has worn a groove in the crossmember making the torsionbar uncentered in the crossmember.

Thank you for the info and reassurance Magnus....

There is some play between the crossmember and end cap, not much of a visible groove but there is a small one. I do not know what the tolerance should be on these parts. How much movement is acceptable? I can not see the groove, but you can feel it with a finger - is that enough to replacing the crossmember??

Nah, I'm not sure what tolerance that is acceptable, you might want to do a search on the subject.

The issue is to keep the torsionbar from rubbing on the crossmember, that is more important on bigger t-bars than stock.

The fix is not to replace the crossmember but to add a little weld to the end cap. You might want do welt the crossmember instead if your already going to take it to a welder.

Hmmmm, I will have to do some searching and reading on this. As you probably read on my web site, I am upgrading the complete suspension including larger t-bars, so probably best to do this properly.

One alternative that i was considering is to reduce the play on the crossmember by filling the groove with JB Weld. Do you think it will hold or is this a really bad idea??

That might be to soft I think.
Clasohlsson has some sort of aluminum welding kit that only uses the heat of a propane torch, kind of like soldering. I have not tried it but I have thought about testing it for a while.

You think JB is softer than aluminium? Could be....

Do you have any more info on that kit? I just had a look at the web site, and could not find it :(

Alutite is the product name.
http://www.clasohlson.se/Product/Product.aspx?id=383694

More info in english:
http://www.alutite-world.com/

I will have to go to Clas Ohlson during lunch today :)