Rear Axle Link - 50261

[David Morris]

Hi All,

Have you checked your 50261’s lately?

If you have a Javelin, you have two 50261’s. These are the lower rear axle trailing links and locate the bottom edge of the rear axle. They are vital safety components. I assumed mine were ok, as they looked ok. Then, at scrutineering for the concours for the 2012 Rally at Llandrindod Wells, Keith Clements noticed my nearside one was cracked in half!

Luckily, the Rally organisers had organized a local garage to be on standby and I managed to get the link welded in time for the scenic run the next day! Once home, I weighed up the options, and decided to fabricate my own from thick-section box tube. They were both fitted to the car, along with new bushes, which are part number 50264.

I recommend that anyone with a Javelin gets down and inspects their 50261s as soon as you can. When fitted at the factory, I guess they were formed from two pressings, oval in cross section. I assume they were then welded together along their outer edges? They end up looking like a runner bean, with a weld bead running along the top and bottom, and tubular housings for the bushes at either end. This was probably fine when the cars left the factory, although I would reckon their overall strength when new was a bit marginal?

Time passes, and now some 70 years later, being low down in the car and subject to any spray from the rear wheels, these links are in the firing line. If the welds fail, water can enter the hollow inside, which carries no weather protection. Internal rusting does the rest, and mine failed, while looking quite reasonable on the outside when I was last under the vehicle. If you have a look at your links, and they are the original ‘runner bean’ shape, then I would guess yours might be about ready to fail. I think JCS stock replacements, but they are pretty easy to fabricate. I can recall taking one off a donor car, to use as a pattern.

In comparison, the upper links are substantial, being fabricated from two slabs of flat steel, with no hidden hollow inside to trap water and thenrust. Probably the best way to test the lower links is to give them a gentle tap on the sides and listen. If it sounds ‘flakey’, then I would really recommend that you change them asap, especially if there are signs that the seam welds have started to fail, or have been patched up in the past.

Hope this helps?

All the best,

David

[Forumadmin]

Remember it well. That is not the only issue I have noticed when doing the concourse judging. My skill is not on the finer points of originality but I can spot mechanical issues such as leaking oil, grease and brake fluid, worn brake linkages, steering or suspensions, collapsing rubber bushes or rust which might be serious. Oh and electrics which on many cars are fires waiting to happen.

Whilst I do not get to drive the cars so cannot check the efficiency of the brakes, I suspect many are not adequate with siezed wheel cylinders, poor adjustment or greasy linings.

So please check your vehicles out before making your journey. Do not assume it is the same as it was the last time you used the car.

[David Morris]

Hi All,

And that was with a Javelin that had just passed her MoT, as they were still required then. The potential problem with my 50261 lower link was invisible.

Talking about MoTs, I used a local garage whose testers were very experienced and who had been in the trade for years. My Javelin always had difficulty passing the required front brake balance criteria. The tester gave me this advice: "Next time, take her on a fairly long test drive before bringing her in for the test. You have only driven from your garage to here and the drums are cold. If we keep her on the rollers for a few minutes, she will pass easily". Nowadays, we are all MoT testers, so we need to be extra vigilent, as Keith says.

I once had a 1970's daily driver and she suffered from one of the front brakes being stuck on and being almost impossble to bleed. We eventually traced this to a internally-collapsed front flexible brake hose. I wonder how many of our classics also have time-expired flexible brake hoses?

All the best,

David

[paul wilks]

Years ago the late Roy Braddock ex Main Agent of Marple, Cheshire, advised me (and others) to drill two small holes in the links at the highest point possible, fill the links with engine oil and 'seal' the holes with self tapping screws. However it doesn't stop me from regularly checking and testing those links! Thanks for the reminder, David.

[David Morris]

Hi Paul,

That's good advice! I used to spray the insides of the chassis members too! Unfortunately, the long box chassis sections have a felt pad inserted between the outside top of the box and the body, which I suppose was there to stop rattles, but gets wet and rots out the top of the box section, making repair very difficult.

All the best,

David

[paul wilks]

Hi David. You're right, of course! I replaced that awful felt with a sort of rubberised material which is waterproof and seems to be reasonably sound absorbent. Unfortunately that was so long ago I can't recall what it is!

[David Morris]

Hi Paul,

Well done to have replaced that felt! It must have been a difficult job to fit it in? On DCB 246, mine had been removed and replaced by Wally Tucker when he recommissioned her, but from the photos he took, you could see how rotted the top of the chassis had become with the original felt. I soaked mine in oil.

On one Javelin I had in the past, spmeone had 'strenthened' the chassis tops with Dexion angle iron! I am afraid she ended up as a doner parts car, as the rest of the body was so far gone.

All the best,

David

[paul wilks]

Hello David. I didn't remove the felt until I removed the seats and the rotten wooden floor! Then my late father in law (a boiler maker and welder- very handy!) welded substantial tops to the chassis, including new jacking points obtained from JCS (or whatever they were called then). I was thus able to paint inside 'box' and the top of the chassis, and apply the rubberised lengths of material to the top of the chassis. Then new wooden floor. Simples (as they say!) But I wouldn't like to do it all again!