Hit a Pothole with Ariel Atom 2 destroy left mounting suspension

[Uganda02]

Hi, i hit a pothole yesterday night which bended the left mounting suspension and knocked out the gearschrift rod. So i had to trailer the car to a shop.

Is there any higher or stronger mountings avaliabele? Where do i get the parts anyway in the US?

Check pictures:

AA01.jpgAA02.jpg

Thank you for your help.

[bolus]

Some would argue that you should not replace it with something stronger. As the weak point in the suspension, it protects the more expensive parts from damage. Better to damage that part than the frame where the shock attaches. Or the lower A-arm.

See if TMI has any replacement parts for you http://arielatom.com/tmi-contact.php

[Lane]

Some would argue that you should not replace it with something stronger. As the weak point in the suspension, it protects the more expensive parts from damage. Better to damage that part than the frame where the shock attaches. Or the lower A-arm.

I could not agree more. Even if it wasn't specifically designed to be the link in the chain that fails, it has likely saved you from worse damage.

Reminds me of a conversation I had with neighbor after he saw me break a shear bolt on my snowblower when clearing my driveway. He says, "You should put a grade 8 in there so that sucker doesn't break again!". Made me cringe. That one bolt saved a lot of more expensive parts from being wrecked.

[AtomJohnny]

I had something similar happen. The damage was not as bad and I continued driving several times before I noticed the bellcrank was slowly coming apart. It was definitely slightly bent as the result of some sort of shock loading.

The billet ones, if they are still available would be stronger. But as the others have stated you would have broke something else, perhaps causing more damage.

Had it been the rodend that snapped or pushrod then your car may have come down on the road and suffered some serious grinding.

You should replace the bellcrank, bearing and rod ends after damage like that. Rod ends especially can develop hidden fractures that fail at a later date without warning and a more serious outcome.

[MadMaxAtom]

Make sure your ride height or shock preload is not adjusted so low as to allow the shock to bottom out prematurely. Man,that must have been one nasty pothole! Palatov Motorsports use to make the billet aluminum replacements..not sure if he still does.

[Atommatt]

Did it bend the push rod at all or at least from what you can see? If you took it off the car and remove the Helm joints , and rolled it on a flat surface , that would tell you . Same thing you would do when your shooting pool at the bar with a que stick from the bar.

[Terry Kennedy]

Make sure your ride height or shock preload is not adjusted so low as to allow the shock to bottom out prematurely. Man,that must have been one nasty pothole! Palatov Motorsports use to make the billet aluminum replacements..not sure if he still does.

I have a set (4 corners) of those new-in-the-box, along with a set of his pushrods (likewise, new). Send me a PM if you're interested in a price for 'em.

[maverick1]

Same thing happened to me at the race track.
My rear tire just went off track by about 1 foot and wouldn't you know it, that was exactly where a divit was located.
It bent my bell crank, and pushrod a little bit.
Luckily Calscot was there to MacGyver the bell crank back into shape so I could drive the car home.
I also thought about getting stronger bell cranks but was told that the original ones bent, probably saving more damage.
good luck

[Terry Kennedy]

I have a set (4 corners) of those new-in-the-box, along with a set of his pushrods (likewise, new). Send me a PM if you're interested in a price for 'em.

These have now been sold.