Calum my crack is very similar to your 2013 crack on L/H side. Maybe the welded in fillet is doing more harm than good. Did MMC cover full repair cost with both incidences?
Tim
Hi Tim Yes, MMC did both change outs F.o.C. Both times the car went back to Perth as the logistics of getting it to me in Aberdeen when I was actually here to receive it were just going to be much more of a pain than me jumping on the train to Perth. That kind of bracket is very inclined to move the stress raiser and the failure point rather than preventing it. I've been involved with ship repairs and modifications where a similar arrangement was used but the end of the bracket was very carefully shaped to maintain flexibility and the weld was built up then ground back smooth to avoid the stress raiser of the sharp turn in the weld so that the fatigue life would be greatly extended. I had my doubts about the bolt in triangulation brace being effective enough to restrict the movement sufficiently to prevent the cracks initiating and if they were already there, possibly subsurface, then stopping their propagation would be unlikely. New chassis has to be the best option.
