Post Photobucket Reboot from March 2009:This is something which occurred to me today after responding to the recent enquiry about retro fitting overriders. When I test drove the Roadster at the Dealers, way back in the summer of "Oh-eight", what struck me was the lightness of the steering and the constant feedback from the road. It was almost following every contour.
The first owner of my 05 Roadster was unhappy with the steering feel and discovered that the stub axles had been 'upgraded' for the 2007 cars. After some correspondence with his Dealer and MMC, he had the stub axles replaced with the upgraded versions. Part of the invoice for this work mentions that the overrider brackets were modified to provide clearance, and this is evident on inspection, where the cut-out in the bracket on each side has been enlarged under each track rod. The steering on my Roadster is nothing like that first drive. It's still light, but does not squirm over every undulation.
So this post is to record the fact that the stubs and brackets were changed at an unknown date but late 06/early 07 (probably).
And for the record, this is how it looks underneath. Until I have a close look at an unmodified early Roadster, I can't be sure what's changed, but from the look of mine, the track rods were higher. You can see beneath the trackrod that the hole has been enlarged.
Update:
I managed to get a picture of a new Roadster yesterday, but access was restricted. First here's my modded overrider bracket. Taken from the 'outside':
And here's the new Roadster. The difference is obvious.
There's also a visible difference to the rack mounting, which begs another look.
