A lot of our focus on sloppy Spridget front ends is focused on the king pins. It’s quite common to find slop in the king pin assembly, which contributes to vague and less than precise road feel and handling. (You can learn more about this type of situation by reading our most recent article on king pins, available by clicking here.) However, in this post I want to talk more about the control arm mounts, because lately we’ve had a rash of sloppy suspensions with significant play present at the mounting point for the lower wishbone.
Spridgets are fit with a stepped washer attached to the threaded end of the control arm bolt, and that washer needs to be located in the front of the body to properly support the suspension of the car. You can see in the picture above that the proper location is easily identified by a threaded end and a lock nut (original control arm bolts used castle nuts; the new ones use nyloc lock nuts) on the forward portion of the mounting point. In this way, the step washer locks into the hole in the frame and ensures that the control arm will not wobble.
In the photo shown above, you’ll see a slotted screw on the forward portion of the frame instead; on this car, that’s an immediate clue that the control arm mounts are installed backwards. Click “read more” below to see more pictures and video on this topic!
The secondary clue here is the shadow or signature of the wiggling of the forward washer or damaged mount. You can see there’s a teardrop scar on the body of the car, which is all a result of the washer wiggling around in its locating hole. You can see the movement in the video above and why this is a problem.
The remedy on this car was relatively simple. We just put in new control arm mounting hardware, which locked the control arm pivots in their proper location. We also made sure to install the mounting bolts in the proper direction. This hardware is available in our catalog, which you can buy by clicking here. Two are required per side, so make sure you get enough for both sides! You’ll also need control arm bushings, a total of eight to do both control arms. You can find them here.
In the next set of photos and a short video below, you can see control arm mounts that have been loose for an excessive period of time, and actually ovalized the mounting holes and damaged the frame of the car in this case. We needed to weld reinforcing washers in the proper location in the body of the car to ensure that we had a precisely located control arm that would not wobble.
In both of these cases, the cars did not steer or handle correctly, which was easily discernible on a test drive by anyone who has driven multiple Sprites, but perhaps easy to miss if you were unfamiliar with the marque.
If you’re wanting to tighten up the front end of your car, make sure that you check your control arm mounts. You can see in the video below that we leverage the control arm to see if it was wiggling and it was easy to see that it actually was moving in and out because it wasn’t properly located, so that’s a viable way to determine if your control arm is tight. Alternatively, if you’re feeling like your car is darting when you hit a bump, it can often be an indicator of front end wear, and perhaps worn control arm bushings.
Another source of less than precise handling and steering can be worn-out lever shocks, which is quite a common ailment. We like the tube shock conversion shown below, which you can order by clicking here. We also sell a premium lever shock which you can purchase by clicking here.
Driving season is rapidly approaching in many areas, so now is the perfect time to inspect the suspension on your Bugeye. Make sure your control arm bushings are tight ,and that the mounting bolts are in the correct configuration. You should also inspect your king pins to ensure they dont have excessive play, and your lever shocks to ensure they aren’t worn out, and that the shock bushings are in good condition. Doing this check will ensure your Sprite will be ready for many miles to come!
If you’d like your front end rebuilt or a disc brake conversion installed on your Bugeye, we’re happy to pick up your car anywhere in the US or Canada and do that work for you to make sure that your car drives wonderfully once again! Give us a call or shoot us an e-mail for more details.
