Felicia Rear ARB

[TeflonTom]

right then who's interested then??

i've been doing a bit of digging around in some breakers yards etc and looking at this and that, it appears they may be a quite cheap solution to retro-fitting a rear sway bar/stabilizer to the felicia....

i will post up some pics as soon as i've produced a prototype....

[anewman]

Is it anything to do with this bit at the rear axle? (Hope Haynes won't sue me hehe). Or would it fit at bottom of the shocks?

Look forward to this thread with interest anyway

[Tech1e]

The pick up had them didnt they?

[Phil-E]

Yup... im interested!

Keep us posted!

Phil

[TeflonTom]

Is it anything to do with this bit at the rear axle?

tis indeed, but i'm thinking of something a bit bigger than that which connects to the dampers too:)

[TeflonTom]

i've been looking at using the front anti-roll bar from a vauxhall tigra, it is almost exactly the right shape, just need to trim the ends a little and figure out a way of joining it the the beam

[pinkskud]

i was working on this yesterday, i've picked up some old ford arb that looks like it may be of use.

[TeflonTom]

yeah, the one off a mk1 escort may be of use, also i like the look of the standard rear arb from a rover 200.

[TeflonTom]

here's the vauxhall tigra front arb

£5 from the breakers yard

[TeflonTom]

removed saddle clamps and the remains of the bushes and gave it a good clean, has come up like new

[TeflonTom]

width looks about right to me, all i need to do now is figure out a way of mounting it... i might even paint it red to make it look fast

[TeflonTom]

ok here's the plan....

use a pair of rover 800 drop links to connect the bar to the existing felicia rear arb which is bolted to the rear beam as shown in the scanned picture above

Edited 4 September, 2008 by TeflonTom

[TeflonTom]

then use a pair of these from a mk3 golf on the outer ends of the bar..

for those that dont know, on the bottom surface of the rear beam, adjacent to the shock absorber rear mounting, there is 2 holes drilled through, i'm going to try to use one of them, but it all depends if there is enough clearance to get a nut on once the link has been put in there

[TeflonTom]

tried that, it doesn't work... plan B :rubchin:

[TeflonTom]

right i've thought of a better way of mounting it, completely remove the old oe rear arb.. use a pair of mikalor clamps and some bushes to secure the centre of the bar to the rear beam, then i'm going to cut down the ends of the bar to the right length, then weld on some mounting plates so that it bolts onto the shock absorber bottom mounting using a longer than standard bolt

[TeflonTom]

peugeot 106 anti roll bar saddle clamp, i'm going to cut off the mounting lugs

peugeot 106 roll bar bush..

mikalor stainless steel clamp

[TeflonTom]

i haven't forgotten about this, going to pick up a spare rear axle to play with soon.

[TeflonTom]

now i've got a spare axle beam to play with

[TeflonTom]

the vauxhall tigra anti-roll bar will sit somewhere approximately like this

[TeflonTom]

i got these saddles from a citroen ax in the end, they are almost exactly the same as the peugeot 106 ones

after a few miniutes with a hacksaw, they now look like this

[TeflonTom]

the bar is clamped on

overall cost so far is about £13

£5 for the vauxhall roll bar

£2 for the citroen clamps and bushes

£6 for 2x mikalor clamps (97-104mm)

Edited 20 September, 2008 by TeflonTom

[pinkskud]

looking good.

think i'd be tempted to put the clamps a little further apart mind?

[TeflonTom]

yes, they can come a bit further apart, but the bar is not completely flat along that side, also i have to be careful not to interfere with the operation/routing of the handbrake cables...

tbh, it doesn't make much difference where they go

[rigsby]

Looking at the picture at the top of the page, What are you going to gain on a trailing beam set up like this? Surely it should be attatched to the car chassis. I only ask this because i regularly retro fit arb,s to trucks, and know that they wont work unless attatched to the chassis

[TeflonTom]

Looking at the picture at the top of the page, What are you going to gain on a trailing beam set up like this? Surely it should be attatched to the car chassis. I only ask this because i regularly retro fit arb,s to trucks, and know that they wont work unless attatched to the chassis

yes, i agree with what you are saying totally, i always have the same thoughts regarding the jabba-sport rear arb kit for the fabia, i completely cynical about it but based on the testimonies of people who have fitted them there must do some good, as you know the rear beam is 'solid' BUT they do flex a little under normal cornering loads, this can be seen when the back end of the car is in the air, if you put a trolley jack under one side and raise it off a little. one side is higher off the ground than the other albiet only a tiny amount, so effectively adding a sway bar (which is effectively just a spring) you are making the beam more rigid:)

of course, after i've tried it, if it's no good i'll just sling it in my next door neighbour's wheelie bin

Edited 20 September, 2008 by TeflonTom