309 wishbones

[Biggles 65]

Hi, anyone have any experience with either the Spoox uprated wishbones or the Compbrake ones - links to both below ?

https://spoox.co.uk/front-suspension/5565-peugeot-205-gti-competition-front-lower-wishbones-pair.html

https://www.compbrake.com/product/peugeot-309-wishbones-pair/

 

The new O/S First Line wishbone I fitted 85 track miles ago has a U/S balljoint (even with 200bhp on slicks this is not good longevity).  Hence "uprated" balljoints caught my eye ...

 

TIA.

 

 

[welshpug 1,657]

for a rally car I'd get some inserts welded in for rose joints and a suitable drop pin, Tom Fenton may be able to help you out.

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

Compbrake wishbones don't have the best reputation for strength, fit or longevity so I'd avoid those personally.

 

Spoox are usually over priced, I'd be interested to know exactly what is uprated on their wishbones.

 

I'd look into what Mei suggests, get a proper set of competition lower wishbones with drop pins etc to do away with the weak link of the balljoint & the right ones shouldn't cost much more than the Spoox item.

 

g

[28hodge 22]

As per Mei, contact Jeff Skitt, I can PM you his number if you want, he can make up grpA wishbones and drop pins as per these You need to send him a set of replacement std wishbones that are straight obviously knackered ball joints don't matter as they get cut off.- 

 

 

 

 

 

[welshpug 1,657]

Jeff does a proper job also yes, my mate DCC used to have a set on his 205 last time it was on the road

[SweetBadger 94]

On 10/26/2021 at 5:54 PM, welshpug said:

for a rally car I'd get some inserts welded in for rose joints and a suitable drop pin, Tom Fenton may be able to help you out.

 

I agree with this - if regs permit, then any competition car should use the drop pin arrangement. We has a standard ball joint pin shear during qualifying at Cadwell Park through the mountain section. We were very lucky not to hit anything!

 

I have a set of wishbones that I had modified for a rose joint by Tom Fenton - very happy with them. Far stronger than the std arrangement, and makes it much quicker and easier to change a driveshaft should you need to.

 

Note, the hub also needs a little bit of work to allow the drop pin to sit properly.

[mmt 15]

If you are interested I have a set of compbrake ones for sale. 
 

Seem solid from my point of view. Don’t really understand the bad mouthing of them. 
 

reach out and I’ll send you some pictures. 

[welshpug 1,657]

36 minutes ago, mmt said:

 

Seem solid from my point of view. Don’t really understand the bad mouthing of them. 
 

 

 

 

its really quite simple, not fit for purpose.

 

they dont clear the arb, and also bend, a very brief grasp of engineering would make it very clear why.

[Gohn 68]

great pics, never seen a set

 

 

 

 

 

[mmt 15]

1 hour ago, welshpug said:

 

 

its really quite simple, not fit for purpose.

 

they dont clear the arb, and also bend, a very brief grasp of engineering would make it very clear why.

:-) 

[Spesh 31 1 Cars]

On 11/4/2021 at 4:06 PM, 28hodge said:

As per Mei, contact Jeff Skitt, I can PM you his number if you want, he can make up grpA wishbones and drop pins as per these You need to send him a set of replacement std wishbones that are straight obviously knackered ball joints don't matter as they get cut off.- 

 

 

 

 

 

Those look very well put together, any ballpark on cost?

[28hodge 22]

@Spesh sorry missed this, I think circa £500 from memory when I bought them Jan last year. plus a set of Std straight wishbones.

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

Just to re-enforce what's said above - I wouldn't bother with any conventional lower arm with "some uprated outer balljoint" myself, or certainly not for that money when a little bit more gets you a fully-blown group A spec with spherical outers. I used to know someone who made these and he would regale me about how there were people out there knocking out cheap ones, even of "group A" spec ones. He explained to me a few things that contribute to the cost :

- The proper grade of welding rod was in itself very expensive; others were possibly using lower grades that wouldn't be as strong

- The drop pins and tophats should be suitable grade hardened steel; others were possibly using lower grades

- The spherical bearing itself was the main expense and there were certainly people out there using cheap grade joints that weren't up to spec

 

Just to be clear - I'm not saying any of the above suggestions are good or bad suppliers whatsoever, but anyone buying should just be aware that on first appearance they might all look the same but there can be differences here and there that matter. And, of course, the quality of the workmanship (welding) and the correctly-jigged angle for the insert that is welded into the arm.

[Ashman 8]

Morning

 

Can someone please let me have Jeff Skitt's number as looking at replacing the front wishbones on the 205

 

Many thanks

Ash

[petert 588]

I'll add my experiences.

 

I've seen the Compbrake arms bend in half. They are total rubbish.

 

I have a set of original Grp A hubs and arms.  The hubs differ, in that they don't have a split for the pin. They also have a fully spotfaced area, for the head of the drop pin. So there is no need to machine part of the pin head away for clearance. The same can be achieved by machining/spot facing the standard hub.

 

The Grp A rose joints also have grease nipples and rubber boots to keep the dirt/dust out.

 

I gave up on the Grp A arms because the bearings are still only parallel and don't offer any caster adjustment. You really need to have the rear bearing on an angle, Satchell style. Yes, more work is required on the cross member, but it's a much better solution. Secondly, the Grp A rose joint wears out quickly (if no greased regularly and/or no boot) and is expensive, as the pin and thread are different diameters. This might differ in the arms above. Whilst the machining in the pics above is nice, it is still a bit of a compromise.

Edited January 19, 2022 by petert