Rear Beam axle

[PaulC]

I've just been on P&L minis website and have seen that they do a extended rear beam axle for there vtec conversion.
Has anyone ever seen or heard anything about them? Are they any good? I'm thinking of using one.

Cheers chaps :)

Paul C

[B20GT]

The rear axle takes a lot of weight out the back end, and this results in heavy bump steer when under hard cornering :( if you had to centre mount a large fuel cell, it may add to the weight, but when it emptys it will still give bump steer.

[duck]

Never used them my self but I have seen a few negative comments made about them.
Prob best to call them and decide for yourself.

[Geehawk]

Stupid question time...

Why would a light rear end increase bump steer?? Over steer I could understand due to reduced grip at the rear, but given that bump steer is caused by changes in suspension geometry as it moves up and down, what effect does the weight of the rear have on this??

[B20GT]

In reply to how the axle affects bump steer, I can't actually say. as when i was going to fit one to the GT, Dave (Formally of Mini's With Attitude), went into great detail why I shouldn't fit one, and fully justified his explination. I am not the most mechanical minded, therefore cannot fully explain my origonal reply. I did put the reply up, as Dave IS very good at what he does, and has been buildng race minis for many years. I'm not saying he is right, but he is the only person I personally know whom has worked with them. One other reason could be the fact we were to fit coilovers, this may also have been a contributing factor to his justification for not fitting a beam axle :)

[mikeb]

the rear beam axles arent a great deal lighter than a mini subframe in my experience of them

[FeEBLeUK]

one for sale there!

http://pub108.ezboard.com/fminiclassicforsalewanted.showMessage?topicID=9449 .topic

[Oz]

Two things here.

1) From hearing from others who use these, they all say that getting the rear spring rate is nearly impossible. In fact everyone who I have spoken to who use one all claim unpredictable oversteer !!!

2) Anorak point !! What I think you are talking about is not a beam axle, it is a replacement rear subframe kit, ie it uses the trailing arms and bolts to the front rear subframe mounts. A beam axle is literally that. It is a tube with a br4ake drum on each end and has "semi-trailing arms" running forward to locate it on the body and requires a panhard rod. Both do, however use coil over dampers.

Personally I'd not use one.