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I have a 1988 Land Rover and that is UNC/UNF for all the engine bolts (V8 of course !), metric for the chassis and bodywork, so when I get to the gearbox or engine ancillaries I am in no-mans Land and have to check.

The Mantula is later (1995 reg) - but the suspension arm bolts I have just pulled out of the rear IRS hubs are 7/16th UNF, maybe they should have been 11mm. One of the bolts had siezed in the casting and was a b*t*d to get out - so I reamed the hole back out to 7/16 - but in doing so only seem to have removed rust - no metal. The bolts at the chassis end are 1/2 UNF, Maybe it all depends what was to hand when they built it. I am told this was factory built after being originally sold as a kit in 1992 - but I have no evidence to support this. The rose joints fitted on the rear suspension are definitely imperial.

Its not a problem - I generally work in imperial anyway as I have an imperial lathe, and imperial reamers, drills, mills, taps etc. The Marcos is the most modern car I have ever owned - though the design is of course a classic !

Steve

You say the rose joints are aerospace spec ? Have you come across this car before ? I assumed the conversion of the IRS to rose-joints was a one-off, but for all I know it may have been discussed at some length on this board or been taken up by other owners.

The rose joints are high-quality by NRE but several are clapped, especially bad were the outboard rose-joints on the top wishbones. The load due to the power from the engine or braking is in the wrong direction for these rose joints, plus none of them have protection from the elements. I am replacing them where needed and fitting rubber boots as I go. Maybe that will extend the life.

I have yet to do the bottom arm joints, but several have play.

Personally I think fully rose-jointed rear suspension is over the top for regular road use. I may end up reverting back to conventional wishbones - or some half-way house, but for now I'll patch it up while I sort out some other little problems.

Steve

Hello - an old topic re-surfacing. I didn't know you had rose joints too, but then yours is a real racer ! Mine only has them at the back, and fourteen is far too many in a road car in my opinion.

There is a lot of difference between a race car and an every day road car in terms of how long you want the rose joints to survive without attention. Even though I had super expensive stainless rose joints, the lack of rubber boots to keep the dirt out meant that several were quite clapped out. However fitting the rubber boots meant replacing the arms was a thorough pain in the backside, as the rubber boots fight the spacers that you need to have either side of the rose joint (assuming you still have the regular suspension brackets). I also couldn't source identical replacements, but was very careful to check the strength of the replacement parts was of the same order or better. I didn't worry about stainless as they were going in a grease filled boot. I really don't have enough experience to say what the strength requirement it, but at least they are still there and doing the job. Never skimp on strength in these parts ...

It seems to me that you could have all the adjustment you want in a road car with only a few rose joints and polybush the rest to insulate you from the road surface, but it looks like the only choice is the two extremes. What I would like is a polybush tube-type fitting that will screw in to replace the rose joint - that way I could keep the adjustment, but get better insulation from road noise and lower cost and lower maintenance. If I could source those, then that would be brilliant. I am saying this as I suspect your thoughts might develop along the same lines in due course.

Steve

Panhard rod ? Its not got IRS ? Totally different then - my comments about 14 rose joints and where you might use rubber all relate to the IRS. I don't know how the solid axle cars are suspended or how the noise transmission works. I found Demon Tweeks do a range of decent rod ends - the good ones are expensive (like NRE) - and they do the rubber boots (and it is a good game getting them onto the joints). Although I had to replace several on mine, they had done a fair mileage. The previous owner used it as everyday transport in all weathers - they might survive a lot longer if you are using the car for sunny weekends and avoiding winter salt.
Steve