ROI SMR Mar-Apr 2023

Around the Wheel

15

“A highly stressed component should be rejected if corrosion has resulted in serious reduction in the overall thickness of the material or has caused a hole or split. Welded repairs to highly stressed components are not normally acceptable. To pass, the repair should appear to be as strong as the original design.” A welded repair would only be acceptable according to the guide is: • Repairs to structural components must be properly carried out and appear to be as strong as the original structure. This requires the use of suitable materials and any plating or welding extends to a sound part of a load- bearing member. • You can only pass spot welded repairs if the original panel was spot welded and the original panel or section has been removed. • Stitch or plug welding can be used instead of spot welding. In all other circumstances, patch repairs must be continuously seam welded. • Some vehicle manufacturers have recommended repair methods that use MIG brazing, a combination of adhesive bonding and riveting, or amalgamations of these with other joining methods.

To fix the problem would normally require the frame to be removed and then repaired so an aftermarket product here would be beneficial plus it will be the considerably cheaper and longer lasting option to a repair of an already heavily corroded frame.

Our Starline products use OE spec or better material and, in cases where the possibility of corrosion is extreme, we increase the thickness of the plating and add additional drain holes and points. Starline offers a range of over 150 front and rear subframes for popular vehicle marques such as BMW, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, VW and many more available on demand.

Beam Axles

Offer Your Customer

A beam axle, rigid axle or solid axle is a dependent suspension design in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Historically they have also been used as front axles in four-wheel-drive vehicles. In most cars, beam axles have been replaced with front and rear independent suspensions. Starline offer a range of over 100 rear axles which offer a solution where changing the complete axle is a much better than changing a worn bush. For PSA vehicles, changing the internal axle shafts and bearings requires specialist tools and a complete disassembly and rebuild of the axle. There is also no guarantee the repair will last, so changing the entire item is a much better way to go.

• Corrosion is the biggest cause of subframe failure (And NCT Failure) • Replacing the subframe is often the cheaper and safer option than repair • Starline offers a range of over 150 subframes and 100 rear axles.