Glynh

Metalastic bushes deflect under radial, axial and torsional load by an amount depending on the stiffness of the rubber. Looking at the clearances between the large washers and the bush housings on the photos it wouldn’t take much axial loading for the washers to hit the housing and given that the washers have very little chamfer (if any) I think there’s also a possibility of metal to metal contact during radial loading where the large washers are fitted.

Thanks for the helpful comments, I just checked on the Caterham website and the differential spacing washers are 1/2” x 3/4” whereas the WPH1/2” spacing washers fitted to my car (by the factory) are bog standard 12mm washers with an OD of 27mm. Makes no sense, why would you space a metalastic bush with large diameter washers that could hit the bush housing or frame?

I’ve just been fumbling around under the car to try to work out why I get knocks from the rear end on power take up and going over bumps. Looking at the metalastic bushes on the A frame and the diff mounts, the first thing that struck me is there’s a mix of 1/2” and 12mm fixings, this is a factory built 2022 car so a bit surprised at that! Anyway, it looks as though standard OD washers have been used either side of the metalastic bushes and as the clearance between bush mounting components reduces depending on which side of the car I’m looking, there’s a lot of potential for washer to frame contact which is not too clever. My plan is to work through these, replacing the washers with smaller OD ones (19mm instead of 27mm). Has anyone else done this to good effect or am I barking up the wrong tree? The first picture below is the front diff mountings and the second is an A frame mounting.

Great thanks.

Yes thanks, that’s plan B but I’m not sure if it’s easy to remove later.

Am I correct in assuming that the outer plastic ring unscrews and the gauge is then removed through the front of the dashboard. I’m going to try red LEDs to improve night vision as the current white ones are ridiculously bright.

My 2022 factory built 360S had the same problem and I found that these washers were missing. After fitting them the noise went away.

Thanks, that pretty much confirms it Mrp.

I can't see if there's a label on top without major surgery but the ratio is painted on the underside without any LSD reference also the rear wheels turn independently so I'm assuming it's not a LSD. Thanks for all the help.

My BMW diff whines on overrun and also chatters a bit at times, I'm new to Caterhams so don't yet know what is normal. The car is a one year old 360S, I'm not expecting that it has an LSD but would like to check as the car was initially built for promotion work by Caterham and has a ton of extras fitted. Is there an identifier on the casing that will tell me which diff I have?

Thanks for all the tips, I think I'll watch the odometer.

I'm a new 360S SV owner embarking on my first longish trip to Castle Combe on Saturday. Can anyone advise on the accuracy of the fuel gauge, in my last car (Morgan) it was a random number generator and I had to keep a close eye on the odometer.

The play appears to be between the gbx shaft and the front yoke, so implies a sloppy fit between splines?

All sounds very familiar Andy, I'll check my BMW diff! Mine was a factory build.

I have noticed an occasional clunk when taking up drive, so checked out the prop shaft. Everything looks fine but there is 0.5mm (measured with a dti) of radial movement between the front UJ and the gbx output shaft. I'd appreciate some advice on this.