sjmmarsh

Yes - it was described as one of the elephants in the room. The main points covered by Bob were: The number of actual issues are small compared to the number of cars, based on 10s of cars inspected. DVSA investigations complete - no need for any changes to the clevis geometry needed. They are reengineering it. Replacement Clevis will be available. Under Warranty it will be replaced FOC. Outside that it will be offered at a discount if only a few years outside warranty (TBD, but Bob mentioned 4-5 years), beyond that you can buy them to fit yourself.

ROFL!

Yes, all the pieces were still attached to the bolt, including the sliver of metal which was just hanging on by a thread. Having cleaned them up they are now on their way to CC who confirmed that they would still like to see them for tests. The two photos below show how it looked right after it was recovered. In the first photo you can just make out the sliver of metal still connected to the clevis (Top Left, covered in a lot of grease from the hub).

Here are pictures of my broken clevis (cleaned up) and the LHS which looks fine. Looking at the broken surfaces, it looks like there was a crack underneath the rear lug, which then gave way when I hit the pothole at 70mph on the M11. This then caused the top of the plug to shatter, taking the forward lug with it as the suspension collapsed.

Isn’t that the same form we originally completed several months ago? It isn’t asking for anything that I haven’t already sent them.

I have offered George Campbell both of my clevis as I now have the car back. He was interested a few months ago, but I haven’t heard back yet. I’ll clean them up and take some photos so we can see the damage.

The photo in #185 shows the LHS clevis. I can't be sure which way round the RHS was assembled until I get the bits back as I may have swivelled it round to get the grease off it to take the photo.

I was getting the CSR ready for collection by Nick Potter tomorrow, so took some photos of the near side Clovis - it looks OK to me, apart from some witness marks on the bottom of it. I also noticed on the offside rear part of the clevis (attached to the upright) that there was a loose piece of the clevis, still just attached but it came away when I touched it. One (smaller) face looks discoloured and so may have been a pre-existing crack, but the other size looked fresh (the bright bit is where it was still attached) - I presume that this was damage after the clevis gave way as the damper flew around. I can't see how it would have otherwise broken. Yes, I do need to get under the car and give it a good clean when I get it back!

Dug my receipts out - both rear dampers were replaced on 9/4/11 by Caterham Midlands - the mileage then was around 18k.

The car was factory built and the only thing that has been touched was one of the rear dampers that was replaced when the top lug seized in the steel collar resulting in one of the lugs breaking off, which would have necessitated replacing the lot - but that was a long time ago. I'll find it in the paperwork. I have now caught up with the Article in LF - I need to contact CC to let them know my incident could have been way more serious than a broken spring, had the sidewall been cut all the way through (the tyre lifted a piece of the side skin at the join between the side and rear skins) as it would possibly have spat the car across the middle and outside lanes of the M11 at 70mph! Does anyone have an email address so that I can let them know (with photos)?

Sam and David No - this is the same failure I experienced in June, just cleaned up so you can see the damage better and, yes, it does look like there was a pre-existing crack there which let go when I hit the pothole on the M11, but it doesn't look that old as the colour difference only showed up in the photo. It has lasted 54k miles and many trackdays and sprints, so I have been lucky compared to others. I have completed both questionnaires and CC advised me not to drive it (!), but I think they were expecting me to report a crack, rather than a failure. I have completed both questionnaires - the second had gone to my spam folder. My car is still awaiting repair - the dampers are now available again so the car is being picked up on Monday. It should be repaired in time for the winter, as it needs a rear skin and work on the 6 speed shift (rose joint seized up - I could do it myself but given everything else that is needed I have asked Nick Potter to sort this as well). It was availability of parts that has led to the long wait. Steve

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