I was doing some work swapping stub axles so I thought I'd cut up a trailing arm to show everyone what their car is made out of.
Complete arm;

Stub axle pressed out. If you look closely you'll see a cir-clip on the shock mount side. My guess is this is to stop the stub axle getting pulled through over time.

The cuts are along the casting seams and straight in through the top to give a good idea on the thickness of the walls.

You can see it's hollow right up into the stub axle and the pivoting pin sits inside a steel tube to separate it from the hollow space and to prevent the grease from "draining" away from the needle roller bearings.

So imagine how heavy they would be if they were solid

_________________
Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Imagine how heavy it would be if it was full of grease!

very interesting - thanks

Which is what often happens with the `steel tube' replacements- they are now thin cheap plastic and do not fit well.
If yours has the steel tube, try and keep it.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

WOW thats awesome, i never seen inside one and have heard that they fil with grease, now my understanding has been taken to another level.

Thanks for sharing

Brenton

_________________

Interesting that, because i have pumped lots of grease into them before any came out. It looks as if the handbrake quadrant pivot is isolated too.

Makes me wonder if there were different castings where the grease just went everywhere.

_________________
Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

I'm not sure about the handbrake because this one dose look sealed off but I've had some arms that I've cleaned up and it seems like grease just keeps coming out of those dam holes I might cut that open one day and see for sure.

_________________
Respect mine and I'll respect yours.