Oooh-Er Look At This!

[Guest boggybogstar]

Mine was bought in May to June 2008, i think im ok as i have the same bracing as Marcus

 

[Guest rwh]

Hi guys,

 

Checked my chassis pics (2010 chassis) and it has the diagonal bracing but I will physically check at the week-end.

 

Bob

[Guest zoomzoom]

Just looked at nicks pic again and it does look the same as mine, I think it is just the angle of the picture that confused me

 

[Thrashed]

Just checked my chassis and no diagonal bars! Mine is an early chassis, sept 2007. I was told it was the third chassis produced. Have checked the chassis and no signs of cracking. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

[Guest mcramsay]

What is a good test to see if you have the bushes and crush tubes all bolted up correctly? Whip out the rear shocks and move the wishbones fully up and down and see if there are any tight spots?

[Guest ollie chapman]

Hi again. All this is very interesting. Just to clarify, we did not buy the chassis from GBS. It was bought as an unfinished project which we finished and IVAd. Ours is identical to Tony B's except for the missing diagonal bracing. I'll be discussing the various pics posted with GBS before the car goes into surgery. Further clarification is necessary in that on an earlier post I said the chassis was dated 2008, and was no2. However, I have since checked the number under the rad and it is 07 02. So Thrashed and I are close siblings! Many thanks for all your posts, I think they have strengthened our knowledge and understanding of this problem. I'm sure there is more to follow.

[Thrashed]

Hi ollie

 

My chassis is 07 03. Will you keep me posted on the gbs outcomes as feeling a bit nervous! I will drop the shocks off at the weekend and feel for tight spots in the travel and check the crush tubes too.

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[richardm6994]

Thrashed, get in touch with gbsc and sort some diagonal bars out because as rob says, its not worth the risk. IMO one of the only reasons why this failure wasn't more serious is because ollie wasn't "clogging it" when the chassis broke. I dread to think what the results would be if it failed during high speed corner!

 

Also, Thrashed chassis prooves that more than one of these were sold by gbsc. I wonder how many people are out there with this chassis problem who won't read this thread? I hope gbsc makes some kind of effort in tracing these and puts them right.

 

 

[sj-bradley]

Interesting following this topic. It certainly made me check my build photos, although I had the chassis around 2011 and was sure to find these extra bracing bars.

 

I did find them, thankfully, and will be checking the area out frequently from now on.

 

Simon.

[Longboarder]

I think that if the bracing bars are present then there is absolutely no problem. I would still like some information from GBS on the questions I have asked but there is a pattern emerging here. I'm guessing 07 01 was the demonstrator that GBS still has knowledge of. Ollie has 07 02 (a development chassis) and Steve probably 07 03 (also 'braceless'. Possibly a development chassis).

But there are 07 chassis which have been checked by owners ie Marcus which are 'production' with the bracing. I would presume that once the bracing was included GBS would not have made any chassis without it! So it looks like a very limited number of chassis are at risk and none that can be regarded as 'production'.

We really need an official GBS post to tell zero owners at what stage the potential problem was identified and from what chassis number 07 0? the solution was included in the design.

I would still say crawl underneath and have a look and breathe a sigh of relief if the bracing is there but it seems that it almost certainly will be. (Not taking bets on 07 04 but how many development chassis could there have been?)

 

Nigel

[Thrashed]

Hi all. Been on to gbs and Richard today about the chassis. Richard knows about Ollies issue and is sorting it. We discussed my chassis as the first 4 chassis's were pre production chassis's.

 

The good news there is nothing to worry about unless I have built my wishbones up wrong? Richard knows all 4 of the pre production chassis's, 01 was the original orange demo car and this is still on the road and working without issue. 02 is ollie chassis and 03 is mine. 04 is the current demo car they use and track. 04 is on its 3rd engine and has spent most of its life on the track being 'used' accordingly.

 

Of the 4 chassis's Ollies is the only one that's had this issue. Once gbs get hold of it they will be able to find the cause of the fault and will advise me, but 04 has been fully test and has no sights of cracking or issues.

 

Richard has said that he would be happy to weld the extra braces in if it would make me feel better but at this stage does not believe it needs doing.

 

Once Ollies chassis has been inspected and the cause found the situation might change but it looks like only 4 chassis are of this original design, which should give the rest of you piece of mind.

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[Guest alfaGTA]

Lesson for us all regardless of car manufacturer or age of build to thoroughly check our cars, they are our responsibility. I am also glad to see GBS are being approachable and proactive to address the issue.

[Guest ollie chapman]

Well, yes I agree with AlfaGTA on that point. When you think about it we put some incredible torque through our cars what with souped up Pintos and Zetecs and Duratecs not to mention V6s and V8s. Chasses are very lightweight at the end of the day and a regular inspection of suspension points, engine mountings, wishbones and steering gear mounts with a good flashlight and mag glass would seem prudent - however confident we are. All being well its Newark on Monday and I will post with pics without fail. All credit to Richard at GBS - there's been no ducking or diving and there is strong commitment to resolving this issue. Cheers.

[Guest mcramsay]

Really good to hear gbsc are doing their bit, definatley sets them aside from

Most manufacturers. And I mean mainstream manufacturers like Vw, who don't really care if something breaks on your car which shouldn't. Unless you have a warrenty. And even the. They do it with a grudge. Major kudos to GBSC

[agent_zed]

good outcome and definitely how you want a business to handle a problem. actually gives you more confidence in them despite the problem.

 

As for main stream manufacturers my brother was pleasantly surprised when the rear crossmember on his 8 yr old toyota mr2 was found to have dangerous rust damage and they replaced the entire cross member free of charge without question under the 10 year anti corrosion warranty.