Can anyone help? H&R Roll Bars and MOT Failure

[jamesc]

Hi,

Hopefully someone here can come up with a suggestion to help me.

My car has twice failed an MOT test with the inside rear of both front tyres hitting the anti roll bar on extremes of lock. The car is fitted with:

H&R 60/40 cup kit
H&R Anti Roll Bars
New control arms
New control arm bushes
New Track Rod Ends
New ARB Bushes front and back
New ARB Brackets front and back
New trailing arm bushes
New subframe bushes
New damper top mounts front and back
Standard 15" BBS wheels with fairly new tyres (1000 mile) - correct size

The old roll bar was broken so can't refit that, and they won't let me MOT without the rollbar fitted.
The bar is properly fitted and centered (checked with vernier).
The drop links are currently in the middle setting.

I know people have fitted these with no problems, but I'm hoping someone will have a suggestion!

Cheers, James

[gareth]

the easiest way out is to get some narrower front wheels (14" bottletops or steelies will do) and put them on for the MOT.

it's stupid as the ARB will never damage the tyre unless you drive in circles on full lock for a very long time at very high speed!

just enjoy watching the MOT man being forced to issue a MOT when they know full well you'll change back later.

[Bob_S]

maybe set the drop links to the rear most setting and would I be right in saying that they can be wound in and out aswell?

if thats not possible go and find some steelies to put on the front ;)

[nickso]

why wont they let you MOT it without the ARB on? just because they knew it should be there or did they give you a valid reason? the inconsistencies of one MOT centre to the next annoy me.

my g/f's old fester failed on poor braking power at the rear....turned out to be the shoes were shagged. while i was under there i noticed someone had removed one of the load compensators and the other one was snapped in half. i phoned the MOT centre and he hadnt even noticed (makes me wonder how he even noticed the brake lines were corroded)

i asked him if he would pass it if they were removed...he said yes as long as the brakes didnt lock up under load.

i ripped them out and tested it quite harshly a lot of times. he passed it.

at an MOT for another car of mine at a different place i casually asked if he would pass the fester and he said no as it was standard equipment. i asked why he had just passed my other car without its rear arb on and he said he didnt know it had one as standard even thought the mounting holes were obvious

i made yet another casual enquiry at another place and he said yes he would pass both

i had an rs turbo once that got a two page fail in one place and failed on only 7 points in another garage.

an MOT is a lottery imho

apologies for the off topic rant

[m-dtech]

lol same story for me lol, moted car and it failed on brake lines and bushes.... took it to another place and it passed 1st time.

[Brianmoooore]

Try a couple of jubilee clips on the end of the rack (under the rubber boots), to limit the travel of the rack at full lock.

[jamesc]

Try a couple of jubilee clips on the end of the rack (under the rubber boots), to limit the travel of the rack at full lock.

I think I might go for something like this.... I seem to remember there is a z3 or e36 rack with adjustable lock stops? Anyone know if this is correct? It might be a worthwhile time to do a rack upgrade.....

James

[Brianmoooore]

Try a couple of jubilee clips on the end of the rack (under the rubber boots), to limit the travel of the rack at full lock.

This is a common trick used on kit cars to help make them road legal.

[jmc330i]

Try a couple of jubilee clips on the end of the rack (under the rubber boots), to limit the travel of the rack at full lock.

I think I might go for something like this.... I seem to remember there is a z3 or e36 rack with adjustable lock stops? Anyone know if this is correct?

I dont think they are adjustable. The jubilee clip idea seems to be the best/easiest way round the problem though.