What did Ferrari do differently with those 328's vs the later 308's that caused so many failures?
Different suspension geometry put more stress on them. Not to mention the cars had bigger/better tires and better brakes.
What is the collective's thoughts on replacing some of the big nuts with stainless steel ones? I have replaced the rear sway-bay fixings with all stainless steel ones (M12 on the A-arm to upright, M8 on the end of the sway bars and M20 on the sway bar clamps). Looks better and will not seize. Would be concerned about using stainless on the actual A-arm to chassis bolts. Hmm, looking at the picture of the broken fork ... why did the nut come off ? Lee '77 GT4
Has this car ever been serviced/inspected by someone qualified? To see the suspension in such a dangerous condition is scary, considering that you're putting your own life as well as the cars around you in jeopardy. Personally, I'd find an expert in your area and have all of the suspension components carefully inspected.
Yeah, the nut fell off, right? I mean, the end of the bolt wasn't still in it, was it? Is the nut or bolt stripped? If the threads are OK, that would indicate that it loosened and rotated off. The stress placed on the fork by not having the fork clamped to the bushing inner is probably what broke the fork.
I spoke to Miller my local Ferrari dealer. They confirmed that the forks on the 328 was a recall item. They also told me that there is no record of my car having the update or in their terms, "recall is open". Does anyone have knowledge of this recall. Miller is having difficulty locating it.
No, they didn't say what years were affected. I'm starting a new tread to find out what is known about this.
Hi Lee, I'm also a big fan of using stainless hardware, however, generally not where the specs of a particular bolt call for something particularly strong such as 10.9 or 12.9 - I haven't found much 10.9 or 12.9 equivalent grade stainless steel hardware. In fact, I haven't found any nearly that strong. A-2 or 18-8 is somewhere between Grade 2 and Grade 5. Perhaps others have found a good source or two. Personally, for a suspension bolt such as this (M12X1.25) I'd use 12.9 grade in a zinc plate. Obviously, use a bolt with a shank of appropriate length for the bushing. Everywhere else I use stainless. Can't beat it for just about everywhere else where strength is not a big issue. It certainly can gall if under load - another reason to not use stainless in a high stress position.
When I installed the DMS coil-overs in the AllTrac in '02, I found that the local Ace Hardware stores (in MA) had a good selection of grade 5 stainless hardware. Another local hardware store had stainless bolts labeled "grade 5", but they twisted to pieces at under 100 N-m torque. For suspension elements, I've been told that carbon steel has the advantage that it tends to warp and deform at the limits, where stainless is more prone to crack and fracture. OEM on the WRC homologation AllTrac was carbon steel, but I couldn't find a good source for the correct size for the new coil-overs, except in stainless. -- Am I the only one who opened this thread expecting to see a mugshot of f1's mad max?
BTW: Ferrari is definitely not the only manufacturer to use yellow witness paint ... they all do it, even my humble Toyota family car. Also what do you mean by FORK?. Motorcycles have forks, cars don't. Do you mean wishbone? Pete
The fork(s) bolt through the chassis and the A-arms bolt into the forks (two per A-arm). Cliffbeer: yeah I agree about stainless, great for most things apart from hi stress-high torque situations. I suppose you could get some steel nuts chromed to make them look nicer like the roders do. Lee '77 GT4
This has me thinking. What about those of us that track our 308's with a Brembo kit up front AND use competition, shaved tires? am I about to tear my front forks off? Serious question
I just found out that this recall was for all 328s up to serial number 75553. That includes years 1986 to 1988.
