Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension......

rsv1cox Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:05 pm

My "disassembly" post didn't receive high (any) remarks so I dunno. Pretty boring I must agree.

But I press on.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m107

The good news is the suspension actually works. Not as complicated as some but still interesting if that's your thing. The bad news is the front suspension is fragile and subject to breakage and lock-up due to castor goo freeze.

The front suspension consists of a control arm linked to a solid axle pin fixed at the front and secured within the two body halves. Molded in is a caged multi link apparatus that is there for looks only. Travel is accomplished and limited by the flex of the control arm and rotation around the axle.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m108

The problem is, once the engine is ran and castor oil is exhausted forward onto the axle, it gets between the arm and the axle locking it up and reducing the travel of the suspension to the flex of the arm alone.

Only cure is to remove the whole assembly and clean the axle and arm. Not easy. Usually the wheel is castor locked too and without heat impossible to remove. The arm more so. Mud recommends using a hypo needle and alcohol injected into the arm. A great idea, but I'm an impatient person and use a heat gun on low heat directed right at the arm while carefully rocking the arm back and forth on the axle until the castor goo is loosened. A risky maneuver as these arms are fragile. But, I have done twelve of these using this method without mishap.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Snow_e11

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Snow_e12

Cleaning the axle before removing the suspension piece helps.

This guy, from a parts car that I bought wasn't as lucky.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m109

I used hot water to loosen the old glue and scraped the old glue off (he had glued the arm on the spindle upside down) leaving marks. I re-glued it correctly and it's a perfect if not pretty fix on a part that is almost unattainable.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m110

The rear suspension is easy. No castor goo to mess things up.

Same principle, a control arm secured at the front with two pins and free rotation around the real axle. No caged multi link simulation. I have covered disassembly in a previous post.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m111

This car is a work in progress, and a bad/broken parts magnet. It will be a runner.

Next up - Driveline

KariFS Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:21 pm

Boring? Au contraire, my friend!

(In my best Bogart impression) Bob, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful project Very Happy

rsv1cox Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:27 pm

KariFS wrote:Boring? Au contraire, my friend!

(In my best Bogart impression) Bob, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful project

Thanks kari, my lack of response observation was made in good humor.

Re-reading my text I should go back and clean up my grammar and add a comma or two. But I hope the pictures make up for my lack of clarity.

There is just so much more to these, I could write a book.

Bob

NEW222 Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:06 pm

Interesting. I never knew that the had working suspensions, even if very minimal. Is there a possibility of ever-so-slightly enlarging the hole in the plastic piece so that you could lubricate the shaft so that it does not get locked up by goo?

rsv1cox Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:26 am

NEW222 wrote:Interesting. I never knew that the had working suspensions, even if very minimal. Is there a possibility of ever-so-slightly enlarging the hole in the plastic piece so that you could lubricate the shaft so that it does not get locked up by goo?

It's an unavoidable design flaw in that the front wheels and suspension are subject to castor lock. The rear wheels and suspension, no problem as spent castor does not get back there. Same with engines, put them away dirty and they get locked up over time. After use I always flush all my engines with Remoil and then add a drop or two of after run.

Most of these, I have eight now with one coming, arrive with castor locked front wheels and suspension. I take them all apart anyway so no problem for me. Spent castor gets all over everything in that confined space and the exhaust blows it forward. Maintaining the wheels is simple after a run, just flush with a light oil and spin. Not possible with the spindles, kingpins if you will.

Mud says alcohol injected at the seam works. And it does, but it takes time. I used it to clean the clogged vent tubes in the tank and fuel intake line filter, both jammed with castor.

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m112

Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension...... Cox_m113

Works better than Simple Green. But it's a tight fit between the axle and the plastic suspension piece and I found the careful application of heat to work really well to remove it completely.

The suspension does have about a quarter inch of travel, so after a run maybe a light oil application to the joint may put off castor lock. Otherwise the suspension will lockup and the only travel will be in the flex of the arm, but most of the suspensions travel is in the flex of the arm anyway, both front and rear.

Bob

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Anyone up for a primer on the Cox Mercedes suspension......

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