Metal Hanging Off Undertray

[chris_c201]

Hi guys,

S2 Exige... have underground parking and my barge is behind the exige and i noticed something hanging down from below the engine.... had a look and at either side there was metal bracket things shaped like a conrod... one bent lower than the other...

So Today, over a speed bump (at the obligatory Lotus 2mph) and there was a horrible scraping noise... so, once stopped i popped my head under and one had been bent right back, cos of the movement the allen bolt had loosened and i could remove it by hand.. done the other one when i was in there.... they were attached to the metal undertray directly under the engine and once removed the undertray still seemed solid and unaffected...

So, what are they and is there any point in putting them back on?

Cheers,
Chris

[gdr]

rear towing eyes vaguely resemble conrods. If you reversed over a speed hump I guess they could catch and bend back. They are fixed by the 8mm bolts through the undertray into subframe. I thought these bolts were hex but I guess could be allen caps.
If so should not be a problem, the rear towing eyes just for dragging car out of gravel.


edited to add pic, I see the are supplied with domed allen bolt

[chris_c201]

That's the bad boys.... for track days would i need these?

P.S - May have been the bolts were loose to begin with as they were facing forward and that's how i think they got bent down.... it's in at MMC next Friday anyway so will see what Craig says to it....

Thanks for the response!
Chris

[robin]

You may need to fit longer bolts to keep these from turning. The problem is that they naturally act like spanners with the dangling mass trying to undo the bolt whenever you turn right ... that combined with a bolt that might not be in more than 5-6 turns means they undo; I've seen many of these loose on the bottom of cars. There is a limit to how long a bolt you can use though as I think the thread will top out and hit the bracket that is used to contain the captive nut you're screwing into, if you see what I mean

You are supposed to have a towing eye fitted for track days. On balance I would rather be towed out of the gravel by one of these than the wishbone, but note that there is a limit to the strength of the brackets and they are not easy to replace/repair should they get mullered. Plenty of people have them, though, and I haven't heard of anyone destroying the bracket by being towed ...

Cheers,
Robin