The suspension cup on the back axle has torn away. Not safe to drive. I can get a new one from Italy, but at £800 it's a big outlay. Do I have any alternative?
Any advice appreciated.

Repro drum-braked Panda ones are available, not seen any listed as being for the 100hp yet though.
However, I don't know if the only differences are the brake line mounts. If all else is the same then could be fairly straightforward to modify one to suit.
Haven't got a 100hp beam to compare to a standard one at the moment, or I could've checked. Sorry.
Repair may be possible, with the beam on a bench and some measure of skill.
I've even seen a beam where someone transplanted a spring cup from a damaged 500 (at least I think it was) beam onto a Panda one.
However, he welds for a living, and I think he was born with a MIG welder in his hand...

I am having a welder look at the car on Monday, but I am fearing the worst.
My car is a low mileage and good condition so definitely not sending it to the scrapyard.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/441935-panda-axle-repair-6.html

A good thread about this. They can be repaired


Also, I'm sure there was a thread on here about some company making replica/pattern (right word?) a while ago. Not sure if anyone ordered one to find out if the quality was any good.

The spring pans fail about 20mm inboard of the welds to the axle's main body. If you look closely you can see how the metal thins at that point. I suspect its a stress-corrosion issue.

The solution is to weld new steel strips along the sides of the cup to about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way around. If the rest of the cup is good there's no point in adding more metal. If the rest of the cup is badly corroded you could have new spring cups made to suit the axle.

Was the price of the new one from Shop4Parts?

The new one is £730 plus vat direct from Fiat, but that was through the trade and asking for the best possible price. Not gone ahead with it just yet.

I have had a word with a very reputable fabricator/car restorer and he is going to have a look at it on Wednesday. I dare not drive it as although it may well have been like that for 2-3 days prior to me noticing it, for the sake of £30 I am having it low loaded over to him.
He says it sounds like a mornings work, so repair costs should be in the region of £150 subject to his findings. He will also reinforce the other side and treat the whole beam accordingly.

The biggest issue will be access. The 100HP needs wood blocks on the sill jacking points otherwise the sill trims will be damaged. I had to make special blocks for the job.

With a car lift, the axle can be fully dropped down by removing the rear shocks bottom bolts. Costs will rise if the axle has to come off the car as the rubber brake hoses will have to be cut** and hand brake disconnected, etc, etc.

** The metal brake pipe flare nuts seize onto the pipe and will twist the pipe to death if normal removal is attempted. Cutting the brake hose allows the remnant to be unscrewed from the pipe and then the nut can be free'd off with gentle heat and the pipe end cleaned and protected form further corrosion.

Just a quick update on this, the pan and surrounding area were too far gone to rescue. It's odd because the rest of the underneath is in great condition, and the passenger side which you would expect to be in worse condition, being on the gutter side isn't anywhere near as bad.
Anyway, a new back axle is on its way at an eye watering price, once it arrives, it will be coated and oiled and anything else I can think of to prevent future problems. Can't wait to get it back, the cars I am borrowing from work just feel dull by comparison!

Is there a way of posting photos direct from my phone to show you guys the damage?

Hopefully this works and you can see the results!

What year is your Panda? corrosion looks bad there!

It's a late car, 2010, but it was first registered in Scotland, and due to the more severe winters, they use a lot more salt on the roads. By the time it went to live down south the rot must have already begun.
I have had it up in the ramps and the rest of the underside is good.

Removing the axle from the car would make the repair work straight-forward enough. The rubber bearing supports on each side are each held with three large bolts. You also need to disconnect brake pipes, ABS leads and hand brake cables. Just cut the rubber hoses and later replace with new. The remnants can be clamped to keep the fluid from running out.

Put a jack under the centre of the axle beam. Disconnect everything and just lower it down. To be fair its easier without the brakes fitted but with two people that's not necessary.

The suspension swing arm tubes are about 3mm thick so loads of metal to weld to. In your case, there looks like enough spring pan to work out where repair metal needs to be added. 3mm steel is needed.

I would suggest getting it grit blasted before the repairs are done then you can really see the weak spots and you wont be trapping rust under new metal. It will need a coat of primer to avoid flash rusting.

I used a 500 axle (Ford Ka is the same) on our 1.2 Panda where it does a great job. But its too wide for the 100HP. The stub axles *could* be modified but would need jigs etc so not ideal by any means.

DaveMcT said:

The suspension swing arm tubes are about 3mm thick so loads of metal to weld to. In your case, there looks like enough spring pan to work out where repair metal needs to be added. 3mm steel is needed.

I would suggest getting it grit blasted before the repairs are done then you can really see the weak spots and you wont be trapping rust under new metal. It will need a coat of primer to avoid flash rusting.

Click to expand...

I’m guessing you missed the bit where he said he bought a brand new one...

I wouldn’t try and repair the axle in those pictures, what once was metal is now basically dust, you’ll never get a good weld on that, and you wouldn’t get it through an MOT with a hatchet job of welding patches supporting the arse of the car.

X19 pilot said:

It's a late car, 2010, but it was first registered in Scotland, and due to the more severe winters, they use a lot more salt on the roads. By the time it went to live down south the rot must have already begun.
I have had it up in the ramps and the rest of the underside is good.

Click to expand...

Snow/Salt is a killer luckily it doesn't snow here anyway good luck fir fixing her up

AndyRKett said:

I’m guessing you missed the bit where he said he bought a brand new one...

I wouldn’t try and repair the axle in those pictures, what once was metal is now basically dust, you’ll never get a good weld on that, and you wouldn’t get it through an MOT with a hatchet job of welding patches supporting the arse of the car.

Click to expand...

Yes I missed that bit (oops). But the state of the spring pans is exactly why I said the axle would have to come off the car for repairs. I would suggest that any welding on the axle is far better done off the car. The spring pans are adequate when new but won't stand much loss due to corrosion. However, we are not talking about body panel material. The main axle structure is a hefty bit of kit and the spring pans could be repaired or even replaced.


But the job is only practically possible with the axle off the car.