Design Flaw

I had moment in the seven today, driving home from work in the dark, I failed to see (nor expect) an unmarked speed-bump in the middle of the country on a two way highway outside of a village. The result was me being launched into the air at 80, a hard landing, and a very wobbly seven, the result was a snapped shock absorber, it had sheered at the knuckle.



On closer examination i think i may have introduced a design flaw by purchasing rose jointed shock absorbers, in order to shim the mountings so that the shocks sit right, I used big washers, these in turn restrict the movement of the knuckle, in full droop or squat at both sides this isn't an issue, as the shock is vertical, however in roll, i think i may have introduced a twisting force into the knuckle causing it to fracture. As a result i remade the shims to be smaller so that they do not foul the casing. I welded the the knuckle back on, if it fails again I shall replace the whole unit.


When i put it all back together something still wasn't right, it took me quite some time to realize that spring mount had come off one of the front shocks, thankfully it had dropped into the undertray. To stop this ever happening again, either due to me getting too much 'air' or some other failure, i drilled a small hole in them, and cable tied the spring to it. Once adjusted, everything was back to nor