On Sun, 18 Dec 1994, Paul Wiegman wrote:
> I finally got the broken rear spring off my TR3 and am getting ready to
> put the new spring on the car. These came from a TR3A being parted-out
> but I don't know what year. After cleaning the TR3A springs I noticed
> that on one spring, in the middle & on the top, are two squares of metal
> the same thickness of the spring leaves and attached to the spring by
> the bolt which runs through the middle of the leafs. The other spring
> does not have any such spacers (?).
> [stuff deleted]
> Whats the story here? Do TR3A's need two spacers on one side and not
> the other, & on which side? Both new springs have the same arc, but if
> bolted onto the car it would seem that the side with the two spacers
> will be(.5" - .75") lower. My thinking is to remove the two spacers and
> put one on each spring to match those that are coming off.
The TR3A and TR4 (to CT23382) use two spacers on the passenger's side,
none on the driver's side. I thought the TR2 and TR3 did too, but maybe
not. The theory behind it is that most of the time the car will have an
empty passenger's seat, so the driver's weight will make the driver's side
sit lower than the (empty) passenger's side. The two spacers on the
passenger's side are supposed to make the car sit level.
Note that the optional competition springs don't have this "feature", nor
do the more highly arched springs used with super thick spacers on TR4s
from CT23383 on.
If I were you, I'd replace _both_ of your rear springs, even if you
replace them with used springs from that TR3A. Otherwise you may end up
with two different spring rates, which does rather unpleasant things to
the stability of the car.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chip Old 1948 M.G. TC TC6710 NEMGTR #2271
Cub Hill, Maryland 1962 Triumph TR4 CT3154LO (daily transportation)
fold@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us
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