On Wed, 11 Oct 1995 "John M. Trindle" <jtrindle@tsquare.com> wrote:
> It's been suggested enough times now that I'm awake and paying attention,
> that I need to lower the rear of my 73 MGB. I'm doing a lot of breaking
> one wheel loose in turns, and can't afford a Quaife limited slip at the
> moment (sigh).
>
> The current situation:
>
> Front: 3/4" anti-sway bar, V8 bushings, delrin anti-sway bar bushings,
> 25% uprated springs (lowers front 1", supposedly), stock lever
> shocks (fresh rebuild)
>
> Rear: MGB-GT springs, stock lever shocks (fresh rebuild). The GT springs
> are about 11% stiffer than stock, but do raise the car 1/2" or so
> above normal.
This in my mind is not good. Front and rear should be lowered by the
same amount.
>
> I'm pretty tight on funds (just got a roll bar put in Sunday) and would
> like to cheap out, but not waste my money. Here are my options as I see
> them:
>
I have a similar set up 25 % uprated springs front and rear (Lowers car
one inch). Tube shock conversion front and rear (MOSS). Nylatron pads
and bushings rear. Nylatron bushings front shock mount, stock rubber on
spring pan (Plan to replace with nylatron or V8 prefrably nylatron).
3/4" sway bar. Standard 165R14 tires.
IMHO my car handles well, like it's on rails. I can case the tires to
squeal if I apply full power in a turn but other than that it handles
well.
The only thing I don't really like is the tube shock conversion on the
front. From a design point of view it's a poor design due to the forces
(moments) on the top bolts. There have been reports of these bolts
shearing and I can see why. I keep a close eye on these bolts and make
sure they are kept tight so they won't have an opertunity to shear.
> 2) For 2 @ $85 I can get 25% uprated leaf springs which also lower the
> car about 1". This is perhaps what I should have done in the first
> place, but I got expert advice to the contrary. At this point I have 2 6
> month old GT leaf springs for sale.
This gets my vote if you have the cash. Also buy the nylatron bushings
for the rear. They reduce sideways spring movement during cornering.
> 4) Then there is the nutty go for broke (and I do mean broke) option of
> new uprated leaf springs AND the tube shock conversion. People are
> always amazed when they find I still have lever shocks and run in DSP,
> but like I said, I don't grok the shock, Spock. This option gets on the
> nasty side of $250 for the rear and $345 for the front.
>
I read an article a while back which tested several different suspension
setups. The only one they found was an improvement over stock was the
MOSS coil over spring set up $$$$$$. I bought the tube shocks all around
because at $210 for all 4 shocks it was cheaper than buying rebuilts and I
needed all 4 shocks. I found them to be better than no shocks but I
can't really compare them to good rebuilts to say if they are better.
IMHO My car looks and handles great with this set up. YMMV depending on
desired comfort level/driving style.
Gary
MasterClk__| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|
__:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:
Character__|20_|47_|61_|72_|79_|20_|42_|75_|72_|72_|65_|6C_|6C_|20_|20_|
:_______________: : :
FirstName______| |___:___________________________:________
: __________________________:
Surname __________________________| |________
Electronic Signature: Gary R. Burrell P.Eng. (burrelgr@tuns.ca)
Try my new home page (http://www.tuns.ca/~burrelgr)
|