The radius rods are indeed different for the longer length axles, as well
as the pivot brackets at the body (they have a slightly different angle,
even though they look similar, they are not). It is well to remember when
going to the longer axles that these MUST be replaced also - the greater
camber at the rear results from the same pivot points on the uprights,
which are the same for ALL Spitfires, but, since one of the pivot points
(which is basically what the center axes of the spring eye and the rear hub
mounting bolt are) is now pushed out one inch farther outboard, the ANGLE
of the uprights is now different (see the comment about the tub pivot
brackets) creating a shorter vertical span between the spring eye and the
axle - Since it is a right triangle of sorts when viewed this way, one can
see that as the length of the horizontal "line" is increased, the length of
the vertical "line" will be decreased (given that the "angled line", the
vertical link) has not changed, therefore, given the same spring, the car
will now sit slightly lower with the longer axles and as we all know with a
swing axle car, the lower the car sits, or more correctly, the greater the
angle that the axle deviates from horizontal, the more camber the wheels
will have -
Barry Schwartz (San Diego)
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