I just installed a set of uprated from springs I bought 4 years ago
from British Parts NW (I installed the rears when I bought the fronts, as I
had the rear suspension apart and the old rear springs were sagging and
broken).
The problem is that the car seems to sit very nose-high now. I'd guess
that the tire-fender gap in the front is easily twice that in the rear, which
seems strange. It's easily a fist-held-the-long-way gap (~4") in the front,
and only maybe 1.5-2" in the rear. This is after driving a few miles, so
everything should have settled in.
I'm fairly certain I put the correct springs in the front/rear, but I
could have screwed it up. To verify, I checked the outer diameter of the
coils. The rears are slightly narrower (1/4") than the fronts, and the new
front springs match the old fronts in diameter exactly, though the free length
was noticably more than the old ones (and it had many more turns). From what
I remember of the new rears, they matched the old rears in outer diameter,
and were around the same free length or a bit more. I do remember being
confused when I went to put them in, and then noticing the outer-diameter
difference. In bouncing the corners, the front seems considerably stiffer
than the rear now (the new springs are a lot stiffer than the old).
Note also that this is a '70 TR6, before the rear suspension geometry
change, and the rear springs were supposed to be correct for this version (TRF
doesn't supply early uprated springs if I remember correctly).
So: am I screwed? Did I merely get the springs installed in the wrong
ends? Or are the "uprated" springs from BP-NW garbage? I bought them because
they were pretty cheap (~$30 at the time) and I needed rears anyway, and for
the TRF uprated springs I'd need to change the rear trailing arms mounts. I
suppose it's also possible that the rears are too short or wrong; the rear
has always seemed to bottom awfully easily (though refilling the shocks
recently cut down on it, and installing new bump-stops made it less painful).
Perhaps someone can tell me roughly what the correct tire-fender gaps should
be?
If I need the change springs (again) so be it; now that I have the TRF
compressor it's only about a 2 hour job per spring. A hint: spray the threaded
rod with WD40 or some such beforehand - it makes it much easier, especially
when compressing an uprated spring.
The car is being aligned as I write; hopefully they can get it within
specs. Of course, if I have to change the springs, I'll have to have it
aligned again. :-(
Thanks for any advise.
--
Randell Jesup, Scala US R&D
Randell.Jesup@scala.com
Ex-Commodore-Amiga Engineer, class of '94
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