Tryumf Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Today I decided to replace the rear spring on my GT6 Mk3 rotoflex, the new spring has no markings on it to determine which way round it goes so any help would be appreciated, I have noticed the spring eyes have an offset of about 1/2" to the center in other words a slight curve from back to front...Thanks David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 It seems none of the new springs are marked front, and indeed nobody is quite sure why the originals were, so do not worry about that.Re the spring eyes it sound like they are not parallel? Never thought about that before. I would guess they should be parallel to avoid stresses, and 1/2" sounds a lot in the length of the bush. but others more knowledgable than me may differ in advice. Or do I misunderstand what you mean?CheersClive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 cliftyhanger wrote:It seems none of the new springs are marked front, and indeed nobody is quite sure why the originals were...... Re the spring eyes it sound like they are not parallel? Never thought about that before. I would guess they should be parallel to avoid stresses, and 1/2" sounds a lot in the length of the bush. but others more knowledgable than me may differ in advice..... Well as the rear track is supposed to be set for 1/16" toe-in, I suppose the spring eyes could be set that way to avoid stressing the spring in a direction it's not designed for. Something else lost in the mists of time?Tryumf wrote:Today I decided to replace the rear spring on my GT6 Mk3 rotoflex, the new spring has no markings on it to determine which way round it goes so any help would be appreciated, I have noticed the spring eyes have an offset of about 1/2" to the center in other words a slight curve from back to front... Does the centre line of the spring sit directly above the centre line of the driveshaft? I've always thought so but now I wonder...Spitfire suspension geometry; one for the small chassis Triumph racers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Does the centre line of the spring sit directly above the centre line of the driveshaft? I've always thought so but now I wonder...Spitfire suspension geometry; one for the small chassis Triumph racers?[/quote]It shouldn't. It wants to be forward of the axle centre-line to give some caster and help stability under acceleration. I think the diff is pointed slightly nose-down for this reason.If the spring is supposed to got in a particular way then I have been ignoring it for 20 years.....Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoflex Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 If you can hang on, I'll get one of the old ones out this afternoon (about 8 hours from now) and look it over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoflex Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Yes, stamped FRONT on the top leaf slightly left of the center.When correctly installed, the spring ends would be swept a little farther to the back.It actually sort of looks more like the spring assembly is sort of triangular, with the apex forward & the base rearward.If you have a particular way you'd like it measured, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tryumf Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Thanks for all the replies, the info you gave pionts me in the right direction I will have a go at fitting it this weekend...David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Crikey, so there is a right and wrong way. That really is news! Something to check for in the future. Wonder if it applies to swingsprings too? will have a nosey later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 cliftyhanger wrote:Crikey, so there is a right and wrong way. Well you have a 50% chance you got it right :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 no way. Much nearer zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 cliftyhanger wrote:no way. Much nearer zero.Ain't that the truth :P No way I'm taking mine off to look.... seems to work OK! (and I don't remember ever seeing anything stamped on my spring in spite of having had it apart for cleaning and greasing.....)Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tryumf Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Anyway, managed to fit the spring this morning and it went in with little trouble, I checked the old spring which had only done about 3000 miles in about 3 years and it seemed to be straighter than the new one that fitted (in a front to back way)There is a possibility I have just bought a badly made spring, I just don’t know, but the original springs must have been stamped "front" for a reasonNick.. I think if you managed to get your spring on without to much trouble then its probably fitted the right way round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoflex Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Bah, I'm going out of town shortly, but I'll get them back out Sunday & look at the BL swing spring also for some photos.Between us all, we should be able to come up with a fast way to identify which is front on unmarked springs.I'm pretty sure that the old rotoflex spring I looked at was the one that was originally on the car. I may be wrong, but I think the repair manual (one of them) also mentioned looking for the stamped FRONT on the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99176 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Of course the problem is a bit stickier once you've removed all the leaves for service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire mk3 2500 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Whats the difference between Spifire mk3 spring or Rotoflex Spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 99176 wrote:Of course the problem is a bit stickier once you've removed all the leaves for service.Well, indeed, ;D But I don't remember seeing anything stamped on any of them.... seems to work ok :)Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoflex Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Sorry to interrupt SpitfireMk3 2500's question --I've pulled out the GT6 springs for examination, & after feeling sure from eyeballing them last time that they swept back toward the ends I'm not so sure now.Here is a GT6 rotoflex spring (above) & a GT6 swing spring (below), front oriented to the bottom of the photo:Here they both are again. FRONT is stamped on top of the rotoflex spring, & FRONT is stamped on the shiny metal tag on the swing spring:Here's a string across the underside of the rotoflex spring, stuck at the centers of the ends, & an improvised bob dropped from the center. It looks like it's near as dammit to the stud in the center of the spring:The same is true doing the same with the swingspring. A string across the centers of the eyes at the ends seems to be directly over the stud at center (parallax makes the string look off-center in the middle due to non-reflex viewfinder in camera):So I don't know. Obviously there's a right & a wrong way, because they're both marked FRONT. Anyone have any ideas of what else to check? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tryumf Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 I now think its just the position of the spring eye bushes, looking in the genuine red Triumph manual ilustration 4-118 it shows a drawing with the spring with bushes fitted slightly offset..David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferny Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Dave Pearson told me that the "front" stamps means nothing. Although it comes in handy if one side is weak as you can put it down and when it comes to putting it back in you can turn it around so the weak side is on the passenger. ;)We were talking about non-rotoflex springs so I don't know if it's the same deal for the rotoflex. The part numbers are different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoflex Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 The thing that's annoying me most is that, although you can't see it well in the photo, 25-ish years ago I scratched "FRONT" with a nail or something on the flat part in the center of the swing spring. This almost certainly meant that in a typically doofus way I didn't notice FRONT on the shiny metal tag at the time it was new, & via some process of examination & deduction arrived at the correct determination of which way was front. Shoot if I know what it was now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Another way to tell which is the front, is to look for the upper leaves having a chamfered edge at their ends on one side only. The angled/chamfered side denotes the front. You can see this in your picture amended here. I don't know any more than you guys what this is for though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I'm glad we got that sorted out. A spring, bent in the middle, at right angles to its bow? Whatever next?The torque at the centre, twisting the diff. would have very odd effects!I thought it was because Triumph labelled the springs "front" to avoid Qs on the assembly line."'Ere, foreman. How am I expected to assemble this spring? It could go either way!"I want extra time [] to decide for each car!"There's NO DIFFERENCE!!John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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