Another Rear spring question...

[Josh]

Hi all, and happy new year!

For christmas santa brought me an up-rated rear spring with 1" lowering block and spax adjustable dampers,  i know, me and the big man are tight ;) anyway, is it possible to change the rear spring without dropping the prop, diff, and drive shafts or is it a case of lowering it all down swapping the spring then mounting it all back in place again?? Basically all i want to know is, is there an easy way!!

Cheers

[ferny]

Open the boot and remove the plate in the centre of the "hump". This will give you access to the bolts holding the spring to the diff.
Jack it up and get the wheels off.
Remove the bolt holding the top of the dampener.
Undo the bolt in the spring eye.
Undo the bolts holding the spring to the diff.
Wiggle out.


Depending on what else you want to do (bushes, brakes, etc.) and how easily the rest plays along that should be all the need to do.

[Josh]

I love you, I knew there must be an easier way!!! Thanks a mill :)

[ferny]

Quick thought - have you got the longer studs to go with the 1" lowering block?

[Josh]

I have 1, but im going to say, just as a long shot, i could probably do with the other three?  :P

[Ridgetone Triumph]

You also need the long crow bar as these help with the wiggle.........Been there done that, I think we removed the studs on top of the diffs as well to assist with the removal of the spring, but can't remember, it was 37years ago since we were rallying Triumph Herald and Vitesse hooligans  :X

[IANS]

I did mine last week I swapped out a standard Vitesse spring for a swing spring.

I had to take the studs out of mine on the one side as the straps holding the spring together are to wide and will not pass through the gap between the studs.Also if you are replacing a fixed spring with a Swing spring don't forget to blank the two middle holes on the diff !

[Ridgetone Triumph]

7499 wrote:

I did mine last week I swapped out a standard Vitesse spring for a swing spring.

I had to take the studs out of mine on the one side as the straps holding the spring together are to wide and will not pass through the gap between the studs.Also if you are replacing a fixed spring with a Swing spring don't forget to blank the two middle holes on the diff !

Ha my memory ain't too bad after all  ;D

[IANS]

962 wrote:

Ha my memory ain't too bad after all  ;D

It must have scarred the mind  :)

[Ridgetone Triumph]

7499 wrote:

It must have scarred the mind  :)

Not only the mind but the knuckles as well  :'(

[Josh]

going to give it a crack this week, went around all the nuts and bolts yesterday and gave them a good spray with some lube and just started to undo them so i know none of them are seized. shouldn't be to bad of a job now i know how! ;)

[Pete Lewis]

You may find the longer studs will foul the tin apperture cover
BIll was making some with extra clearance
If they do make contact it makes a right racket
pete

[Josh]

If it is too close i will probably fabricate one myself, thanks though ill bare that in mind (think)

[roger.england]

On the subject of rear springs, I fitted a swing spring to my Herald based Midge using the Spitfire spring given that the Midge is lighter and has limited carrying capacity. I now find that I have increased positive camber compared to the standard Herald spring that preceded it. I guess I could fit a lowering block to reduce the positive camber (which remains an option), but has anyone any ideas why this has happened?

[mikeyb]

assuming that you have moved the car back/forwards to allow it to settle, the only other reason would be that the new spring is stiffer!

[Ridgetone Triumph]

We used to have this problem then rallying the Heralds and Vitesses, after swapping around the springs it was obvious that there were different spring heights and working pressures and this would make the rear wheels tuck under, (which we so aptly called the 'Bandy Leg Syndrome')
We were able to have the spring straightened or remove some of the leaves to reduce the height, sometimes with this procedure we would turn one of the leaves upside down as well. The ride height would look better and cornering just as hair raising  ;D
You had to be going somewhat  though to make the corning scary.  

[roger.england]

Thanks for the responses. Just thinking about the geometry of the suspension, is it the case that the flatter the spring the greater the positive camber?

[heraldcoupe]

How many leaves does the old spring have? Herald saloons and convertibles have 11 leaves, I suspect the old spring had been sodded in some way as a Midge will be a lot lighter than a Herald at the back,

Cheers,
Bill.

[roger.england]

I think there were seven leaves in the old spring, but the replacement (Spitfire spring) has five leaves.

[heraldcoupe]

Seven leaves is either Estate, or modified - the Estate leaves are noticeably heavier than those on other Heralds.
I have specs for the leaf thicknesses if it's any help, it won't help with what you're doing though, just information for why things have changed.

Cheers,
Bill.

[roger.england]

Thanks for the information Bill. I think I'll go for a lowering block.

[marktheherald]

When I built my Midge in the mid 80's, I followed JC's build advice and removed several leaves from the 1200 donor spring. By pure luck (or judgement!) I got it right first time and that gave me the ideal wheel stance and handling was never an issue, even with 15" wires.

[roger.england]

Yes Mark, the stance of your Midge does look right. I thought I would go the swing spring route to get better handling - not sure if it has worked but certainly seem to have a retrograde step as far as stance is concerned.

[marktheherald]

I must have been lucky, handling was never a problem in the 25 years that I owned it. I even ground off one coil from the front springs shortly after putting it on the road, as it kept 'topping' out! It never occurred to me then to find shorter springs!