suspension Front coil Spring not sitting Straight

[Jonathan Joyce]

Hi,

Couldn't find any previous discussion about this.

I have just fitted one of my original Herald coil springs to a SPAX damper, and the bottom of the spring wont sit down fully on the lower spring plate on the damper (see blue arrow) meaning once it is compressed up and installed, the spring has a bend in it rather than being parallel with the damper as it was on the old Woodhead damper.

The coned bit of the lower spring plate seems a bit too wide for the inner diameter of the spring.

Anyone had this before, and know the best way to correct it?

Cheers
Jon

 

[Clive]

Welcome to the forum.

Iooking at the picture (which can be deceiving) it looks like teh spring is already slightly curved. I think this happens as the face of the top spring seat is fixed, and the bottom one is never quite parallel or in the same plane (I may have used the wrong terms there)

You may be able to rotate the spring to fit slightly better, but also the issue will disappear once the spring is under the full load of the weight of the car. It may even take a little time to settle. 

I would not be unduly concerned. 

The cone size may be down to metric v imperial sizing or suchlike, have you measured them to compare? 

[PeteStupps]

On 30/01/2023 at 08:10, Clive said:

also the issue will disappear once the spring is under the full load

Was going to say the same, you might find the bottom coil expands slightly when it's got weight on it. Stick the wheel on and lower it down and see how it looks then (if you haven't already)

[Jonathan Joyce]

Thanks both.

I expect it you are right and it will go away, but I might rotate the spring so that when the top plate levels out on the turret it reduces the bend on the spring.

I kept the original springs from 1965 as the car is low(ish) mileage and the springs were straight before.

It might be a month or so before I can put all the suspension and wheel back so will have to be patient.

JJ