Another Springy Issue

[vette]

Well I got my leaf springs and rear axle housing back in place. Now I have to ask, are the rear leaf springs the same side to side, and end to end. I thought they were, but now I'm wondering.
Thanks in advance.
Dave C.

 

[Randy Forbes]

I *think* there's a front/back, but I don't think that would shift the axle to one side (sorry about not responding sooner...).

 

[Johnny]

I'm almost sure there isn't a difference. There is however a centering hole on a bracket welded to the axle that a bolt holding the springs together must fit into. I mounted the front portion first then raised the rear of the springs up. Make sure you lube the springs well before mounting.

 

[Keoke]

Well I got my leaf springs and rear axle housing back in place. Now I have to ask, are the rear leaf springs the same side to side,

Not necessarily and often times require shifting leaves around to get them balanced. This imbalance can occur with new or used springs.--Keoke

and end to end. I thought they were, but now I'm wondering.
Thanks in advance.
Dave C.

 

[vette]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty sure they are both the same. I had them marked when I took them off but I hate to say how long ago that was. About 2 years. When I cleaned them up I kind of willingly lost my markings because I reasoned they were both the same. I got everything put back together recently and when under the car I visibly noticed that the pinion flange was not in the center of the trans tunnel. So here I am rechecking everything. When measuring inside the tunnel, the difference only appears to be about 3/16th inch. If I could split the difference I would be happier, especially since I can visibly see it. To move the axles fore or aft enough to make up 3/16th at the pinion would mean considerably more at the outer end of the axles and I know that is not possible because everything is seated where it belongs. So I was trying to verify that the center pin/bolt in each leaf spring was really at center. It is hard to measure it in place. Last night I did put a metal rule across the face of the pinion flange and slid it outboard until it touched the frame at the x cross, since the frame is not parallel at that point. If I remember right I got 5 and 7/16 inches from the center of the pinion nut to each side when the rule just touched the x-framing. So that is the best measurement that I can get. And it seams to say to me that it is alright. But it is just that visibly it doesn't look right. Measuing outside the tunnel, from the wall of the tunnel to the outer sill, along the floor parallel to the bottom of the rear seat bulkhead I do get near 1/4 inch more on one side than the other. But that too is hard to measure because the rear floor section has alittle up kick out near the sill. Maybe I'm just chasing an issue I don't need to chase.
Dave.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty sure they are both the same. I had them marked when I took them off but I hate to say how long ago that was. About 2 years. When I cleaned them up I kind of willingly lost my markings because I reasoned they were both the same. I got everything put back together recently and when under the car I visibly noticed that the pinion flange was not in the center of the trans tunnel. So here I am rechecking everything. When measuring inside the tunnel, the difference only appears to be about 3/16th inch. If I could split the difference I would be happier, especially since I can visibly see it. To move the axles fore or aft enough to make up 3/16th at the pinion would mean considerably more at the outer end of the axles and I know that is not possible because everything is seated where it belongs. So I was trying to verify that the center pin/bolt in each leaf spring was really at center. It is hard to measure it in place. Last night I did put a metal rule across the face of the pinion flange and slid it outboard until it touched the frame at the x cross, since the frame is not parallel at that point. If I remember right I got 5 and 7/16 inches from the center of the pinion nut to each side when the rule just touched the x-framing. So that is the best measurement that I can get. And it seams to say to me that it is alright. But it is just that visibly it doesn't look right. Measuing outside the tunnel, from the wall of the tunnel to the outer sill, along the floor parallel to the bottom of the rear seat bulkhead I do get near 1/4 inch more on one side than the other. But that too is hard to measure because the rear floor section has alittle up kick out near the sill. Maybe I'm just chasing an issue I don't need to chase.
Dave.

As I recall, the driveshaft is offset otherwise you would have problems with the needle bearings not functioning correctly. I am not very knowledgeable in this area but I do know of the offset as it was explained to me by an expert.

 

[vette]

Hi Patrick, Yeh, i studied alittle about setting up a drive line because I was at one time going to build a street rod. Might still sometime. Anyway for a universal to work properly, it should not be in prefect alignment with the transmission output shaft centerline. Now the center line of the pinion shaft and the center line of the trans output shaft have to be parallel for a smooth ride but but there must be an angle verically in the driveline. And that angle will change as the axle moves up and down. When setting up a rear axle/pinion shaft geometry if my recollection is right, the pinion should be at an upward angle of approximately 3-degrees when the vehicle is weighted. 2 to 3 degrees is very acceptable. A little more or less will work. Beyond 5 degrees you would feel it in the drive and probably would contibute to universal joints wearing out very prematurely. In doing my checks, I put an inclinemometer on my pinion flange. It read 1-degree down. That should be ok, because when the car is weighted and the springs get tensioned upward, the axle will twist upward and the pinion will be in an upward or positive relation ship to horizontal a few degrees. The way Healey fixed (established ) this relationship is by two functions. One is the positioning of the springs center bolt (which was a given when they decided to use springs that are exactly semetrical) and also by the fact that the rear spring perch is higher than the front. When setting the axle housing down on the center bolt you can see that the axle is automatically rotated downward by nature that the centeer boult is not vertical and it is angled forward at the top because the rear spring perch is higher. oops, gotta go, the wife calls for supper.

 

[Ed_K]

Hi Dave,

Are you reinstalling original springs back into your car ?

If yes, it is quite possible that the one that used to be mounted on the driver's side is longer/flatter than the one that used to be on the passenger side.

I replaced the springs on my BJ8 earlier this year for that exact reason ( plus it was always scraping the mufflers when I entered or exited my driveway).

If you put original springs back in to your car, check the distance between the top of the axle tubes to the bottom of the frame rails with a ruler on each side of the car. Bet you will find a difference if they are old/original leaf springs. That would be the likely reason for the difference you see from side to side.

If these are new springs then I would not know where to start.

Ed

 

[vette]

Thanks Ed, I'll check that. These are the same springs that I took off the car. I wish I would have kept track of which one was which, then I would at least feel better about it. I plan to keep building the car now. When i start to run it again, if it acts funny I can revisit this area.
Dave.