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TR6 Front Suspension Rebuild TR6

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John_Mc

John_Mc

Jedi Knight
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I need to replace the rubber, etc. on my suspension. I have the TRF Suspension Magic Kit. I have spring compressor and floor jack. I have Bentley and Haynes manuals. And, most importantly, I have BCF. So, my question is how big of a project is this for a first-timer? Is this something that can be done in a day or two, or will it take weeks or months? Can I do one side at a time or will everything have to come apart? What are the big steps that will be the real rate-limiting factors? I guess my real concern is just being able to do it without putting the car out of commission too long, since the great driving season is upon us and I'd really like to do some fun road trips with my soon to be new bride (June 24). Any advice? I know it's a broad topic that has been addressed many times before, but I'm bringing it up again. Thanks in advance for your help.

Or.....should I just let Banjo "borrow" my car for the weekend? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Do it a PIECE at a time, not a side.
Much less chance of mixing things up that way, and if you get it wrong, it ain't pretty.

Figure a day a side.
Hardest part is the upper a-arms.
 
I would do a side at a time. You have the other side to refer to when reassembling. This is a good opportunity also to clean things up and repaint everything. If you have access to a sand blast cabinet, take advantage and make things look like new.
Just follow the manuals and you will be fine. Buy new fasteners for reassembly.
 
John, I did it and I was a first timer. Definetly do as the others say and do 1 side at a time. As a suggestion you might want to check your springs. If they need replacing now is the time to do it. I got both my front and rear from good parts and am very satisified. Good luck and happy motoring
 
If you have a digital camera. It would be useful to take photos before you start to disasemble. Take particiular care to note the direction of bolts and the orientation of parts.
 
Hi John

Another first timer here - I did the job last year and it was pretty straightforward once I had looked at what went where. One thing I would suggest is going out and spraying with a decent penetrating oil a few days in advance. I would also suggest you slacken (but not remove yet) the nuts on the ball joints - it seemed easier to get the ball joint apart with the spring still in place. Good luck with the top fulcrum bolts - I sweated while I took them out, because if one shears I have no idea how you would drill and retap without removing the body...

Alistair
 
Hey John,
Not that tough. Put the front up on good jackstands, chock the rear tires and go for it. One side at a time is a good thing. Also time to refresh everything as far as paint (good rattlecan paint). Make SURE you use that spring compressor, otherwise you will be teaching dental school, not practicing dentistry....


Bill
 
Hi John,

Re-iterating almost everyone elses replies, it isn't that big a job. I'm a newbie to most of this, and it didn't take too long (I'll qualify that below!). I did the suspension bushings, replaced the springs, and replaced the trunnion, upper ball joint, the sway bar link assembly and the sway bar bushes/mounts. Whilst the bits were off the car, they were also de-greased, scrubbed and re-sprayed (purists out there look away - the sway bar is now a nice fire-engine red. It's the little details that count!). I also did it side by side.

All told, it took me about a week for the passenger side, mostly including repeated trips to Sears to get new wrenches for the sizes I didn't have, and working on some unrelenting bolts. The drivers side plus sway bar took a day and a half, including scrubbing and repainting. I found the thing that took the most time was removing the spring and (even more so) putting the new one back in. Releasing the trunnion and upper ball joint from the vertical link was also awkward, requiring a bit of hammer action.

Also, a handy tip on getting the worn bushings out of the upper and lower A-arms where they mount to the chassis - cut the overlap on one side off with a knife, and tap the rest through using a hammer and the bolt you removed. Easy.

Good luck!
Mark
 
Thanks all for the advice so far! I'm encouraged. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I always salivate when I see pictures of redone suspensions all cleaned up with new paint! How does one know when new springs are needed? I have nothing to compare to.
 
[ QUOTE ]
How does one know when new springs are needed? I have nothing to compare to.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well in my case, when I pulled my not too slim 215 lb body out of my TR4, I was a little bothered by the obvious lean the car still had to the drivers side.. Actually one way is to just check clearances between wheel arch and tires, or frame to ground. I did that with my 4, and had some numbers to compare to rom around the internet. I'm sure you can get the same type of information from TR6 folks here as well. The reality is though, I just thought the car looked "low" compared to other TRs I had worked on and I had enough squeaks and rotten bushings on the car to warrant a full rebuild springs and all.

And since I only just got the parts today I'll be doing it the same time too.

Have fun!
Randy
 
I don't know what results others have had or what parts are in your kit, but the rubber bushings I used on my tr6 upper A-arms are junk. I believe they were from Moss, and after only two years they are already spliting. I plan to put in the red plastic ones this year.
 
My only advise is just because you put every thing back together as you took it apart doesnt mean its right, look at pics and read. I did my front end and the upper wish bone were backwards as remove and I put them back wrong and I had a hard steering problem but Finally figured it out now I need to get the toe in set.... its easy just dont get in a hurry
 
And don't force it whatever you do. If it doesn't bolt back together you have something wrong.

A friend just had to buy a new $150 vertical link when he assembled it with the upper wishbones the wrong way round and bent the link making it all fit (and he didn't use much force - I was watching at the time).

I suggested that you do it 1 piece at a time for this exact reason. His, I hasten to add in case you get the wrong idea, had both sides in one cardboard box.
 
Man, you guys sure trust 30 years of previous owners and bad mechanics. When I did my 4A it was all kinds of wrong. If I followed what was there it would have been a very bad thing. Take some pictures for goodness sakes' - but get a real shop manual and follow it to the letter. The suspension diagrams are crystal clear with precise measurements to determine if there's damage. I wrote this about my experience:

https://www.vtr.org/maintain/tr46-front-susp.shtml

Now I'm /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Excellant article, Rusticus (would that be you, Chris?)
Probably one of the better pieces of writing I have run across. Thanks for sharing it with us. For those of you out there that are new to the Triumph frame and suspension, take note. There are plenty of pearls in the article that all of us can benefit from.

Bill
 
Hi Chris,
Welcome to the forum!
Thanks for sharing that article. I'm right there with Bill.
"Probably one of the better pieces of writing I have run across."
 
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