• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

new rear leaf spring disapointment...

Share this page

F

Flinkly

Jedi Trainee
Offline
ok, so this is probably more of a vent, but i just got my new rear leaf spring for my gt6 and it isn't very original. i don't know what i was expecting, but what i got is as plain of a leaf spring as you can get. i guess the old one just had more character. i know i won't even see this new one after i put the body back on, but i'll know it's there.

i guess i need someone to tell me this is life, and everyone has boring new leaf springs. i guess it is good enough as long as it works right. thanks all for listening. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif
 
Leaf springs really are boring. They either work or they don't. I'm with Andy what's different and whats wrong?
Tinkerman
 
the old one's leafs were rounded on the ends, and it had these little rubber things under each leaf at the ends. the new one is just square, with sharp edges. the paint isn't very great either. i guess i'm kinda a perfectionist.

i worked as an engineer at a cabinetry company this summer and when i first got there, i was upset by the cheap way they made cabinets. but after a while, common sense took over for perfectionism and i realized it made sense to make some things out of mdf instead of a nice grade of plywood. it makes sense for everyone. i just need to suck it up.

EDIT: oh, and the old one had a large piece broken off the end of a leaf, and it's 35 years old.
 
I know the old Jags had a dimple near the end of the leave with a rubber bushing riding in the dimple and the other side of the rubber bushing was the contact point of the upper leave. My bottom leave was broken and the spring shop *re-arched* the springs while making a new replacement leave. Much to my horror the new leave did not have a dimple and no bushing. After considerable research, I found the only negative would be in a high point show. If you are going for high points, get the correct spring, other wise, get a spring the works well and forget the bushings and look for dimples on girls. The TR6 solved the problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
 
Once you get over it (and you will, eventually,) be sure to oil between the leaves before installing it. It's easier to lay it on its side, and squirt oil in the seams like you are caulking it and let the oil run in.

I'm a perfectionist as well and understand your rant. So repaint and oil and you'll soon forget the differences.
 
"So repaint and oil and you'll soon forget the differences."

This /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif could be my new Sage Advice for many things I encounter on a daily basis at (shudder) work!
 
[ QUOTE ]
the old one's leafs were rounded on the ends, and it had these little rubber things under each leaf at the ends. the new one is just square, with sharp edges.

[/ QUOTE ]
This will make quite a difference in how the spring flexes. Essentially it will bind it. You really may want to disassemble the spring to install leaf liners, and chamfer the ends of the leaves. You can get leaf liners pretty cheaply from places like this. Leaf liner
 
I agree foxtrapper. My recent '94 F150, which was in very good shape(sold it), had these nylon bushings between the leafs. One of them however was missing, and the truck used to creak all the time going over bumps. I finally found out what it was, and simply had to oil it periodically.


Adam H.
____________________________________________________________
1972 Triumph Spitfire.
 
I got a new leaf spring from Moss for my Spitfire. It was not as bad as the one you are describing, but also not finished as nicely as the original was.

In addition, the old ones had a chamfered edge on the back of the main leaf, and the Leyland manual is quite specific about which side of the spring should face forward. I'm not sure why, except that maybe the orginal ones were bolstered a little heavier on the driver side, therefore it had to be oriented one particular way. Anyway, the new spring didn't have it, and folks at Moss were stumped on this also, but we just took a guess at which way it should go.

The new spring did not fit nearly as well as the old. Took a lot of coaxing.

What this new one did have, however, was the little rubber bumpers between each leaf. As mentioned in other posts, I think these are important to avoid metal-to-metal leaf contact and noise. Also, Leyland advises to lubricate the spring with a graphite-based lubricant. I sprayed each leaf top and bottom before assembly, and so far its nice and quiet.
 
Back
Top