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After replacing the shocks which has measurably improved the ride and scuttle shake on my BJ8, it is time to raise the rear end back up so the exhaust system can clear pea gravel. Well, it's not quite that bad, but the rear end is over one inch lower than normal, making it difficult to get out of my driveway without dragging. So the question is where to go to get the best replacements, Moss, VB or perhaps AH Spares. I replaced my bumpers with the Made In China bumpers from the normal sources, and must say I am not particularly impressed with the quality. I really hope to get new springs that would at least hold up for a decade, and I question whether the Made In China replacements will. Thoughts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
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Rear Leaf Springs
- Thread starter shorn
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AndrewMawson
Jedi Trainee
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A good spring place can reset and retemper your exisiting springs if they've not worn too thin or cracked.
John Loftus
Darth Vader
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Shorn,
I heard that Moss is sourcing a much better quality of rear spring for the last 3 or so years. Supposedly, they are from England and are "heavy duty" instead of the "light duty" that they offered previously. Give them a call, ask about the quality and the country of manufacture and let us know if it is still the case.
You might also inquire about the bumpers to see if they have made any improvements on them. I decided to have my originals straightened and rechromed ... it cost a lot more to do this but they are very sturdy.
Cheers,
John
I heard that Moss is sourcing a much better quality of rear spring for the last 3 or so years. Supposedly, they are from England and are "heavy duty" instead of the "light duty" that they offered previously. Give them a call, ask about the quality and the country of manufacture and let us know if it is still the case.
You might also inquire about the bumpers to see if they have made any improvements on them. I decided to have my originals straightened and rechromed ... it cost a lot more to do this but they are very sturdy.
Cheers,
John
John Loftus
Darth Vader
Offline
I found the post on the Healey list that Roger Moment wrote re: rear springs that Moss was selling in 2002.
https://www.team.net/cgi-bin/wilma_hiliter/healeys/200205/msg00819.html?line=3#hilite
You may also be interested in the springs that Denis Welch offers including the uprated and competition ones:
https://www.bighealey.co.uk/new%20healey/healey02/Healey%20rear%20suspension%202.htm
Cheers,
John
https://www.team.net/cgi-bin/wilma_hiliter/healeys/200205/msg00819.html?line=3#hilite
You may also be interested in the springs that Denis Welch offers including the uprated and competition ones:
https://www.bighealey.co.uk/new%20healey/healey02/Healey%20rear%20suspension%202.htm
Cheers,
John
waveandwen
Senior Member
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Guys,
Thanks for this timely discussion. Now that the summer driving season is almost over (although in So.Cal. I prefer Fall and Winter for LGC driving) I plan to replace the leafs on my BN4. A year ago I had the lowest (shortest) part of the one of the springs fall out of the car on the freeway at 65 MPH. Not fun. The axle is then left to float forward and back on the leaf; kind of squirelly at 65 MPH. Luckily, no lasting damage. A McGuyver repair at a freinds house nearby using a cut up garage storage bracket (piece of bar stock) and I was back on the road.
I'll give the Moss units a try. Thanks again.
Dave.
Thanks for this timely discussion. Now that the summer driving season is almost over (although in So.Cal. I prefer Fall and Winter for LGC driving) I plan to replace the leafs on my BN4. A year ago I had the lowest (shortest) part of the one of the springs fall out of the car on the freeway at 65 MPH. Not fun. The axle is then left to float forward and back on the leaf; kind of squirelly at 65 MPH. Luckily, no lasting damage. A McGuyver repair at a freinds house nearby using a cut up garage storage bracket (piece of bar stock) and I was back on the road.
I'll give the Moss units a try. Thanks again.
Dave.
So last January I replaced my rear leaf springs with new springs from Moss. The replacements looked exactly like the old ones, number of leafs, length, etc. The arch might have been slightly greater, but not much difference,but I felt the newer springs probably would be stronger, stiffer or have a better spring rate than the 40 year old originals and raise the car slightly. Since installing the new Moss springs, I have torn the exhaust off the car and seem to scrape the tail pipes when I didn't before. Measuring the distance from the ground to fender at the axle midpoint is 25 1/2+ on the driver's side and 26 inches on the pass. side, significantly less than with the original leaf sprinds in only 1000 miles. So today I pulled the springs back off. Their arch is now less than my originals. I am very unhappy. I am off to a spring shop to have them rearched. I would send them back to Moss, but I'll bet replacements from them would not be any better. I may forward the bill for the rearching, however. My advice, if you are trying to raise the rear of your car, do some careful research on the spring quality.
John Loftus
Darth Vader
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Skip,
Thanks for updating us on your findings. I'm sorry to hear that the quality isn't up to that of the originals and feel bad that I passed on some info that appears to be false. I didn't put enough miles on my new springs before the restoration to see how they perform over time. Let us know how the rearcing works out and if Moss give you any useful feedback.
Cheers,
John
Thanks for updating us on your findings. I'm sorry to hear that the quality isn't up to that of the originals and feel bad that I passed on some info that appears to be false. I didn't put enough miles on my new springs before the restoration to see how they perform over time. Let us know how the rearcing works out and if Moss give you any useful feedback.
Cheers,
John
Update from the Spring shop.
We added 3/4 of an inch to the arch. But the interesting thing is that the new Moss springs had no "set" between the leafs. As the shop guy explained it to me, adjacent leafs should NOT fit exactly flat to each other, but should actually have some arch between the two. That is called the "set". My new ones did not have any set. Anyway, he rearched the springs with set between the leafs (leaves??). The result raised the critical distance to 26 3/4 on one side and 26 7/8 on the other.
Keoke, it just doesn't seem reasonable to buy new springs and then have to alter them, but it is true, that is what I had to do.
We added 3/4 of an inch to the arch. But the interesting thing is that the new Moss springs had no "set" between the leafs. As the shop guy explained it to me, adjacent leafs should NOT fit exactly flat to each other, but should actually have some arch between the two. That is called the "set". My new ones did not have any set. Anyway, he rearched the springs with set between the leafs (leaves??). The result raised the critical distance to 26 3/4 on one side and 26 7/8 on the other.
Keoke, it just doesn't seem reasonable to buy new springs and then have to alter them, but it is true, that is what I had to do.
GregW
Yoda
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[ QUOTE ]
I Thought we went through this frustrating assignment just recently???.---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
[/ QUOTE ]
I think that was me with Moss springs that were too strong. I'm keeping the extra leaves I took off in case I have sudden sag issues (with the car). I did notice a "set" in the bottom leaf when I loosened the center retaining nut.
Hi Shorn,
Please let Moss know. When I called them recently about my problem, they said it was the first complaint they were aware of regarding rear springs. Sorry to hear about the damage this caused.
I Thought we went through this frustrating assignment just recently???.---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
[/ QUOTE ]
I think that was me with Moss springs that were too strong. I'm keeping the extra leaves I took off in case I have sudden sag issues (with the car). I did notice a "set" in the bottom leaf when I loosened the center retaining nut.
Hi Shorn,
Please let Moss know. When I called them recently about my problem, they said it was the first complaint they were aware of regarding rear springs. Sorry to hear about the damage this caused.
Offline
Hi Greg,
It looks like the debate will go on forever. I put on new Moss rear springs sometime ago & they are maybe a bit stiff if anything. Certainly no sag. Mine also had the "set" when I removed the center bolts to check. Maybe it's something like the springs for late Healeys, which are different, are sourced from a different manufacturer. There must be "some" explanation for the widely varying reports.
One of the "lucky" ones?
D
It looks like the debate will go on forever. I put on new Moss rear springs sometime ago & they are maybe a bit stiff if anything. Certainly no sag. Mine also had the "set" when I removed the center bolts to check. Maybe it's something like the springs for late Healeys, which are different, are sourced from a different manufacturer. There must be "some" explanation for the widely varying reports.
One of the "lucky" ones?
D
DerekJ
Luke Skywalker
Offline
Shorn
Let me come at this from a different angle - a non BJ8 owner.
Why do you want to raise the height. The Phase 1 BJ8 had normal springs but then the ride height was "improved" on the Phase 2 because of some perceived marketing need to make the ride softer and higher (to avoid breaking exhausts). Today this isn't really an issue for the type of driving most cars experinece and of course all us non phase 2 BJ8 guys are driving around with low exhausts etc - but without any problem.
Personally - and it is just MHO - if I had a BJ8 I would convert it back to the correct ride height of the phase 1 model because it looks better - that is how the car was really designed to look - not like the phase 2 which is a compromise.
Dennis Welch sells a spring set which does this but no doubt there are cheaper ways to achieve the same thing
Let me come at this from a different angle - a non BJ8 owner.
Why do you want to raise the height. The Phase 1 BJ8 had normal springs but then the ride height was "improved" on the Phase 2 because of some perceived marketing need to make the ride softer and higher (to avoid breaking exhausts). Today this isn't really an issue for the type of driving most cars experinece and of course all us non phase 2 BJ8 guys are driving around with low exhausts etc - but without any problem.
Personally - and it is just MHO - if I had a BJ8 I would convert it back to the correct ride height of the phase 1 model because it looks better - that is how the car was really designed to look - not like the phase 2 which is a compromise.
Dennis Welch sells a spring set which does this but no doubt there are cheaper ways to achieve the same thing
Derek,
My point was not to raise the rear of my phase 1 BJ8 above what it was designed to be, that being 27 inches from the ground to the bottom of the fender well at the fender well's highest point measured at the mid point of the tire or axle. It was to raise it close to the 27 inches as mine had sagged one inch on the passenge side and one 1/4 inches on the driver's side. The thought was that the original 40 year old springs has lost some of their arch in that length of time. Unfortunately, the new Moss springs initially raised the rear a very small amount and then settled so the car was actually lower than with the original springs, causing more tail dragging and resulting in the loss of the exhaust system requiring two new forward pipes and new mounts. I totally agree with you that the phase 2's look odd. But they are about 28 inches at that critical measuring point. I am not trying to do that, but rather to just get the car back to the height that it was at when it came out of the factory door.
My point was not to raise the rear of my phase 1 BJ8 above what it was designed to be, that being 27 inches from the ground to the bottom of the fender well at the fender well's highest point measured at the mid point of the tire or axle. It was to raise it close to the 27 inches as mine had sagged one inch on the passenge side and one 1/4 inches on the driver's side. The thought was that the original 40 year old springs has lost some of their arch in that length of time. Unfortunately, the new Moss springs initially raised the rear a very small amount and then settled so the car was actually lower than with the original springs, causing more tail dragging and resulting in the loss of the exhaust system requiring two new forward pipes and new mounts. I totally agree with you that the phase 2's look odd. But they are about 28 inches at that critical measuring point. I am not trying to do that, but rather to just get the car back to the height that it was at when it came out of the factory door.
John Loftus
Darth Vader
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
Why do you want to raise the height?
[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Derek,
It sounds like Skip just wanted to get back to the stock height of 27" (height of opening at wheel center). I think the Phase II is 28".
I wouldn't say we are all driving around with low exhausts and no problems. Maybe we have more speed bumps in the U.S.
and the grading from street into driveways, gas stations etc. is more abrupt than in France. I know I have plenty of exhaust scraps (with 27" ride height) and hear of others losing their exhausts pretty regularly. I think the increase in ride height was less marketing driven than a reaction to all the complaints documented in magazine test reports. I agree with you that the look of the phase II is compromised but it must come in handy to have a little more room under there.
Cheers,
John
Why do you want to raise the height?
[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Derek,
It sounds like Skip just wanted to get back to the stock height of 27" (height of opening at wheel center). I think the Phase II is 28".
I wouldn't say we are all driving around with low exhausts and no problems. Maybe we have more speed bumps in the U.S.
and the grading from street into driveways, gas stations etc. is more abrupt than in France. I know I have plenty of exhaust scraps (with 27" ride height) and hear of others losing their exhausts pretty regularly. I think the increase in ride height was less marketing driven than a reaction to all the complaints documented in magazine test reports. I agree with you that the look of the phase II is compromised but it must come in handy to have a little more room under there.
Cheers,
John