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TR2/3/3A TR-3A Rear Leaf Spring Broken

Royal_58

Senior Member
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Out driving last week and I broke a leaf spring on the right rear. The top bar sheared about 3 to 4 inches back from the forward attach point. It broke clean and straight across and makes a heck of a racket and handling is poor.

I'm know nothing about suspension and handling but need suggestions on repairing the problem. If I can invest a few more bucks and improve handling from standard I'm willing to do that.

I'm looking at replacing both rear springs and wonder if the Moss replacement # 851-195 is adequate or is it better to upgrade to the 851-180 "competition" spring for $80 more. I do like to drive it a vigorously.

I will also be replacing the bush set in the front and rear with urethane and silent block products. What is the rear axle locator kit 674-478 about and what effect will it have on ride, handling? Is it worth $80?

Is there a better source for suspension parts? I'm shopping between TRF, Moss, and Victoria British currently.
 

TR3driver

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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Royal_58 said:
I'm looking at replacing both rear springs and wonder if the Moss replacement # 851-195 is adequate or is it better to upgrade to the 851-180 "competition" spring for $80 more. I do like to drive it a vigorously.
Well, did the stock rear suspension bottom out frequently when you were driving "vigorously"? If so, the "competition" spring (which just has a higher spring rate) might be an improvement. Or it might be that your old springs were just sagged and new stock springs would do just as well.

Stiffer springs in the rear will also decrease the roll rate, making it easier to lift a tire in hard corners.

Bottom line, I'll be ordering stock rate springs for my TR3.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]What is the rear axle locator kit 674-478 about and what effect will it have on ride, handling? Is it worth $80?
[/QUOTE]
It's basically an even firmer version of the rear bushings than the urethane. I don't have any experience with them, but my guess is that you won't see a lot of difference in either handling or ride; unless perhaps you're running wide tires that hit the fenders in really hard turns. I was having that problem on my (now wrecked) TR3A, but as near as I could tell, most of the deflection was in the springs themselves rather than in the rear bushings. And since I don't have the TR3 back to the same level of preparation yet, it hasn't been an issue. If it does, I'll probably go back to my previous plan of fabricating a Watts linkage and keep the bushings soft.

One suggestion you might consider is to disassemble the new springs and insert .005" UHMW plastic between the leaves. It substantially reduces friction between the leaves, giving both a softer ride and some improvement in handling on very rough roads.
 

sp53

Yoda
Country flag
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Do not be surprised if you have to lift the rear of the body off the frame to swap out the leaf springs. The bolt towards the front is long and basically trapped between the body and the frame. It is possible to remove the bolt, but often they are rusted solid where the go through the frame. So at the end of the day, it is often better to remove the nut lift the tub and leave the bolt in place and use the old bolt. The tub comes lose a lot easier than it sounds. I have had the bolt just come right out before, and I have had the tub completely off and pounded the bolt out with a very large BFH with much effort.
 

TR3driver

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've always been able to get those pins out using a length of all-thread and an assortment of spacers as a puller. Start by soaking it in PB Blaster for a week or more, then cleaning out the threads in the head of the pin with a bottoming tap. Probably best to pick up some high-tensile threaded rod
https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-threaded-rods/=hted25
but the first time I just used ordinary rod from the local hardware store, and replaced it when the threads got to looking bad. You can also pick up some heavy "setup" washers from MMC.

Make sure your first spacer fits over both the head of the pin, and the tab on the frame that keeps the pin from turning. There isn't room to do it in one pull, so you'll have to start with a short stack of spacers, and then add more as the pin comes out.
 
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