TR2/3/3A tr3 leaf spring

[sp53]

Does anybody know which side of the car the leaf spring with the extra little leaf spacer goes on a tr3? Is it the driver or the passenger?

Sp53

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi,

The leaf with the spacer goes on the passenger side. I think it's intended to level the car when only a driver is aboard.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[sp53]

Hi Allan and thanks, I could not make any sense of it. I first thought it went on the passenger side then I thought that perhaps it holds the driver’s side up so that when the driver sits down it would be level. Then after a while, I thought, well if it was on the passenger side and the driver set down then the passenger side would be too high. Confusing. I am going to go with your suggestion.

sp53

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi again,

Your thinking is correct... up to a point.

Take a look at the way the spring installs... below the axle. Because of that a spacer *lowers* the passenger's side slightly, it doesn't raise it. So that makes the driver's side slightly higher to compensate for typical weight distribution. Over time, springs will "settle" a little and should give a level ride.

So, essentially the spacer is doing just what you described. But instead of the spring-above-the-axle arrangement we are more used to seeing, where spacers would increase ride height, the TR's spring-below-the-axle uses spacers to decrease the car's overall ride height.

Racers find it pretty easy to modify and lower the rear of the live axle TRs using different spacers. But some use pretty questionable methods... I found a pair of pine 2x4s had been used to lower my TR4, when I first bought it! That made me worry about termites, dry rot, etc. I think aluminum or steel might be a better material!

Oh, and the optional heavy duty "competition" leaf springs used on early TR4 do not use a spacer, are the same both sides. These are still available from some of the TR vendors, but are *very* stiff and will rattle your teeth! (Without comparing part numbers in the various catalogs, I'm not certain if the same leaf springs were used on the TR2/3, since they are slightly lighter weight cars than TR4.)

By the way, I've occasionally heard that the spacer might have had another purpose, to correct for bump steer. It's true that late TR4 and TR4A solid axle use a much flatter spring and a very tall spacer, and no longer have the difference from side-to-side. But, I don't know that the 1/4 or 1/2" spacer used on TR2/3/4 passenger side would make a huge difference.

 

[sp53]

Thanks Allan that turned the whole thing ride side up and upside down. Now I set it.
sp53

 

[bluemiata90]

I know my spring with the additional spacer came off the passengers side, but I asked this same question several months ago and was told the extra spacer was installed on the passengers side for left hand steering. I don't know if that was true, but I did reinstall it on the drivers side as suggested by several people. I don't really know if that little of a spacer will make any great noticable difference and I haven't gotten my TR3 all together yet, but I hope I installed it on the correct side. Good Luck

 

[Alan_Myers]

[ QUOTE ]
I know my spring with the additional spacer came off the passengers side, but I asked this same question several months ago and was told the extra spacer was installed on the passengers side for left hand steering. I don't know if that was true, but I did reinstall it on the drivers side as suggested by several people. I don't really know if that little of a spacer will make any great noticable difference and I haven't gotten my TR3 all together yet, but I hope I installed it on the correct side. Good Luck

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi again,

I just checked my TR3 parts manual and it appears that the passenger side spring with spacer was fitted beginning with TS26904. Prior to that, both spring part numbers are the same. After that, the driver's side spring part number stayed the same, but a different part number (no doubt with the spacer now added) was specified for the passenger side.

Logically, the lowering spacer would be installed on the passenger side of the car, no matter what side the steering wheel is on.

However, for some reason, according to the service manual and spare parts catalog, RHD TR4 use no spacer on either spring. Both rear springs are the same and are interchangeable.

Only LHD TR4 were fitted with the spacer on the passenger side. Maybe drivers in the UK weigh less than drivers in the US and other LHD markets. Or, maybe the passengers tend to be heavier. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

IN the case of TR3, the catalog specifies spring without spacer on the driver's side, spring with the lowering spacer on the passenger's side of the car, for cars after TS26904.

In other words, I'm sorry to tell you, if your steering wheel is on LH side of the car (i.e., US spec), the leaf spring with the spacer should be on the opposite or RH/passenger side of the car. Not on the driver's side.

*If* the spring with the lowering spacer is fitted on the driver's side, someone driving behind you might think there's an efelump at the wheel of the car. The car will appear to be sagging a little on the LH side. This might especially be true when you are driving without a passenger and if reusing old leaf springs that have settled a little and lost some of their original arc. It's also possible more bump steer might be noticed during "spirited" driving.

An exception is heavy duty/competition springs for TR4, which use no lowering spacer on either side, whether the car is LHD or RHD.

Incidentally, I just compared TR3 and TR4 leaf spring part numbers with each other and they *are* different. I suspected they would be, since TR3 are lighter than TR4, particularly in the rear.

And, in case it helps, the D-washer mentioned in my response to the separate question about fitting the spring is part #102690 (while I've got my TR2/3 spare parts catalog out).

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[Don Elliott]

My TR3A (TS 27489 LO) came with the spacer on the passenger's side. At 130,000 miles from new, when I was driving home from VTR in 2000 in Portland Oregon, I was 7 miles from home when the RHS rear leaf spring broke. I limped the rest of the way home. That trip was 7250 miles and I'm glad it broke when it did - and not earlier. The replacement springs came with no spacer leaf, so I transferred it from the original spring to the new one for the passenger's side.

For RH drive TRs, I always thought that the extra leaf spacer would be on the LHS - still the passenger's side.

If they didn't, perhaps it's because there is less of a crown on the paved roads in England.

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthreads/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/1919/ppuser/4127

 

[jayhawk]

Since we're on the topic, how much arch should one see in the leaf springs and how does one know when to replace them? Mine are looking kinda sad but still have some arch to them. If they're not rusty, what are the options for support, "rebuilding" or replacement?

 

[Don Elliott]

When mine broke, I took it out and found that 2 of the leaves had broken previously. The 2 that had just broken showed shiny crystaline fractures while the older 2 breaks were rusty on the faces where they had broken earlier. I would assume that they broke about 2 years before because I had an unexplainable sashaying of the RHS rear when I would drive through a few successive dips in the asphalt road. The leaves were about half the thickness where they were rubbing on the next shorter leaf in the assembly.

Only one spring had broken, but I replaced both. I could never get the bolts for front ends of the rear leaf springs out through the frame so I removed the rear bumperettes and the bolts holding the body to the frame (easy because I used all stainless nuts and bolts 10 years earlier) and then I jacked up the body with my rolling jack high enough at the rear which gave me space to slide off the leaf springs from those *^#&^>.. rusted-in bolts.

 

[TRTEL]

This probably won't help anybody, but I do remember we had some sort of special slide hammer attachment to grab onto a slightly long grade 8 bolt (5/16's?) that would thread into the pin. Along with WD40 and elbow grease.
Tom Lains

 

[Alan_Myers]

[ QUOTE ]
Since we're on the topic, how much arch should one see in the leaf springs and how does one know when to replace them? Mine are looking kinda sad but still have some arch to them. If they're not rusty, what are the options for support, "rebuilding" or replacement?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi,

That's a little difficult to say... there might be specs in the TR3 service manual. However, generally speaking Triumph aren't hard on springs and don't tend to sag. The cars just aren't all that heavy. The only thing to watch out for is wear and tear as some others noted. You can do a lot to help the springs work better and last longer by spraying or brushing some old motor oil on them.

Replacement springs seem to be pretty widely avail. for TR4, I can't say for sure about TR3. Also, as long as they are in reasonable shape, older leaf springs that have gone a bit flat can be re-arched.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[jayhawk]

Thanks, Alan-- I've got a flopping shock absorber on the passenger side that I have to pull one of these days anyway so may take the leaf spring off at that time. We used to have a good place here in town that services springs and as I remember, used to add a "booster" leaf as an option too. I guess I'll have them take a look.

 

[Alan_Myers]

[ QUOTE ]
We used to have a good place here in town that services springs and as I remember, used to add a "booster" leaf as an option too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi again,

If you are looking to go to a slightly stronger spring, early TR4 might be an option. The arch is about the same as TR3 (before TR4 #CT23382) and I would bet the spring rate is just slightly higher for the heavier car.

I personaolly haven't tried this yet... but happen to have a pair of original TR4 leaf springs stashed away that just might find their way onto my TR3A "Beta", if and when I get around to that particular project.