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mountainman
Jedi Trainee
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Can someone tell me why the passenger side leaf spring has two small extra plates on it?
Thanks Greg
Thanks Greg
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TR2/3/3A TR3 Rear Springs
- Thread starter mountainman
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Don Elliott
Obi Wan
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My 1958 TR3A had them on the passenger's side from new in 1958. When I put new springs on in 2000, I put the extra plats from the original springs onto the new ones which didn't have them. Bill Piggott's book says these were put on sometime during the TR3 production (or maybe very early TR3A) and they stopped putting them on during the late TR3A production. It seems that in England and other countries, they were on the left side (also the passenger's side). The reason for these has been debated before and some say it's to help level the TR when there is no passenger and/or when the road is crowned (sloped towards the ditch).
My photo is from 1988 when I was doing my restoration.
My photo is from 1988 when I was doing my restoration.
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Geo Hahn
Yoda
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Perhaps this is one of those counter-intuitive things -- adding that short leaf lowers the body on the side it is on.
It works like a spacer that has the effect of raising the axle relative to the spring which is the same thing as lowering the body relative to the tires. Thus, an added leaf on the RH side (passenger in a LHD) would counter the heavy driver &/or the lefthand sag that sometimes develops over the years.
I may try this on my TR4 as the droop is noticeable when I'm in the seat.
It works like a spacer that has the effect of raising the axle relative to the spring which is the same thing as lowering the body relative to the tires. Thus, an added leaf on the RH side (passenger in a LHD) would counter the heavy driver &/or the lefthand sag that sometimes develops over the years.
I may try this on my TR4 as the droop is noticeable when I'm in the seat.
OP
mountainman
Jedi Trainee
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Thanks Don, I feel better now knowing that the extra plates are suppose to be there.
Greg
Greg
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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I can't quote the reference offhand, but I have read that there was a racing class where the rules stated the car had to sit level "as raced". In order to sit level without a passenger, the spacer was added to the passenger side. The change can be seen in the SPC, early rear springs were the same part number while the later ones had different part numbers for the passenger side. The only difference was the addition of the spacer(s). But the apparently original springs on TS39781LO had only one spacer instead of two, so perhaps they were added "as needed" or something like that.Don Elliott said:
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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Yup, still out on the road with only occasional Inet access. Hopefully back next week. Sis' wedding went perfectly and no one has heard from her or my new B-I-L since (which is as it should be).DNK said:
With luck, we'll be in Carlsbad Caverns in a few hours.