Replacing leaf springs

Post by **alainmoran** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 8:41 pm

Hia all,

I'm just rebuilding my 2 Door at the moment after a small accident with a VW golf

and I've noticed that the driver's side leaf-springs are almost paralell to the road (there is no curvature whatsoever in them).

My question is, should I replace both sets at the same time ... it would seem to make sense to, but since the other side seems OK, would I be wasting my time & money?

Also, do you have any tips to avoid any problems, what other parts should i be looking at replacing at the same time, and I notce that ESM have the U-Bolts listed separately to the springs ... do I need to buy and fit these myself?

Which leads to an interesting point ... the side which is down, also has a sheared U-Bolt, could this be the cause of my problems and not just the springs flattening over time?

Thanks

Alain.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 10:26 pm

If 1 U-bolt is sheared, you want to replace the lot just to be safe. (They are seperate from the springs)
if 1 leaf spring is flatter then the other this means the car will be leaning diagonally. That can be caused by a weak rear spring or an incorrect setting at the front suspension.

As for replacing both springs a t a time - it is normally recommended but a lot of people overlook it. If you end up with different spring rates it will make the car less controllable on bumpy country roads although the dampers may have a bigger effect (if they work) than the saloon rear spring, as the rear suspension travel is small.

Post by **alainmoran** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 11:08 pm

Interesting that you should mention incorrectly set front suspension, since I have recently adjusted the heights there ... to the point of taking both torsion bars completely off to split the splines so that I could move them round by another notch!

The front is level though, they both have about an inch and a quarter between the hights measured at the inner and outer ends of the wishbone ... maybe closer to an inch and a half ... I'll have to re-measure, I set them high originally assuming that they would settle a little within a few days to the correct height.

Maybe my problem doesnt lie in the back-end after all?

Post by **Kevin** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 11:44 pm

I've noticed that the driver's side leaf-springs are almost paralell to the road (there is no curvature whatsoever in them).

Just like mine

My question is, should I replace both sets at the same time ... it would seem to make sense to, but since the other side seems OK, would I be wasting my time & money?

I am going to replace the whole lot as I dont know how old the other one is and it does not look recent and as Ray said suspension should always be treated as pairs, at the moment Bull Motif are doing the whole lot (both sides) for under £100, also a snapped `U` bolt is not a good thing to be driving around with.

Post by **ColinP** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:21 am

And there's an excellent short video on how to do it, posted by pyoor_Kate,
featuring Nikki & Hebe!

Well worth the download.

Colin

Post by **Pyoor_Kate** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:43 am

Heh, thanks

Basically, it's recommended that you replace both springs at the same time; if everything comes undone it's a nice easy job (on my recently restored mog, it took about 3 hours - with just a haynes manual and me by myself).

If as is more common the bolts and nuts are rusted together, the shackles don't want to come out, and the little plate behind the front shackle doesn't want to come off then it's a long, tedious job. Not hard. Just long and tedious.

As for advice: Replace everything, it makes life so much easier, and anything salvagable afterwards you can keep as spares... If it's not been rebuilt recently you'll probably want new metal plates that go 'twixt spring-rubbers and metal, new U bolts (then you can just cut the evil things off with an angle grinder), new front shackle... We saved both rear shackles (a week or two of regular sprays with penetrating oil), but again it might be easier to just get replacements. Also, if they've not been done for a long time their condition might be questionable.

If you're going to get polybushes, do it at the same time

I got new nuts all-round (oooh, matron!), which again, makes life easier. If you've got time, it's probably a nice idea to wirebrush and paint everything before reassembly.

And remember to take that little teeny plate off from behind the front shackle, on my car it didn't need it which is why we didn't do it initally on Nikki's car, it was only after Ray said "you need to take it off" that we did and uh, well, it didn't help at first, but I suspect we'd never have got the suspension apart otherwise.

Oh, and remember to not tighten up your bushes until the car's sat back on the ground, otherwise they'll wear out prematurely (so I'm told).

Post by **Gareth** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 12:14 pm

I'll second that the video is worth the download (if you're on broadband). It's very good, and frankly, very funny. ;) Nice job, girls!

Post by **ColinP** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 12:31 pm

Hi,
last thought - a friend recommends buying a tin of copper grease and using it on all the nuts & bolts that you replace (but careful with the bushes!).
He swears it makes getting them off again really easy. I've bought a tin (500g for about £5), and I'll report back in 10 years.

Colin

Post by **Kevin** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 1:53 pm

He swears it makes getting them off again really easy.

Been using it for years and it does make a difference.

Post by **Cam** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 2:01 pm

Yep, it's pretty good stuff. I use it a lot. It's especially good on torsion bar splines!

Post by **57traveller** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 2:29 pm

Replacement of leaf springs is featured in the latest edition of Minor Matters.

Post by **alainmoran** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 4:32 pm

Oooh .. I'll dig out Minor Matters as soon as I get home!

Copper Ease ... yeah, you should see the torsion-bar splines, I dont think I could possibly get any more on there if I tried!! (Hey, I dont want to have to take those chuffers off again if I dont have to!)

U-Bolts ... I might be talking about a different thing then, the ones I'm talking about go around the leaves, binding them to each other ... the shearing has occured at the pin which locates them along the length, the bolt itself is still intact, but loose ... Are these structural then? ... I hope I've not done any lasting damage, I've been driving the car for at least 6 months with it in that state!!

Post by **Gareth** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 4:34 pm

The U-bolts are the big jobbies which hold the axle, bump stop rubbers, and springs together. Usually connected with four globules of rust masquerading as nuts underneath the spring.

Post by **Pyoor_Kate** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 4:44 pm

Incidentally, the video are here now: http://pyoor.org/deed/video.shtml

Post by **alainmoran** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 5:00 pm

We are definitley talking about different parts then ... thank gawd for that! The ones I'm talking about are part of the leaf-springs themselves.

Thanks Pyoor_Kate ... I'll download that when I get home!