Ride height for a traveller

[dave b]

After a somewhat solid ride with a lot of deflections from strong gusts of wind while driving at speed on the M42. I decide to check my ride heights to see if I need to adjust any thing.

The measurements are:
Nearside Lower trunnion (link) = 8"
Nearside centre of front torsion bar = 9 1/2"
Nearside centre of rear torsion bar = 8 3/4"
Offside Lower trunnion (link) = 8"
Offside entre of front torsion bar = 9 1/2"
Offside centre of rear torsion bar = 9 1/4"

Nearside centre front spring anchorage = 9 1/4"
Nearside centre body rear spring anchorage = 14 1/2"
Nearside centre of bolt on rear spring = 12 1/4"
Offside centre front spring anchorage = 8 3/4"
Offside centre body rear spring anchorage = 13 1/4"
Offside centre of bolt on rear spring = 11"

From looking at the workshop manual the measurements should be:
Nearside centre of front torsion bar = 10 11/16"
Nearside centre of rear torsion bar = 10 11/16"
Offside entre of front torsion bar = 10 11/16"
Offside centre of rear torsion bar = 10 11/16"

Nearside centre front spring anchorage = 10 9/16"
Nearside centre body rear spring anchorage = 15 7/16"
Offside centre front spring anchorage = 10 9/16"
Offside centre body rear spring anchorage = 15 7/16"

So I am down by 1" on the front and have a twist downwards towards my offside of 3/4" but even so the back should come up by 1 1/2" any way. The thing is I use radial tyres not crossplys so what should the ride hights be for radial tyres?

It looks like some reconstruction of the rear is needed, but what do I need to do to rase the back end to the correct height?

For info, back in the mid 1980's I replaced the rear wood and had the rear rebuilt, so any referance points have long since gone.

Dave Bennett

[bmcecosse]

So lift the front end one spline on the T bars - and see how that sits. The Driver side always ends up lower - there is always a Driver on board and so that side settles more. At the rear - either new springs, or fit longer rear hangers. eg 1" longer raises the car 1/2". Make sure all bump and rebound stops are present and correct - and drain/refill the dampers with SAE 40 oil.. The ride will be transformed!

[mike.perry]

If you can get your hand in sideways between the front wheel arch and the top of the tyre that is near enough.
There is no adjustment at the back other than having the correct Traveller springs in good condition and the bushes in good order.
------------Depends on width of radials.

[dave b]

I have now dismantled the rear suspension to try and check what was going on. The polyurathane bushes are fine, even after 4 years of heavy use (long trips with a 35lb canoe on top + gear) but I think that I may have come across a reason for the ride hight differance. One spring is flatter by 1 1/2", propably due to hitting a pot hole while fully laden. But this was only obvious by laying the road springs side by side.

I have just bought some more springs, and interestingly they look tobe about 1" shorter than the old ones.

I will see how things look once every thing is re assembled, but hopefully there will be a greater clearance between the spring and the body.

[bmcecosse]

Let us know how it goes - some new springs have been reported to go flat very quickly......