Rear Springs for traveller needed Which supplier Bull or ESM

[bassman1]

It never rains but boy does it pour , latest thing to go belly up apart from the engine, clutch ,prop uj, is my nearside rear spring so i will have to raid the money tree in my back garden which trust me is looking pretty barren at the moment , anyone out there with info or good experience of either or any other suppliers of rear spring kits ? Bull motif seem reasonable and offer a mmoc discount too , i'd just like feedback from other recent spring failure victims if there are any before i part with cash, as i've heard of some poor quality probs regarding modern spring replacements , the car is only a good everyday car i no longer have a bottomless wallet so handmade bespoke spring co ltd stuff is off limits ta in advance

[bmcecosse]

I suspect they all come from the same source - so just go with whoever offers the best price - including delivery. Also make sure the bump stops are present and correct - and while down there - drain and refill the dampers with sae 40 engine oil. May as well put polyurethane bushes in the new springs while doing the job.......

[bassman1]

got new bump stops fitted ,good advice about the dampers funnily enough i read your reply to someone else re this matter sae 50 if available even better ! so i'll do that at the same time , been advised Rossendale Springs are very good , a lot will depend upon the cost , i dont want to be leaving the engine for too long i was hoping to get it run in within the next week or so , but the broken spring is a concern , it seems stable at the moment but i dont want to take too many risks with it , having said that i'm not sure how long its been broken for must be at least six to eight weeks since i checked them last
Poly bushes ? i thought people were agin them as they wear quickly and give a harder ride ?

[samuria]

why not look for a good used one....
until the the money tree grows some new notes....

[bmcecosse]

Poly bushes don't 'wear quickly' - and if the correct 'road' spec bushes are used, the ride won't be unduly harsh. Do (white) grease them on assembly - and only tighten up all the fixings when the weight is on the suspension.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Is it the top leaf spring that has broken? Obviously if it is you will have to replace or take the top leaf off a second hand spring and fit, if its a lower spring its not such a major emergency to replace. I had a broken spring in the middle of my blue saloon for over a year. Look up springs manufacturers in you local area, there is one in Belfast who refurbishes springs and replaced a broken leaf in my lowlights for £25.

[bassman1]

yeah its the top nearside leaf on the front end just before the strap that holds them all together , pig ! the rest of the spring is pretty rusted up i think it would be so much trouble to split the spring and add a s/h or new single leaf and rebuild , probably end up costing more in the long run , i'll check it out though , i tried a secondhand set of springs on my rover p5b saloon many years ago , they lasted about 6 months i then had the hassle of doing the job again with new springs , its kind of put me off secondhand a bit , at the end of the day beggars cant be chosers, if i can raise the filthy lucre i'll go with new if not i'll be skulking around in the middle of the night with a set of spanners ......only joking and that brings me onto my next message re suitable thief deterrent .

[bmcecosse]

Minor spring is an easy swap (certainly compared to a Rover, I imagine) so if a used spring comes along locally - grab it! Running with a broken top leaf is a no-no - the axle is not controlled and will be crabbing......and could let go completely under braking. Don't do it!

[bassman1]

yup the rover was a brute , not difficult just bloody hard work single handed , pretty heavy axle and spring when separate combined it was a plethora of trolley and scissor jacks and pot stands and sweat , the hardest bit was getting the new rubbers to fit i had to use a bloody big vice not having a press !and the springs were slightly twisted under slack and i had real problems getting the retaining bolts through ...its all coming back like a nightmare !!! great springs though i had them made by a commercial vehicle spring manufacturer the name i cant remember and i think they have gone now , i still have the invoice in my collection somewhere the car stood for over ten years after i had fitted them and they are still at the correct height.re traveller tbh i must have been damned lucky because i have probably done up to 600 miles on the broken spring and if you know the coast road near southport then you'll know just how lucky i wonder if the axle possibly not sitting square under load is causing the vibration i thought was the prop ? there is only a small gap at the break will find out soon enough !

[bmcecosse]

Try changing a spring on Morayshire VVVVVVVV - not that IS heavy work!

[bassman1]

offending spring , this is with the weight of the car on the rear axle stands its still supporting the car as the leaf underneath is still ok but its not safe enough to rally with or donut the local mc donalds car park

[MarkyB]

Hanging on by it's eye brows!
I wouldn't go anywhere with it like that.

[bassman1]

nope i'm not going to risk it , its ok in that position but if the axle was dropped and body lifted it would be a whole new bag of marbles , i'm watching a secondhand pair on ebay one is good the other looks a bit iffy in that some of the leaves seem a bit apart so its possibly knackered , i'll just swap the top leaf and clean up mine at least it should stay pretty level that way.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I had this happen on the way to the National Rally one year, as we drove off the boat at Birkenhead there was a noise as we went onto the ramp. Didnt think much of it at the time. So out onto the motorway up to 50mph and I wondered why the car was snaking a bit, complained bitterly about 'bl@@dy English motorways, worn away with lorries' and then a bit of brakes smell. Decided to stop at the next services to check, only to find the drivers side wheel was sitting about 1 1/2' further back than it should and it was pulling the handbrake on......

So the whole weight of the car was on the clamp that holds the springs together, thank goodness it hadnt fell off at some time as the newer ones do. Any way after a few frantice phones calls we found a restorer within about 20 miles and decided as we had already done 50 miles we would nurse it the rest of the way, though no on the motorway. Arrived at the guys who had the ramp cleared, a saloon spring already taken apart to use the top leaf and within about an hour he had us driving up the road again!! Glad minors are so simple

[Matt]

I wouldn't think there is anything to choose between the springs from the 2 sources - and I haven't heard that there are iffy ones about in the last few years. Bull Motif are generally slightly cheaper, but I have been happy with the service I have got from ESM and use them for almost everything

But do look at spring manufacturers, there is a company called midland road springs, and plenty of others who may make up what you want, and are likely to last better than off the shelf items.

[bmcecosse]

If you turned the spring round - it wouldn't allow the axle to crab and would be a handy 'emergency' tip to remember.

[bassman1]

Thanks Matt , that is also very helpful and the sort of info i like to get , the only way of knowing is hard evidence from users / purchasers of parts i know some of the facsimile parts aren't as good as the originals , but better those than the cars going to rot in garages ,for the GB made springs i have researched Jones springs in Darlaston to be the keenest on price ,and the difference between the lowest and highest quote i got was £78 inc vat with the most expensive being £300inc vat for a pair, with a 7 days manufacture time on both.All of the GB manufacturers said that the india made springs were from poor steel and did not last long but they wouldn't say how recent their info was on that , maybe recent manufacturing and supply have improved ,bull motiff, esm and the others aren't going to be happy with spring returns after 6 months without doing something about it i would have thought ,And as with everything we have to buy for our cars , one mans meat is another mans poison, i've had a good results with stuff that other people have said was pants, and i've found some of the info on our message boards can be 1/ out of date 2/surrounded by myth and folklore or 3/ weighted in favour of he who shouts loudest not necessarily he who has most experience of recently fitting said items. it might be of interst to have a section on the messageboard for road test results of different products so that a new part can be critiqued when purchased and then a 'report back ' a few months on so as to let us know any fitting or failing problems , that way we wouldn't have to do a search and hope to find a recent thread on say a replacement gearbox, as someone who had fitted a recon could comment , i'm not suggesting that suppliers names are posted on the thread , that could be done via personal message. unless something dangerous needs to be named and shamed, just a thought .

[MarkyB]

Good point, well made.
There have been bad batches of things like condensers and brake light switches, it's not in anyone's interest, ours or the suppliers for these not to be picked up and rectified ASAP.