Ride height on early cars

[paulheritage]

Need some help from fellow early 4-speeders.

I've rebuilt my front suspension a couple of times with new springs and front sits too high and trying to work out if the issue is modern springs or not.

Can anyone with an early 4-speed car with standard suspension and wheels/tyres measure the floor the wheel arch distance at the front and rear please.

My '76 car has had the whole running gear replaced and rear sits about 590mm and the front 630mm and is nose light. Have changed the front springs and still the same. Will be putting some old, original springs back on to see what happens in the mean time but seems the rear is lower than expected and the front higher.

BTW I have roller bearings but should only make a few mm difference.

Cheers.

Cheers Paul,

1976 TR7 2.0 FHC, ACG 2367 - Carmine Red (on the road)
1980 TR7V8 3.9 DHC, Orient Blue (on the road)
1977 TR7V8 4.0 FHC rally car, ACG 35005 - Tahiti Blue (on the road)
1976 TR7 2.0 FHC, ACG 3115 - Java Green (now sold)

www.TR7.co.uk

[HowardB]

I had an issue with my replacement rear springs. They were the correct length but when installed the back of the car was lower than the front. I changed them and all was well, but talking to Simon from Robsport he can get stiffer springs made if you need.

(Its an 81 DHC unlike yours)

[paulheritage]

Today I replaced the new front springs with a pair of old original springs and the car now sits 600mm at the rear (floor to wheel arch), 610-615mm front.

Does this compare similarly to other early cars?

Cheers Paul,

1976 TR7 2.0 FHC, ACG 2367 - Carmine Red (on the road)
1980 TR7V8 3.9 DHC, Orient Blue (on the road)
1977 TR7V8 4.0 FHC rally car, ACG 35005 - Tahiti Blue (on the road)
1976 TR7 2.0 FHC, ACG 3115 - Java Green (now sold)

www.TR7.co.uk

[moodyblue]

I think early 4 speed springs are available in the USA, but this is a real pain for owners of all wedges, the springs available are not correct. Some list the springs as standard and give them the original part numbers, the front springs, for example are part No: GSV1029. The problem is that, compared with the original ones, these springs have too many coils so they are not correct. If you wanted to uprate the suspension the only springs available at a sensible price in the UK are poor quality, shorter than standard and will sag even further over time. They are also rated at 200lb which for many is too harsh a ride for standard road use. My project has been on hold for far too long because of issues with bushes and springs. It looks like I'll have to have some specially made at standard height with just a small increase in rating.

[Chris Turner]

Paul,just measured my newly rebuilt Sprint and it is 620mm rear 610mm front. The car looks level but think it will settle after a few miles.

www.triumphtrs.co.uk
THE Coca Cola car
The C+C Conversions rally car JDG 941V
TR7 Sprint SJW 530S on the road for the 1st time since 1984
TR7 Sprint SJW 539S

[TR Tony]

I have a note from something I read a few years ago on another forum that says front 610mm & rear 635mm, these figures apparently came from the TR7 homologation papers.

EDIT - just found my copy of that homologation paper, it is 609.6mm (24") at the front & 635mm (25") at the back, measured from the ground to the highest part of the of the wheel arch curve.

Tony

<font size="1">1981 TR7 FHC Cavalry Blue
1980 TR7V8 DHC Jaguar Regency Red - sadly sold!
1977 TR8 FHC EFI Factory development car Inca Yellow</font id="size1">

[Hasbeen]

My current car, which had been used for club competition was sitting 1.3" too high at the back, but correct at the front when I bought it.

The springs appeared stock, with the correct free height, wire diameter, number of coils, paint & stripe.

I tried the springs from my spares car, & a set from our Triumph guru, out of a 120.000 kilometer car he was wrecking, all with the same result.

I had this car, my previous 7, the 8 & the spares cars here to compare & I, my son, & a couple of knowledgeable friends all looked, but could find no reason why this car should ride high. I did not have both cars elevated simultaneously, or crawl around with calipers.

I had one set of these stock springs retempered & reset 1.1" lower free length. They were too short, & could have fallen out if the thing got airborne.

I then had another pair of stock springs retempered 13/16", [0.8125"] shorter free length, which brought the back down to almost correct ride height.

I have always planned, [yes another gunna do] to check this out properly, but with my heavier roll bars, all new medium polly bushes, & heavy duty shocks, the thing handles beautifully on the road, so I've never got around to it.

I did read somewhere that Triumph raised the height of 7s for the US market at some stage. I think here in Oz we got sent whatever they were overstocked with, so different ride heights may have been sold here.

The PO had about 6 or 7 of the things & probably mixed & matched parts, so this one could have anything in it.

Here in Oz, where things don't rust too much, we take existing springs to a spring works to get them reset or retempered if they have sagged. At least this way, you know tour starting point, & if you know where you want to go, you are unlikely to have something you didn't want.

If it was me, I'd be looking for a spring works, to reset your original springs.

Hasbeen

[Chris Turner]

Perhaps the homologation figures are slightly higher than normal to give more clearance in the forests. My Sprint has brand new standard suspension so would imagine its pretty near.
Another point to remember is that there are different rates of standard springs, some are made for cars with aircon.

www.triumphtrs.co.uk
THE Coca Cola car
The C+C Conversions rally car JDG 941V
TR7 Sprint SJW 530S on the road for the 1st time since 1984
TR7 Sprint SJW 539S

[Workshop Help]

Okay, I worked up the gumption to meander out to the machine shed with my trusty, rusty tape measure in hand.

On my 1976 TR7 with the original factory springs, I see 23 5/16" at the top of the front arch of the wheel opening. On the rear, I observe an even 24" at the top of the wheel opening arch.

The tires are 185-70 x 13's in place of the stock 175-70 x 13's, with 30.5 lbs of air pressure in them. The gearbox is the LT77 instead of the original 4 speed. All things considered, the extra gearbox weight cancels out the extra height of the tires.

As for the metric conversion, I'll leave those computations for you as I've yet to have the morning coffee.

Mildred Hargis

[FI Spyder]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Chris Turner</i>


Another point to remember is that there are different rates of standard springs, some are made for cars with aircon.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My car sat low in front scraping every speed bump (sleeping policeman) on the cat cage. I replaced the front springs with standard ones from (I can't remember where off hand, probably VB). This raised it up to correct height and as with Hasbeen am happy with handling etc. It does still have the A/C that came standard with it to load it down a bit.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[FI Spyder]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Hasbeen</i>


I did read somewhere that Triumph raised the height of 7s for the US market at some stage. I think here in Oz we got sent whatever they were overstocked with, so different ride heights may have been sold here.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">


Actually I've read the reverse was true in the "Untold Story". At the introduction of the TR7 in the States the press made note that the back end looked jacked up and you could see right through the rear wheel wells to the other side. They added some metal to the wheel wells to block that and lowered the suspension 1" (at least at the back). I don't know (it didn't say) at what point this happened but I'm pretty sure it was early on. Then you had cars with A/C, cars without, special spring rates for these (or not), springs mixed up (put on wrong cars), springs with varying spring rates (manufacturing tolerances), who knows what spring rates being sold now. The answer might be to get them retempered, more easily done in Australia where they have all these types of shops and expertise (my theory is because they are off in the corner somewhere around where MH370 crashed) rather than N/A where the mindset is buy new and throw the old out (at least to the metal recyclers) except in larger centers if you can find them.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[paulheritage]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Chris Turner</i>

Paul,just measured my newly rebuilt Sprint and it is 620mm rear 610mm front. The car looks level but think it will settle after a few miles.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hi Chris,

Did you use new modern springs or new old stock? If new modern ones where did you purchase them from?

I've tried 4 new 'standard' springs and all too high and didn't want to wait a few months to see if they settled so just stripped and re-painted some old ones but make it sit about right again. Would ideally like to put brand new ones on again but need to be sure they're the correct spec.

Cheers.



Cheers Paul,

1976 TR7 2.0 FHC, ACG 2367 - Carmine Red (on the road)
1980 TR7V8 3.9 DHC, Orient Blue (on the road)
1977 TR7V8 4.0 FHC rally car, ACG 35005 - Tahiti Blue (on the road)
1976 TR7 2.0 FHC, ACG 3115 - Java Green (now sold)

www.TR7.co.uk

[Chris Turner]

Paul,a few years ago I bought some new standard springs. I wasn't happy with them so now I have old ones powder coated. The only problem is, don't use springs from a very early car as they make the car stand higher. I also find the uprated springs sold by S+S and Robsport are very good, I have them on my Coke car.

www.triumphtrs.co.uk
THE Coca Cola car
The C+C Conversions rally car JDG 941V
TR7 Sprint SJW 530S on the road for the 1st time since 1984
TR7 Sprint SJW 539S

[nick]

My FHC is 3/4 higher than my DHC as measered from the bottom of the arch to the center of the hub cap. I swapped springs between the two cars and the relationship did not change. Conclusion. The early FHC were taller than the DHC.

[img][IMG]http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/nickmi/TR7%201975/Yellow.jpg[/img]
nick
'79 TR7 DHC
'76 TR7 FHC

[Hasbeen]

Nick did you ever seriously look at what is different?

I had 2 1980 plated FHC Oz delivered cars, which had the same difference at the rear. It was a going to, [gunna do in Ozzie], measure them up accurately, but someone bought the lower car before I got round to it.

There is obviously some difference in the chassis, or control arms, but it was not obvious at a slightly more than casual look at the two.

Hasbeen