Front Suspension

[smoking joe]

I need to finally resolve my front suspension/coil matter.

PO installed std. Rimmer coils but proved to be coil bound and Rimmers
were less than helpful. Replaced with 35 year old coils, great improvement, but still able to hit bump stops if no careful and bit too much roll for my tastes.

So, looking at the next stage upgrade of red coils, can anyone tell me what the correct compressed length should be for these, I want to calculate the likley gap dims between the rings, so i do not have same problem as before, only stiffer.

On the problem Rimmer ones I only had a gap of 4mm between top rings/coils and 8mm to the bottom ones, in the broadest of terms. The current ones ( 35 year old) and others I have looked you can get your figures in between them ( vert travel was lacking )

So any advice appreciated.

Also, just a thought, I guess the strutt bodies should have a ref. no stamped on them, any ideas ? just in case PO replaced them, need to confirm.

Many thanks.

SJ

[supercass]

I understand it is accepted practice now to reduce the height of the front bumps stops to give increased suspension travel. supercass

[Workshop Help]

We've been thru this before. The 'standard' front springs were actually not all the same. Those cars with factory A/C had a stiffer spring rate than the non-A/C cars. Then there were year to year changes. This was just from the factory installations, not to mention the variations from after market sources or even the factory spare parts network.

I respectfully suggest you take your springs to a spring shop and measure the height and spring tension amount on each spring to determine the true spring rate of what you have and what you want/need for your particular purpose.

Mine are the stock non-A/C springs from the factory when the car was built in Oct 1976. They ride just fine for my kind of use and do not bottom/top out on speed bumps or railroad tracks.

Mildred Hargis

[Hasbeen]

Hi Joe. I have stock springs as fitted in 1080. I had them reset & retempered by a spring shop 12 years ago, at 0.6" lower than stock. I fitted new slightly heavier, but not really heavy duty shocks at that time. I fitted 1.6" long cut down polly urethane bump stops from a Holden, [not much help in the UK I know] at that time.

a couple of years later I had made & fitted a 30% heavier antiroll bars at each end.

70,000 kilometres later it takes a very big pothole to cause bottoming, & is very rare.

Even the 8, an inch lower than the 7 rarely bottoms. It did bottom a lot after it was left on stands for many months, suspension drooping. It evidentially this caused it to leak the gas out of the struts, rendering the shocks very soft. When these were replaced the bottoming stopped.

I suggest you check your shocks as part of your process.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

It would be interesting to know how many different places make springs for the car or if they all come from the same place or one or two different manufacturers. I don't know about bottoming out but my original springs allowed the car to drag the California cat cage on every speed bump regardless how slow I went over them as the cage was the lowest point on the car, just behind the front wheels. I replaced the springs with standard springs (from Victoria British I believe) and put in KYB gas shocks as the originals had zero resistance. The rear was left alone as the shocks had been replaced at some point with Koni's and they were fine. This stopped the dragging of the cat cage on speed bumps if I went over them slowly. It would only drag on one of the three speed bumps at London Drugs which was rather surprising as they are the larger gradual type. The car is obviously a little higher but still sits nicely down so there is no excessive distance between tire and wheel well. Not sure how much the A/C, A/C fans etc. up front contribute to this. I can't recall ever having bottoming out, maybe it's the type of roads we have around here (limited railway tracks etc.).

As far as body roll that is more dependant on antiroll bar. I used original antiroll bar and black poly on front suspension from N/A suppliers which is hard with little give compared to the coloured poly (blue/yellow/orange) you get from European suppliers as I have used these on rear suspension. The exception is orange poly on front K cross member mounts which shouldn't make much/any difference to suspension. With little give in front suspension bushings there is little body roll. The ride is fairly harsh compared to my other cars but I like my tire pressure higher (30/32 range). I suppose I would get even less roll with stiffer antiroll bar like Hasbeen but the extra cost and possibility of interfering with how the car handles and feels at extreme limits as it's exactly right on now.

It seems to be a toss of the dice as to stiffness/ride height and if your new springs aren't right it's probably a case of taking them to a spring place to get then reshaped rather than keep buying springs until you get a set that's right for you. If I did it again I think the optimum would be variable weight springs and get those custom shaped fitted (if it wouldn't break the bank).



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

[busheytrader]

Hi Joe,

I posted a "back in the day" Triumphtune article regarding the suspension settings a while back.

http://www.forum.triumphtr7.com/topic.a ... riumphtune


The original bump stops, if they haven't already broken up and turned to dust, are acknowledged by many to be far too long and give less than 1 1/4 inches of front suspension travel. (It's in the article but there are still non believers out there) I fitted the shortened polybushes as per the article about 20 years ago and they immediately stopped the front bottoming out and crashing on all but the very worst roads. I also have Spax shox up front since the original items lost most of their resistance after 40,000 miles. The uprated springs have no doubt sagged with time but the Spax dampers control the movement and the shorter stops allow more of it.

As for replacement springs I'd have a friendly word with either S&S or Robsport or both. Unlike Rimmer's they actually work on our cars as well as supply the parts. As for spring shops in the UK, I wouldn't have a clue where to start since both the suppliers mentioned know more than most.

Hope this helps,

Adam



TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 14" 5 Spokes or Maestro Turbo 15" Alloys, Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991 courtesy of S&S V8 conversion kit (built not bought) and big brake kit.

[Workshop Help]

Okay, since we're edging off to the strut inserts and bump stops, if one's springs, original or not, have not sagged then closer examination of the strut insert's condition is warranted. And, as is mentioned, the bump stops themselves along with the boot.

Please respectfully be reminded of my article in The Workshop Manual addressing a better replacement for the boot with integral bump stop, of which is shorter than the original item.

Mildred Hargis

[darrellw]

<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 Mildred</i>


Please respectfully be reminded of my article in The Workshop Manual addressing a better replacement for the boot with integral bump stop, of which is shorter than the original item.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hi Mildred,

Do you have a picture of those installed? By looking at them, it doesn't seem like the seal off the top of the strut. Or do they mount with the bump stop end up?

Darrell Walker
66 TR4A IRS-SC CTC67956L
81 TR8 SATPZ458XBA406206
Vancouver, WA, USA

[Workshop Help]

Yes, my friend, the bump stop is to the top. I have had mine on for quite a few years and the strut insert shaft and seal have remained clean and properly functioning. I would take photos but the weather is a bit too cool to go out to pull the wheel off the hub.

Mildred Hargis

[darrellw]

Thanks, Mildred.

RockAuto has them on wholesaler closeout for $4.27 each right now.

http://www.rockauto.com/dbphp/x,catalog ... 41551.html

Darrell Walker
66 TR4A IRS-SC CTC67956L
81 TR8 SATPZ458XBA406206
Vancouver, WA, USA

[smoking joe]

Thanks Guys for your input, I had reduced the bump stops on the second re assembly, took 10mm off to 10mm off bottom. One side I cut it insitu, moving the gaiter out the way.

If I cut more (insitu) off that would be an easy fix to improve the ride, does anyone know the max. that is safe to remove in total ?

Just had the bearing on the Viscose coupling go, as in loose and wobbling on the axis. I had a routine of giving it a squirt of engine oil every 6 weeks or so, but for its previous 34 years who knows !! Coupling came off easily with the 3 legged pullers.

I will replace because I want to keep it visibly original if possible, but I'll add an electric fan forward of the rad. with manual switch, just in case before summer.Unless I advised otherwise !

SJ