Bugger - Rear Springs - Anyone Help?

[paolow]

well - i took my 2b for its retest at gillingham today and it failed on the very final retest point. the problem? the springs ive got in the back are too soft so that the mcpherson strut makes friends with the driveshaft with enough weight on the back. ive rung around and the best that i can find are a pair of estate struts from a scrappy for £50. however, im reluctant to spend twice the price of my doner on a pair of struts, especially if i dont know for sure if theyll do the job. my question then is, what sierras have ultra tough springs and also - i understand that RHE now have rear coilovers - maybe less of a headache? but ive split the rear tube to get the strut in - am i stuck with butchered MCP struts for ever? any advice gratefully recieved - im so close now!

[Guest Battery Bill]

Paolow

but ive split the rear tube to get the strut in

Easy enough job to weld it back up and fit coil overs

But as you have got this far you might as well persivere and do the coil over conversion later if you find you want it.

Does seem a bit excessive £50 quid for scrappy struts

Have you tried pricing up new springs alone then?

I know "Doncaster motor spares" do pattern bits for lots of things at a fraction of the cost of original

Good luck

[Les Welsher]

Paolow,

how on earth are they touching as the one is in front of the other.

What springs did you use from the doner? What clearance do you have between floor and side panel infront of the rear wheel?

Here's a pic of mine, not much weight on it I know, but my cars been fully laden (full boot,fuel tank and two people) without any problems.

 

Les

[Guest TerryBarry]

Hi Paolow,

How galling to fail retest on one point

What springs have you got fitted at the rear

Are they off the front or rear end of the Sierra donor.

I see that you are being tested at Gillingham, so you must be somewhere in the SE corner of England

I've got a spare pair of Sierra rear springs - I'm using the RH supplied coilovers.

If you want dimensions of these (or of the coilovers) let me know - I can't measure deflection rates however

Cheers,

 

Terry

[Guest Fred2b]

I have experienced a similar problem recently.

At rest but fully laden there is about half an inch clearance between the drive shaft and the spring. I went over some rumble strip type speed humps at about 45 mph that were not clearly marked and the rear suspension did not like it judging by the horrible noise. Looking underneath there is a clear ring around the drive shaft and the spring paint is chipped. I think that under distress like this the spring possibly bends backwards a bit to catch the driveshaft. The spring seat at the top is not a perfect fit in the old upside down strut and I have noticed it has moved to the rear. The solution is possibly to make up a filler to keep the spring towards the front or try fitting some caravan rubber spring boosters but I don't know if they will pass SVA.

Fred

[Guest plt63]

Hi, new member thought i would contribute to this as I had a similar problem.

 

The upside down Spring seats are a bit big on some front struts, I managed to get around the moving spring problem by using the top rubber bump stop as a locator inside the spring, and attached it to the strut through the centre.

 

Stopped it moving and was a freebie, (well 50p for some bolts).

 

Since updated back end to coil overs and still have the old bits around somewhere, drop me a line if you want them!

[Guest cwing79]

Hey if it helps i've also go all the suspension set up you want spare as i also have the rear coilovers i'm over in Herts area if that helps?

[paolow]

thanks for all the replies everyone, the springs im currently using are off (i think) the front of a boggo 1.8 sierra lx. i also have 2 other sets but bizzarrely, under close inspection i seem to have 4 different springs - none seem to be pairs! ride height is pretty good - ive got a good 6 inches under the side panel and 4 fingers height under teh subframe location bolts. the springs are however, just too soft - static, the spring moutns are nowhere near the axles but that soft that a burly SVA examiner on the back makes it 'bottom out'.

interestingly, fred - it was suggested that 'air bags' WOULD be a suitable fix - so thats one idea, but, if im going to fix it, i want to do it properly and just whack in some stouter springs rather than go the balloon route.

Also - many thanks for the offers of springs - what im going to do is see what my movements are going to be in the next few days and see where im going to be before paying one of you a visit!

Thanks again for all your help and kind offers.

[Guest cwing79]

like i said i have a full set spare, and i also travel round alot in the South east/eastern area with work PM me if you need them, good luck

[Bob Tucker]

Hi Paolow,

Ive just read your email carefully....you say you are using springs off the front Mcp strut at the rear of your Hood?

You need the Sierra's rear springs, they are much harder, plus get 7inches between floor & body side panel in front of the rear wing.

Bob

[paolow]

i am indeed rob. i have also long since binned the rear springs. funnily enough i didnt even think about it when assembling the car - i suppose i only weigh about ten stone so didnt even think about it.

[paolow]

like i said i have a full set spare, and i also travel round alot in the South east/eastern area with work PM me if you need them, good luck

YHM