jedwards
11th November 2021, 04:04 PM
Gentlemen,
When I first got my 1953 S1 80” I felt the ride was excessively crashy and harsh, so planned to do something about the suspension in due course .
I looked at parabolic springs early on, but as it would be a several years before I needed to consider the ride , I would focus on the more pressing other restoration priorities. So now I find myself again thinking about the suspension and am hoping for some advice and guidance from this super knowledgeable group on the right direction to take.
About two years or so ago, my painter friend Paul and I, stripped the springs down, sand blasted, painted and reassembled them, exactly as they came off, dealing with them one at a time. We put them back into the restored chassis and were pretty pleased with ourselves.
I cannot recollect if we greased each leaf prior to assembly, but appearance suggest we did not.
The old girl has now been sitting in my garage with the engine, transmission, axles and bulkhead installed for about a year, but still has a rather pronounced body lean to one side. I had hoped that the suspension would settle under the weight and the bulkhead would eventually look more parallel with the ground. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The suspension is rock hard and will not move at all even if I jump up and down on the front or rear of the chassis.
So last weekend I thought I’d check the springs to see what was going on, because as we all know all too well, old Landies love throwing up surprises.
According to the official Land Rover Workshop Manual (#4291), my 1953 S1 80” with my VIN should have symmetrical front and rear springs with thre fronts being made up of 9 leaves of 4.2mm thickness and 44.45mm width. Do I have that? NO .
I have 11 leaves on the Right hand side and 10 leaves on the left, which could explain the lean and some of the harsh ride.
On the rear, my vehicle should have 9 or 10 leaves on each side, with 7 leaves of being 5.56mm thick and the remainder being 4.76mm thick.
Do I have that? NO .
The rear spring on my truck both have 8 leaves each of 5.16mm thickness.
So gentleman, what is the best course of action for me? Do I strip them, lubricate and try to balance the number of leaves in each, and put them back on, or should I just buy a nice set of new parabolic strings and solve the problem once and for all?
Are there any local manufacturers of Parabolic springs for our vehicles or are they all out of the UK?
Any suggestion hugely appreciated.
Regards
Jeff
When I first got my 1953 S1 80” I felt the ride was excessively crashy and harsh, so planned to do something about the suspension in due course .
I looked at parabolic springs early on, but as it would be a several years before I needed to consider the ride , I would focus on the more pressing other restoration priorities. So now I find myself again thinking about the suspension and am hoping for some advice and guidance from this super knowledgeable group on the right direction to take.
About two years or so ago, my painter friend Paul and I, stripped the springs down, sand blasted, painted and reassembled them, exactly as they came off, dealing with them one at a time. We put them back into the restored chassis and were pretty pleased with ourselves.
I cannot recollect if we greased each leaf prior to assembly, but appearance suggest we did not.
The old girl has now been sitting in my garage with the engine, transmission, axles and bulkhead installed for about a year, but still has a rather pronounced body lean to one side. I had hoped that the suspension would settle under the weight and the bulkhead would eventually look more parallel with the ground. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The suspension is rock hard and will not move at all even if I jump up and down on the front or rear of the chassis.
So last weekend I thought I’d check the springs to see what was going on, because as we all know all too well, old Landies love throwing up surprises.
According to the official Land Rover Workshop Manual (#4291), my 1953 S1 80” with my VIN should have symmetrical front and rear springs with thre fronts being made up of 9 leaves of 4.2mm thickness and 44.45mm width. Do I have that? NO .
I have 11 leaves on the Right hand side and 10 leaves on the left, which could explain the lean and some of the harsh ride.
On the rear, my vehicle should have 9 or 10 leaves on each side, with 7 leaves of being 5.56mm thick and the remainder being 4.76mm thick.
Do I have that? NO .
The rear spring on my truck both have 8 leaves each of 5.16mm thickness.
So gentleman, what is the best course of action for me? Do I strip them, lubricate and try to balance the number of leaves in each, and put them back on, or should I just buy a nice set of new parabolic strings and solve the problem once and for all?
Are there any local manufacturers of Parabolic springs for our vehicles or are they all out of the UK?
Any suggestion hugely appreciated.
Regards
Jeff