Thread: front spring help

Here are some pics of what I mean.


Here the wheel is too far forward.
spring1.jpg

The hanger is extending forward and in the background you can see the gap between the rear of the diff and the propshaft.
spring2.jpg

A pics of the other side showing the spring as it would be with the tyre on.
spring3.jpg

Couple of comments -

1. It seems to be sitting much too high - has it got an engine in it? If it has, the springs are possibly designed for a diesel.

2. The spring leaves look to be too thick for Series springs - again, are you sure they are the right springs?

The springs look to be the right length but just sitting too high. The extension of the prop shaft may be limited by a step where it has worn at the previous length - split it at the spline to check this.

John

1. It has the engine in it.

2. There are 8 leaves 5mm thick.

My manual shows the following figures -

88 Petrol, front.

Number leaves 9
Camber under static load 74.6mm
Camber unloaded Driver side 154.4mm, Passenger 135.4mm.

Doesn't give the leaf thickness, but measuring the leaf thickness on a couple of samples here suggests that your problem is the leaves are too thick. All the springs I have checked here have leaves 1/8" thick or 3.2mm.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that spring leaf material this thin is not available in Australia at present, and it would seem likely that the springs you have were made with one leaf fewer to make up for the thicker leaves. (Although various numbers of leaves have been used for springs at different times and for different models)

One further point - you did leave the shackles loose until full weight was on the springs, didn't you? Tightening these with weight off will make it sit up too high, and will also drastically shorten the life of the bushes.

Your prop shaft should extend sufficiently to accommodate the amount of lift you seem to have, however.

You won't get much movement on the springs of any leaf sprung Landrover by bouncing on the front bumper - they are quite a bit stiffer than most modern vehicles, plus the interleaf friction prevents initial movement.
Hope this helps,

John

Is the centrebolt in the middle of LR front springs? Are the eyes the same each end?
Usually they are offset to one end or the other.
Apart from the height issue, maybe the springs are on back to front.
Regards Philip A

I have tried extending the propshaft, however it will not come out any further.
I left all the bolts loose on the hangers and at the front on the chassis.

There is a centre bolt on these and it is place in the middle, the eyes are the same distance from the bolt.

1. Pull the prop shaft off and disassemble the slip joint to check why it won't extend enough - it needs to extend to accommodate the maximum spring extension allowed by the shock absorbers. Which brings us to

2. They are not original shock absorbers - they are not lifting the springs are they?

Seems like we have covered all the bases I can think of - next step would be a talk to the supplier.

John

Chances are they are the wrong springs. Where did you get them from?? I haven't found anywhere in Tas that know series land rovers very well as yet.

Got a part number or anything like that for them?