Rear roadspring installation

[aggie]

Okay, so having removed the diff ( thanks for all the tips on hammer size ! ) and spring it's time to refit the same.  Refitting is quite straightforward but, this is the bit that's confusing me.

Taken from the official Workshop Manual :-  " PLACE A TROLLEY JACK UNDER THE DIFFERENTIAL CASING, REMOVE THE CHASSIS STANDS AND, WITH THE VERTICAL LINKS SUPPORTED AT THEIR RUNNING HEIGHT, LOAD THE CAR AND LOWER IT'S REAR END UNTIL THE AXLE SHAFTS ASSUME THEIR STATIC LADEN OPERATING POSITION.  THIS IS TO ALLOW THE RUBBER BUSHES TO ASSUME THEIR CORRECT WORKING POSITION BEFORE TIGHTENING THE NUTS "   ???  I'm sure I read somewhere that loading the car means placing a 68 Kg weight on each seat ? As to the rest, can anyone shed some light please.  I suppose it would be clear  to a trained Triumph mechanic but...........

Alun

Edited May 29, 2020 by aggie
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[Pete Lewis]

if you have not removed the suspension then all this is a waste of time,, 

but any suspn rubber bush should not be nipped up till the cars in its running height , or bush tear is rapid

you have only dropped the diff , i dont see the whole proceedure is relevant  ,

Pete

[aggie]

Pete, I stripped the whole of the suspension so have new shocks, spring, diff, UJs and new bushes throughout

[Mjit]

Think you can tighten all the diff->car and spring->diff bolts and the damper nuts with the car up in the air.  The others you can shove the bolts through and run the nuts up till they're starting to clamp, then drop the car on to its wheels and rock it back and forth a bit while pushing down on the boot to settle the crazy initial camber.  That done squeeze under and tighten the nuts.  If you love your torque wrench as much as me it's then back up in the air for the final torquing.

[Pete Lewis]

the idea of 150lbs on each seat is to set the car up in its average running situation called .......static ride height

means bushes and alignments are all  at a optimum position and not overstretched when dropped on the deck before any  in a road use 

and some bushes rotate around the crush tube some are firmly gripped and these are the troubled ones 

Pete

[Herald948]

That procedure as described in the Workshop Manual is fine, although I prefer to support the car on jack stands once the diff is bolted in and the spring and axle shafts bolted up. I find it easier to do it as described rather than trying to work around tight spaces created once the wheels/tires are on the ground! If you think about it, it's pretty much the same effect either way! However you do it (and perhaps to be overly thorough), leave the spring eye bolts, bolts on both ends of the radius arms, and everything securing the shocks a bit loose, then use a jack to raise the bottom of each vertical link in turn until the car just begins to lift off the jack stands, secure the nuts, do the other side, and you're done!

[yorkshire_spam]

Just a quick note... the "final tighten when loaded and down on the ground" process is LESS critical if you fit poly-bushes. The metal centre in a poly-bush can rotate relative to the bush and the bush can move relative to the outer casing it's in - neither of which happens with OE metalastic bushes.

[Neil Clark]

Alun having just done all this, as a beginner I followed the Haynes manual and the forum it all makes sense - now.  But the biggest issue I haven't yet understood is how I torque up those bolts that are now behind the wheels with it on the ground.  I've done my best but they are by no means at the right tightness.   I've driven it on the road, one up and without the bonnet, lights or interior in place (that cheered up the neighbourhood in the lockdown).  The rear has settled and looks OK but after the chassis swap into the existing body I guess I'll need to get the car aligned anyway professionally and they can torque them up.  (It's a long time since I've done a string box alignment and I've always been pretty hit and miss on those.)

[Pete Lewis]

easy measure to centre of wheel witha tape , , remove wheel , jack to same height . torque up, refit wheel let down jack !!!

as for  geometry  

 

[Neil Clark]

Ah!  Pete thank you - obvious now you mention it!

[aggie]

Many thanks to you all.  I think I now have a grasp of what it all means and the confidence to finish the job.  All I now need is two people with nothing to do for an hour or two or 300 lbs of sand from the local builder's merchant.  It will probably be the sand !

Alun.

Edited June 3, 2020 by aggie
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