Am I doing this right??

[Roger K]

I'm now onto replacing the rear axle.  

Car's a non-roto late MkIII GT6, swing-spring.  I've fitted the diff, and bolted the spring down to the top of it.  I've assembled the halfshafts and brakes etc. and spent this afternoon fitting one.  I really don't remember it being as hard as this!

1 - radius arm fitted to body.

2 - position driveshaft/hub assembly, and hang off the spring eye bush with bolt and locknut.

3 - jack vertical link until shock absorber can be attached.  Horrible as top end really doesn't want to go in chassis mount at the top.  Lots of rubber & nylon lubricant and a lot of swearing.  Shox are Konis.

4 - jack again to try to get radius arm somewhere near its mounting bracket on vertical link.  This lifts car way off the axle stands on that side and gets a bit.... stressful.  Eventually get bolt through radius arm to vertical link bracket.

5 - bolt driveshaft flange to diff output flanges.

Everything left untorqued until it's sitting on its wheels, obviously.

Is the above correct?  A really tricky job with the vertical bending right over backwards at the base with just the shocker fitted.

However did I do this at the side of the road in the rain in 1976??

Question - is the 'hex bar' spring lever tool sold by Rimmers etc. worth having?  Does it make this any easier?

[Pete Lewis]

no you only need the lifter for fighting a rotoflex set up

its possible better too refit the tie rods with the car on the deck trying to align when hanging is a fight as you have found 

pete

[Anglefire]

I have a lifter - bought it before I twigged I didn't need one - never been out of the box it arrived in. No idea what the shipping cost would be - but more than happy to see.

[NonMember]

Possibly more convenient, I have one in the garage that can be borrowed (it's been lent to Cambridge area members before).

[Roger K]

Thanks for the offers, but Pete reckons they're for Rotoflex only and mine's non-roto.

Pete, what do you mean by 'on the deck'?  Sitting with the weight on its wheels, then connect the radius arms?

[Nick Jones]

Easier with a lifter even on swing axle cars. Shouldn’t be essential though unless your new spring is a real monster....

Nick

[Roger K]

I certainly found on the side that I've done that pushing up on the vertical link with a jack, as the book describes, doesn't allow any movement for alignment etc. because of the pressure on the link, meaning I had to do some hammering on bolts to get them through brackets and bushes which I don't like doing.  The spring is a standard GT6 one so presumably a bit stronger than the Spit equivalents.  Possibly a bit naïve but I'm hoping allowing the vertical link to dangle from the spring while I'm trying to attach things will make it easier.

[dougbgt6]

Pete is right, you don't need a lifter for a non rotoflex. 

I replaced my spring a life time ago, dead easy as I remember, but probably beyond me now! On the floor, again as Pete says.

Doug

 

[Roger K]

But I'm not replacing the spring, I'm trying to attach the other parts to it....  should I remove the spring and assemble the other parts first, then replace the spring?

[Clive]

6 hours ago, Roger K said:

But I'm not replacing the spring, I'm trying to attach the other parts to it....  should I remove the spring and assemble the other parts first, then replace the spring?

You shouldn't need to remove the spring. I connect teh spring eye bolt last, so you can move the vertical link up/down etc to make the other jobs easier. You can pull teh top of the VL towards you a little so it clears teh end of the spring, it should move easily enough on the trunnion bushes. Top of shock first, then use a bar to move the bottom of the shock over. I put the 1/2 shock bush (they are split) onto the bottom mounting, so you have a nice big eye to get over the mounting bolt. Then radius arm, a bit if faffing for that and a bar to help. Last is the spring bolt, a pozi screwdriver is handy for starting to line it all up. 

[Roger K]

1 hour ago, clive said:

You shouldn't need to remove the spring. I connect teh spring eye bolt last, so you can move the vertical link up/down etc to make the other jobs easier. You can pull teh top of the VL towards you a little so it clears teh end of the spring, it should move easily enough on the trunnion bushes. Top of shock first, then use a bar to move the bottom of the shock over. I put the 1/2 shock bush (they are split) onto the bottom mounting, so you have a nice big eye to get over the mounting bolt. Then radius arm, a bit if faffing for that and a bar to help. Last is the spring bolt, a pozi screwdriver is handy for starting to line it all up. 

Thanks for the tip Clive, I'll give that a try on the other side today.  I'm a bit concerned that with the shock absorber and the radius arm attached, the spring eye will be a lot lower than the top of the vertical link, but I'll know once I try it.  Maybe that's where the spring lifter bar comes into play?

 

[Clive]

Just now, Roger K said:

Thanks for the tip Clive, I'll give that a try on the other side today.  I'm a bit concerned that with the shock absorber and the radius arm attached, the spring eye will be a lot lower than the top of the vertical link, but I'll know once I try it.  Maybe that's where the spring lifter bar comes into play?

 

Yes, the lifting ba does help. I have used a length of scaffold pole before, but I have a hex-bar version I made now. Very simple, but I put the "lifting" strap/bracket/U plate over the top of the bar unlike the factory type. My welding on thick steel is absolutely fine, but I saw no downside.

Saying that, I haven't used a spring lifter on a swing-spring, but if yours is new it may have a bit of extra curve.

[Roger K]

Thanks again Clive.

[PeteH]

Haynes, Vittesse/GT6 Manual shows the lifter and gives dimensions for it`s construction. ( I have a tendency to keep such books even after I sell the cars)

It is shown as being used on a rotoflex axle BTW.

Pete

[Roger K]

That's useful, thanks Pete.  I think I'll knock one up as I have another car with even stiffer transverse leafsprings front and rear, which this would be very useful for as well as the Triumph.  Width dims might need slight adjustment, need to check.

[NonMember]

1 hour ago, PeteH said:

It is shown as being used on a rotoflex axle BTW

Yes, because you need it for rotoflex. It's not needed on a swing spring, though very occasionally may help. I bought a club one when I rebuilt the rear of my (rotoflex) GT6 back in 1994. It's been used perhaps twice since, both on other people's rotoflex cars.

[PeteH]

1 hour ago, NonMember said:

Yes, because you need it for rotoflex. It's not needed on a swing spring, though very occasionally may help. I bought a club one when I rebuilt the rear of my (rotoflex) GT6 back in 1994. It's been used perhaps twice since, both on other people's rotoflex cars.

I did not find the need either when Rebuilding the 13/60 Chassis. With no bodywork on it was relativly easy.

[Roger K]

OK, for the other side I took on board all the helpful comments on this thread, and reassembled the brake and driveshaft unit to the car in this order:

1  attached the radius arm to the vertical link loosely.

2  lifted the unit into position and attached the vertical link to the spring eye loosely.

3  attached the radius arm to the body loosely (hefty push forward on the axle unit required).

4  attached the diff output flange to the driveshaft flange loosely, all four bolts.

5  attach the top shock absorber eye to the chassis loosely.

6  jack up the vertical link and connect the lower eye of the shock absorber to the vertical link loosely.

Now you can tighten the drive shaft flange bolts and assemble the brake parts until all is together again.  Once done, either sit the car on its wheels or support via the vertical links on axle stands.  Now tighten all the bolts - radius arm ends, shock absorbers, spring eye etc. to the specified torque settings.

The most stubborn part of the above method was, surprisingly, getting the top shock absorber bolt (the shoulder bolt) in place.  Despite using plenty of lubricant, this didn't want to go in at all - I ended up having to chamfer the rearmost rubber bush at the point where the bolt shaft enters it to allow entry.  The bolt shoulder was hanging up on the leading edge of the hole in the bush - this may be a function of the rubber bushes supplied with the Konis, so may not be a general problem.

All in all, it is much easier for a late non-roto GT6 with the body still on by doing it this way.  Which is pretty much the exact opposite order to that in my factory workshop manual...

Thanks all, second side on in around 30 mins, with no bloodshed.

[Pete Lewis]

thats more like it   hoorah !!

Pete