Spring clearance

[rreems]

Hi Has anyone used longer Spring hanger brackets? The rear Spring eye is close to the body and just wondered if longer brackets would help give a bit more clearance between the top of the spring and the body? Both Spring hangers are in good shape so there's no problem with any sag!
Thanks Richard

[myoldjalopy]

Ha ha - thought you had a sale on!!

[rreems]

There's no answer to that one!!

[MrIan]

Longer shackles were an old custom car trick to get a dragster stance !!!!!!
If your spring eyes are touching the chassis rail at the shackle i'd say your springs are soft/worn. Mine were doing the same and new leaf springs and poly bushes sorted it. Oh check the shackle bushes first as it could be they are goosed and far easier to change than the springs !!

[bmcecosse]

Your springs ARE sagged. Even some of the new ones come like that now.... Yes - you can make longer rear shackles - 1" extra on the hole centres will lift the car by 0,5" . I wouldn't and didn't go any more than that. You can cut an inch off the top of the bump stops, and of course SAE 40 oil in the dampers helps the ride greatly - but not the ride height of course. I can never understand the people who want to fit 'lowering blocks' to the back of a Minor!!

[rreems]

Hi guys
Thanks for the advice, I have fitted new bushes, and just had a new left hand rear hanger bracket and plate welded and the spring still touches the bottom of the side plate!! Could I cut off an inch of the side plate, would that help give it some clearance?

[MrIan]

There is a small vertical seam there which you cannot remove , if your springs are still touching the chassis rail with new bushes they are goosed !!!!!! new one's required to sort it i'm afraid. Not really expensive anyway and straightforward to do apart from the front spring eye pin and plate !!!!!!
Actually thinking a bit more about it do you mean the chassis area has been welded ? as the vertical flnge lip i mention is nowhere near an inch in size so I can't think where you'd be cutting an inch from .

[IslipMinor]

Richard,

Could you post a picture, as what you are describing doesn't sound very 'normal'?

We have more or less flat rear springs (7-leaf with the bottom leaf removed and replaced upside down on the top to soften and lower), and the shackles do not get near to the body.

[ManyMinors]

As Richard says, a photograph would be handy. If you've had welding repairs done in that area, it sounds more likely to me that the chassis leg has not been shaped well in that area rather than anything wrong with the spring itself?

[bmcecosse]

As above -the mount may not be in the right place.... Who did the welding?? I do believe some folks have removed the springs and 'reshaped' them leaf by leaf - whether this can hope to do any good or last very long, I have no idea. They would have to take each spring beyond it's elastic limit and hope that in use it doesn't break. I stress I have never done this - but I'm sure some have. In general the Minor saloon is far too softly sprung * and even Traveller springs are soft on that vehicle. Richards method seems to work for him - if buying new springs I would certainly get Trav springs and then remove/reverse leaves till you get it as you like it...

* Some think it is too hard - usually because it is actually riding on the rubber bump stops !!!

[rreems]

Hi knowledgable people! Here's a photo of the offending Spring touching the chassis, the rear spring hanger is made up of 2 parts a cover plate welded to the bottom of the inner wing and the hanger repair which is welded To the side of the cover plate and the Spring is fouling on the bottom of the cover plate! Both these pieces have just been replaced, with new bushes

The measurement from the bottom of the plate and the bottom of the hanger repair is 20mm, the right hand side is 10mm, so my theory is to cut the 10mm off the bottom of the cover plate ( single skin) giving me hopefully just enough for the spring to stop fouling the plate-- hope this makes sense

Would welcome your feedback[frame][/frame]

[westy24]

Just wondering where the best place to buy Spring hangers and the shackles ?

[rreems]

Hi I called ESM to see if they had longer Spring hangers brackets but they only stock standard size brackets! So I got together with a friend who had steel and the right tools and we made some ourselves, which only took a couple hours, hopefully this will solve the problem, see picture of the standard one and the new one we made[frame][/frame]

[IslipMinor]

Richard,

I'm sorry, but unless there is something very odd with your car there is never a need for longer shackles, unless you want to deliberately jack up the rear end.

The 'cover plate' that you describe is part of the inner wing, and can be also part of a repair section, but is not separate as such.

It should be either spot or seam welded to the spring hanger on the inside of it, so there should be a double thickness of metal all the way along - 'cover plate' + spring hanger and about 12-13mm or 1/2" deep.

To provide clearance with the rear spring eye, you will need to shape the double section around the spring eye so that there is around 5mm (3/16") of flange left above it:
[frame][/frame]
The rear has been lowered by around 2", so the rear shackle points rearwards more than normal, but even under 'bump' conditions the spring eye does not contact the inner wing/spring hanger flange:
[frame][/frame]
With around 5mm of flange left, there is plenty of clearance for the spring eye:
[frame][/frame]
If you do grind away some of the flange, you will need to make sure that the two ground edges of material are welded together completely to provide strength and prevent the ingress of water and thus corrosion.

[bmcecosse]

The chassis 'welding' looks a right old mess - and the springs are probably sagged. You really shouldn't need the longer shackles - but if it keeps you going I see no great harm using them. Flat bar does the job perfectly well - but the ones you have made (assuming same thickness steel as the original) should be fine.

[MrIan]

You'll notice that on Richards rear spring shackles they still don't point rearwards as much as yours do and as Richards car has been lowered by leaf switching so the shackles point rearward even more than normal.
My old Boris was exactly like yours and yes the spring eye was hitting the chassis flange as yours is. New springs and polybushes sorted it.

[rreems]

Hi Thanks for all the responses and advice, as a new member to the club, I find every comment invaluable and really appreciate all the experience that I can draw from. Point noted about the springs, they probably do want replacing, but the slightly longer spring hangers I made have done the job brilliantly, this will have to do until I can sort the springs properly. I've only had the car a year and done so much work the costs are mounting!!
Perhaps see some of you at the 40 year mmoc celebration in July? Happy tinkering
Richard

[bmcecosse]

You can cut an inch off the rear bump stops which gives a much more comfortable ride without the hrash bottoming - and the SAE40 oil in the dampers of course will transform the ride at very little cost.

[rreems]

Cool, I'll give the dampers a birthday!

[alanworland]

I am not alone!
My chassis rails are original (un welded) I fitted new springs and bushes and my spring would rub the body flange.
I decided the springs were longer than the originals.
Anyway, I filed the lower edge of the body flange and created some clearance.

Alan