I was under the impression that the main reason for installing aluminum
spacers was to compensate for sagging springs. Are yours sagging (ie, viewed
from the rear of the car, do the tops of the wheels appear to lean inward?)
If they are sagging, the spacers would help. If they're not sagging, I
wonder if the car wouldn't have a strange, "jacked up" look?
getting stiffer "sport" springs from TRF will raise the rear of the car
slightly from stock and also fix the sagging problem. But you probably would
want to replace the fronts as well, so you have similar spring rates at the
front and rear to avoid unpleasant handling surprises.
also, not sure what year TR you have, but using the later trailing arm
brackets also can help compensate for sagging. When I went through the
suspension on my '69, I went to the later trailing brackets (plus the new
springs). As I recall, you actually only need to buy two new brackets, with
two of the existing brackets being moved to new locations (TRF has details
on this, if you need it.)
Graham
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert M. Lang [mailto:lang@isis.mit.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 11:07 AM
To: Robert L. Gannon
Cc: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Raising the Car Height in the Rear
On Thu, 26 Dec 2002, Robert L. Gannon wrote:
> Question for the List.
Ready...
> Problem: I need to raise the rear height of the TR6 due to the
> scraping of the muffler system on the entrance to my driveway. Also I
> am always scraping those irritating speed bumps.
Hmmm. What part of the muffler system is dragging? Your solution could be
as simple as rotating the clamps for additional clearance!
> Question: Do those cast Aluminum spacers that sit between the top of
> the spring and the upper rear cross member really raise the height of
> the car? Anyone have that set up? Does it change the handling of the
> car?
Well, first off, the alley spacers that I've used for the last number of
years are not cast, they are machined and stackable. You are also better
served to place the spacers _under_ the springs! If you put them above the
springs, they can fall out. Don't ask how I know this.
:-)
The spacers will raise the car. The amount of height increase is roughly
1.5 X the thickness of the spacer, so a 1/2" spacer will raise the car
about 3/7 of an inch.
Be aware, however, that this change in height also changes the rear camber
setting. If you add the spacers, you _may_ need to play with the swivel
brackets to get the camber "just so". This is no big deal, but you need to
be aware of it.
> Robert L. Gannon
> trsix74@comcast.net
> TR6 1974 CF22956U
> TR3A 1960 TS70951L
> http://hometown.aol.com/twodzusfittings/myhomepage/auto.html
regards,
rml
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