REAR SUSPENSION
Ron Hood writes:
> - The rear wheels don't track the front, and
> - There's quite a bit of squat on acceleration.
My exact problems. Both were solved by new springs from TSI imports.
These springs are the rally grade springs. The thing I like about
them is that they give stock ride height, but are heavier. I have
very little rear squat and the car no longer sags. Since rear squat
seemed to be a common complaint among TR6 owners, I decided on the
heaver springs in the rear. I haven't touched the front yet. I had
planned on putting in new bushings when I did all of this, but it
became such a big deal to remove the trailing arm (on my car at
least), I decided to wait until a warmer more enthusiastic day.
Shocks and springs are a snap to do, and can be done in about 1 hour
per side. Less if you've done a few. Be sure to replace the shock
links along with the shocks. In my case, I think that I didn't really
needed to replace the shocks as my problem was all in the springs.
The shock-links were all bad though... Also replace the rubber mounts
that the springs sit in.
> 1) TRF and Victoria British offer "competition" grade springs for a few
> bucks more. I assume that they are stiffer, but I don't know how much
> that buys a daily driver car -- are they worth it?
I think so, but I don't mind a stiffer ride. Be sure they boast stock
ride height.
> 3) What about shocks? New lever arms seem to run about $80 each, and the
> conversion kits for telescopic shocks aren't any cheaper. Should I go
> with new lever arms, try and find some rebuilt ones, or make the switch
> to telescopic?
I would examine your old shocks... If they aren't leaking and seem
stiff on examination, replace the links, and the springs and I would
hold off on the shocks. Of course if they are original, you might as
well replace them. I got mine from TRF because they weren't rebuilt.
I've often heard that rebuilt leverarm shocks don't last very long, so
that's why I opted to go with new ones.
> 4) I'm hoping to avoid messing with the bazillion U-joints in the rear end
> when I do this job -- is this a reasonable hope?
Sure! But if there is *any* play in your ujoints then they need replacing.
===
CLUTCH STUFF
joe_flake@hpatc1.desk.hp.com writes:
> The PO had spaced the slave cylinder back from its mounting bracket
> about .25 inch (real kludge ... looks like a small aluminum pulley
> under one bolt and 4 washers of various sizes under the other!). Any
> guesses why this might have been done? Related to this, the arm on
Sure, I did this on my TR6. When I put the new clutch in, the slave
didn't have enough reach to completely disengage the clutch. The only
thing that I can figure is that the slave was leaking and the master
didn't have the pressure to push it completely out. The other thing
that I can think is that the replacement clutch was significantly
thicker and thus required more travel for the slave. I doubt this is
the case because I used a Borg & Beck setup. My kludge works great
this way, though I plan on rebuilding the master in the spring, and
get the kludge out of there. (I used large nuts for washers to shim
my slave out to gain an even push)
> (service books and various catalogs) all show connection to the
> middle hole and I've seen no indication of IF/WHEN you would use
> the top or bottom hole.
The lower hole will give you more leverage but less travel. So you
might be able to use that as a *temporary* fix instead of a rebuild.
The top hole will give you more travel for the same amount of push.
> The PO had also added an assist (?) spring connecting from the
> operating shaft towards the rear and attached to the frame (using
> a piece of coat hanger!). This is not a very strong spring but it
> would take up any slack in the mechanism.
There is a spring inside the slave cylinder that does this exact
thing. I bet you find that your slave doesn't have this spring. I'm
not sure if the rebuild kits include this spring. It keeps pressure
on the release bearing which then is constantly pushed up against the
pressure plate. I'm not sure why this is designed this way, but it
means that release bearings are something that get replaced more
frequently on TR6's than other LBC's. I've been playing with small
springs to pull the operating shaft *forward* so that the release
bearing won't ride on the pressure plate. I haven't perfected this,
as it makes the slave push fluid back into the master. Which means
you don't have as much peddle pressure as normal. It does work, but
I'm not happy with it yet.
I've been told that a fix for the release bearing thing is to replace
the slave cylinder with a TR4 slave. I was going to do this, but the
difference in price was enough that I put a TR6 slave back. (TR4
slave was $140, TR6 Slave was $60. I think...)
Good luck!
---
-Scotty
We will pay the price, but we will not count the cost. - Rush
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