At 04:30 PM 5/6/98 EDT, Sean Muldoon wrote:
>does anyone have a good and reliable method of judging the condition of
MGA rear leaf springs? are there any measurments or visible ways of
telling if the need replacing.
With original size tires on the car, hold you hand straight out and flat
with your fingers resting on the top of the rear tire. If you skin your
knuckles on the fender arch the springs a shot. With springs in good
condition you should have about two inches of clearance there.
>they are off the car.
Never mind. But, ....
I replaced mine last year before the Alaska trip. I still have the old
ones around here (lazy pack rat). When I lay them upside-down on a flat
floor they measure 6-1/4" tall to the short leaf, and that's not enough.
As I racall, the new ones were at least 1" taller in the free state. And,
installed on the car the new ones boosted the ride height of the unloaded
car about 2", meaning that they also sag less under load. And I think the
new ones didn't settle any more than 1/2" or so after b-b-b-b-b-bouncing
around on the Alaska trip for 19,000 miles with a fully loaded vehicle.
(Nothing implied there, Carol).
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
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