I don't know about the rumble, but I thought I would send this out to
all who are afflicted by the woefully weak Spitfire rear suspension.
I spent a lot of time and money on fixing the right rear sag of my '77,
replacing the rear spring, new shocks and tires. I wasn't able to get
it to sit level until I installed air shocks with dual schrader valves.
These were bought for $68 from 'Jocko's Auto Parts' (a local discount
auto parts store) with a spare tubing set to get the second schrader
valve setup. Most of the places I called did not have a listing for
them. The air shock had to be special ordered as they are for '63 - '83
Corvette and had to be modified slightly. There is a good description
of the installation out on the VTR website. I balance the air pressure
in the shocks to get the car to set level when I am not in it. I can
also adjust the pressure to get more negative camber for Solo II, or
less negative for daily driving.
Thanks,
Paul Mostrom
'77' Spitfire 1500
'Black holes, where God divided by zero......'
-----Original Message-----
From: R.D. Waid [mailto:msp01091@isd.net]
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 1998 4:08 AM
To: Victor B. Michael; spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Settling into Autumn
Victor,
I'm interested in your comments about your car's rear end noise. My (71)
Spit
also has uneven rear camber; I've never diagnosed exactly why, just
assumed a
weak spring. Anyway, my car sags more on the driver's side (about a
half-inch
lower). The pix of your car on your website look to have about the same
degree
of unevenness side to side as mine does, only on opposite sides. In a
hard right
turn in my car there is a low-pitched metallic rumble which disappears
when the
car comes out of the turn and returns to normal. It is not the tire
rubbing
against the fender well. I have listened to the wheel bearings,
U-joints, etc.
when the car is jacked up, and I don't hear any unusual sounds then.
What I'm
guessing is that the degree of sag on the one side causes excessive
misalignment
of the suspension during body lean to the left which leads to my rumble
sound? I
don't have any noises on acceleration; perhaps the torque effect of
accelerating
(diff twisting toward the right) is enough to misalign your weak side
(passenger
side) whereas it would not be a problem for my car (weak driver's side).
I'm jealous that it's still 75 degrees where you are- here in MN we are
struggling to break 60.
Regards,
Bob Waid
71 Spitfire FK4081L
----------
>From: "Victor B. Michael" <vmichael@enteract.com>
>To: spitfires@autox.team.net
>Subject: Settling into Autumn
>Date: Thu, Oct 15, 1998, 2:39 AM
>
>Hey all,
>
>Well it's finally happening. The leaves are coming off the trees and
>the temperature is dropping. Rumor has it it's going to be 75 deg
>Saturday.
>
>I'm just throwing a couple of things out there -
>
>Rear End Noises: My TR buddy (Eric Yates (shifting problems)) and I
>noticed the rear end sag (negative camber?) on my Spit seems more than
>normal and a little more on the right/passenger side (we already gave
my
>fiance a hard time about that one ;). The leaf spring seams a bit rusty
>(not falling apart)... Is it possible this rear end sag causes the
>clunking on the right side when accelerating? I think I saw a hint of
>metal rub on the rear-right axel shaft - "I think." This problem has
>had me baffled for awhile....
>
>Heater: After installing a rebuilt radiator, installing a thermostat,
>my new heater core and blower and verifying the hose routing, the
heater
>wasn't generating any heat. I don't know how long the PO had the hoses
>plugged, but after the first "heat up" after all of this, the heater
>started pumping some heat. Does it sound like the cooling system needs
a
>good flushing and/or a soak to get all the lines cleared of any
>sediment? It sure seems that way.
>
>Thanks for all the help and keep em on the road until the first snow!
:)
>
>Vic
>
>--
>1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500 <*> http://www.enteract.com/~vmichael/
>
> "There will come a time when you think everything is finished.
> That will be the beginning."
>
> (Louis L'Amour)
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