Peter Lucas wrote:
>
> Andrew,
>
> The later half shafts are longer by a 1/2" EACH! Together they equal
> 1". When swaping to a swing spring setup, (the spring is 1" longer than
> that of earlier models), you need to also replace the half shafts to
> make up this 1" difference. Otherwise you'll be driving on your
> sidewalls and that wont add to better handeling.
>
> PL '64 Spitfire (with swing spring mod)
>
Andy and Peter, British Auto Center has a good write up on the "Swing
Spring" upgrade at
http://www.bac.com.au/misc/index.html. They don't mention anything
about the difference in the axle length. This seems to indicate that it
is not significant.
My own observations about later cars that have the parts on as original
equipment, is that the rear tires camber out at the bottoms naturally.
If the axles are shorter by a cmbined 2 inches, that would mean at worst
case, the wheels would simply sit straight up than having the cambered
out stance.
In either case, I sure would like to know before hand, because I have
the Spring and the Differential to do the upgrade on my Spit this
winter. I wasn't prepared to replace the axles too.
Anybody else wh wants to get involved in this is welcome to throw in
your 2 pennies worth. Particularly if you have done the upgrade without
changing axle shafts.
Inquisitively,
Joe Curry '63 Spit (with stock rear suspension)
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