Darrell reminded me that I never finished the saga of Sarah's
suspension. I'll give you the short version -- it's all back together
and fairly happy. We ended up putting in a set of somewhat shorter, but
apparently stock, springs, which made it possible to get the camber
adjusted right. I still believe that there's something wrong up front,
but I'll be damned if I know what. The only problem is this annoying
vibration around 60 mph, which might be the worn inner tie rod that I know
about.
The best bit of info I got about springs was that the new springs I
bought and left me with positive camber are the supercession that's
meant to be used without a spacer, and the ones that we put in are the
original size for use with a spacer (this from someone at Moss Motors).
I'm fairly certain there's no spacer up there, but I didn't look that
hard, and he said they can get fairly corroded in and stuck. I'm not
going to take it apart to find out, because I've already paid for two
alignments!
I replaced the U joints on the worst side -- if they were replaced
three years ago as the previous owner said, well, then we're still in
1985. The inner one, in particular, was truly horrid; the inner portion
of the race was worn oblong and tapered.
I only did one side because I ran out of time -- we're leaving for
Boulder today! That means that I won't be around for two weeks to fix
any problems with the left coast list. I doubt that there will be any
(other than the perennial duplication problem which we're chasing
again), but be advised. The car is packed -- the boot has one small
suitcase, two pairs of hiking boots, and the rest filled with spares,
fluids and tools. The rear shelf has drinks and books and coats, and
there's nothing on the luggage rack, yet.
See you in Boulder, or on the net in two weeks!
chris
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