On 6/19/02 9:32 AM, "Tom White" <tom.white@sgsi.com> wrote:
> No, I'm not talking about my personal posterior.
>
> The rear passenger side of my TR4A IRS is sagging visibly. Its now up
> on stands and I've removed the tires and had a look at the suspension.
> My questions are:
> Could this be due to anything other than bad / mismatched rear springs?
Most likely it is just old, worn out springs, but check that the
cross-member that the tops of the springs sit in looks OK, and that you have
the correct brackets (in the correct spots, in the correct orientation).
> At worst, the lever arm shocks should just do a poor job of dampening
> bumps, right?
They shouldn't affect ride height, if that is what you are asking.
> When the trailing arm is slack (jacks under frame,
> trailing arm hanging) does the shock hold up the trailing arm?
The shock arm should hit a rubber bump stop, that stops the downward
suspension travel.
> In other
> words, if I disconnect it, will the spring send the trailing arm flying?
No, the half-shaft will stop it next, but you shouldn't use that as a stop.
Block under the trailing arm if you plan to just take the shock off.
> Alternatively, is there any way to diagnose the condition of the shocks
> without removing them?
Support the car with jack stands under the trailing arms, and undo the shock
link. You can then move the arm up and down. If it has even resistance
throughout the range of movement, it isn't in too bad of shape. Also check
out the play in the link, the rubber at both ends tends to deteriorate.
> Is the bracket or the height of the attachment
> of the trailing arm to the frame adjustable, and could this counter the
> sag?
I've seen somewhere some information about turning brackets over, and mixing
different ones (one notch, two notch and three notch).
> What replacement springs, if any, would you recommend?
I put the "mild comp" springs that TRF sold about 10 years ago on, and ended
up with a jacked up rear end, and almost no suspension travel (at rest it
was basically on the bump stop, and was so stiff it didn't move much). This
was because the spring that were on there were just the opposite, pretty
much riding on the upper stop. Last year I switched back to stock rate
springs, and the ride is much nicer (still looks jacked up to me, though).
> I've also noticed something else really embarassing on that side:
> There's a big wood shim wedged between the body and the top of the ..
> suspension tower? Guess I'm not sure what that is, exactly. I'm
> speculating the DPO put it there after bolting in the rollbar (to the
> body, not the frame!! ack) What the heck is that! And would the darned
> thing sag even further if I took it out?!
No idea, but I would carefully examine the the frame in that area, the wedge
could have been to hold something (broken) in place.
--
Darrell Walker
66 TR4A IRS
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