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Banjo & Springs
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2001 7:58 pm
by Robert Kampas
Hello all,
Great discussion about front suspension, wedges, bishops gear, and Mr.
Badgers' Datsun. The info about torqueing the front wheel bearing spacer to
80lbs I found very helpful since the machinist who did the work on my front
axle assembly left them out!!
Anyway, I am currently putting the bits & pieces of a TC rolling chassis
back together and have progressed from the front of the car to the rear. I
decided to replace the saggy rear springs with new ones from Abington
Spares. No problem. Replaced seals, half shafts, bearings, hubs, etc. and
now have a very serviceable banjo rear end. No problem.
No problem - except that when I bolted the axle banjo to the attachment
points on the springs I really had to cinch things down to get the bottom
surface of the rear axle mount to mate to the upper spring plate. There was
more than 1 1/2 inch of upward spring travel before the surfaces came into
contact. Is this normal? The rubber pads on the chassis under the banjo
seem quite squashed. I can't remember how it was when I disassemble the
gooey mess. I do know that the original springs were made from different
material than the replacements, perhaps there is a difference in spring
rates. Or maybe I really have "no problem" - and the axle will lift off the
chassis when the weight of the rest of the car is finally back on board
(Michael Sherrell said the he was always amazed by that). Sure is nice to
see all four wheels back on the ground though!
Beyond all this, I will need to check the alignment of the rear axle. I
will check the wheelbase against the dimensions in the brown book but what
is the best method to check if the axle is square to the chassis?
Gratefully,
Bob Kampas
Re: Banjo & Springs
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2001 4:31 am
by Roger Furneaux
Bob - you answered your own question re. the springs, but for more info.
look at the back pages of "Blower" (sometimes erroneously called "Bentley"
after the publisher, poor old Eric Blower did not get a mention on the
cover...)
to check the rear axle alignment, I presume you already checked out the
chassis diagonals so you know that is square & straight. then all you have
to do is first make sure the axle protrudes an equal amount on each side,
then measure from the end of the casing on each side to a point well
forward, say the body outrigger. the odd 1/16" difference is probably the
best you can hope for...
ocTagonally
Bob Kampas wrote:
>Anyway, I am currently putting the bits & pieces of a TC rolling chassis
>back together and have progressed from the front of the car to the rear. I
>decided to replace the saggy rear springs with new ones from Abington
>Spares. No problem. Replaced seals, half shafts, bearings, hubs, etc. and
>now have a very serviceable banjo rear end. No problem.
>
>No problem - except that when I bolted the axle banjo to the attachment
>points on the springs I really had to cinch things down to get the bottom
>surface of the rear axle mount to mate to the upper spring plate. There was
>more than 1 1/2 inch of upward spring travel before the surfaces came into
>contact. Is this normal? The rubber pads on the chassis under the banjo
>seem quite squashed. I can't remember how it was when I disassemble the
>gooey mess. I do know that the original springs were made from different
>material than the replacements, perhaps there is a difference in spring
>rates. Or maybe I really have "no problem" - and the axle will lift off the
>chassis when the weight of the rest of the car is finally back on board
>(Michael Sherrell said the he was always amazed by that). Sure is nice to
>see all four wheels back on the ground though!
>
>Beyond all this, I will need to check the alignment of the rear axle. I
>will check the wheelbase against the dimensions in the brown book but what
>is the best method to check if the axle is square to the chassis?