Hi all,
I promised to publish before and after installation ride heights for
my B roadster after I installed new Moss-supplied (George) 6-leaf rear
springs. Here they are:
Driver's Side Passenger Side
Before: 21 7/8" 22"
After: 23 3/4" 23 7/8"
The above with 165R-14's at 32 PSI.
Caution: I found out that these ride heights vary as a fct of how
hard you bounce the rear of the car before measuring. Also, cutting
the wheels hard changes the car's stance. No kidding!
Best to say that the car's rear ride height has been increased by
approximately 2". Now I can get over the curb at the end of my driveway
without dragging the muffler!
Doing the job is a piece of cake. The car needs to be on jack stands
a coupla feet off the floor and a jack is needed to compress the
springs. My rebound straps are functional so the axle didn't need to be
supported when the old springs were removed. I supported it at first
but saw that it wasn't necessary later. YMMV.
The trick is to install the spring to the front eyebolt first. Then a
block is put at the rear of the frame, under the rear shackle area, for
the spring to ride on, then a jack is put under the spring center and
the spring is compressed. It lengthens as it's compressed, enabling the
rear shackles and bushings to be installed and tightened. Care must be
taken here, there's a lot of energy stored in those compressed springs!
I'm an experienced mechanic, know how to apply leverage safely as I
can. Don't do this job unless you have the equipment and knowledge to
do it right.
I removed only the front eye bolts, the axle U-bolts and associated
hardware and the rear shackles. I've seen a lot of written procedures
that direct one to remove many more parts but that's all I found
necessary to remove.
I spent an entire day removing and installing the driver's side
spring. I did the other side the next morning in less than 3 hours.
Nothing like knowing what you're doing.
Charley Robinson
`69 B CBR that now looks like a preying Mantis!
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