spridgets
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Sagging rear end

To: Adrian Jones <adrianjones747@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Sagging rear end
From: James Juhas <james.f.juhas@snet.net>
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:10:15 -0500
Good luck.  When I chased this issue on my wife's 1969 Sprite, I never 
solved it, in spite of new springs and shocks on all corners.  I 
measured everything trying to figure it out.  Never did.  I suggested a 
diet to my wife.  Bad move.

I sold the car and later replaced it with a 1966 Sprite that, 
remarkably, sits level.  When I got it, it was low in the rear, and I 
changed rear springs, fearing the worst.  But it still came out level.

Much has been said on this list about these cars taking a "set", hence 
the body shell swap suggestion.  Maybe they do bend over time.  And I 
can't explain why the '66 sits level.  Maybe in its life before we got 
it, it always had a balanced load.

For your car, a low-cost diagnosis exercise would be to swap the rear 
springs side to side.  The shocks themselves are not likely to be your 
problem unless one is frozen and won't let the suspension move, but that 
is unlikely, I think.

Jim

Adrian Jones wrote:

>Yeah, me and the car.
>
>Anyhows, I'm eventually getting around to figure out why the drivers side on 
>this 1500 Miidget is sagging, most noticeably at the back.  There is a good 1 
>inch difference between the drivers side and passenger side (measured from the 
>ground to the wheel well).
>The rear leaves and lever arm shock absorbers look OK (though I did have to 
>top up the shock on the drivers side)
>Is this sagging caused by tired leaf springs and/or bad shocks or could it be 
>something else?
>What would be a good plan of action here?
>
>Many thanks for any advice.
>Regards,  Adrian




<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>