Greetings, Jim and List,
My '62 TR4 looked high in the rear to me as well. I'm sure with a full tank of
fuel, a passenger and a boot full of, um, firewood or sandbags or something, it
would sit just about right.
As the vast majority of my driving in this car is solo, I opted to lower the
rear a tad with a pair of lowering blocks. This is standard practice for all the
lowered trucks you see in America, and as the suspension on those trucks and my
TR are suspiciously similar, I thought I'd try to employ their technique.
The lowering blocks were made from some aluminum bar stock, 1" thick by 2" wide
with a 5/8" hole drilled in the center to accommodate the head of the bolt that
holds the leaves of the spring together, and a short section of 5/8" rod
pressed into the hole which stands proud at the top to locate the block in the
hole on the leaf spring's mounting boss on the axle housing.
Longer 'U' bolts were required to accommodate the added thickness of the
spring-block combination, and I sourced these from a place on-line that can
make them to your specification. All 4 bolts with hardware were about $25. I
can see if I can locate the vendor if anyone is interested.
Total expenditure was around $50 including the large 5/8" drill bit for my bench
press.
(An aside on technique for drilling that BIG hole. Make a pilot hole with a
small, sharp bit FIRST. Step up 2-3 times with larger and larger bits before
you make the final 5/8" hole. The reason being, that big bit will walk around
and you'll never get the hole properly centered. Ask me how I know.)
The result was the car sat just right to my taste with the wheels filling the
arches that echoed the front wheel arches. It give the car the faintest
appearance of a rearward rake, i.e., the line of the car slopes toward the
rear. This looks right on these cars I think. Has a hint of that 'bulldog' look
the TR3s have.
I would like to believe it corners a little better as well. It 'feels' better,
anyway.
I did not cut my rebound bumpers or alter the axle limiting straps.
Occasionally, if I go through a dip at an intersection with a pass enter and
goose it at the same time, I'll hit the stops. No big deal, really.
The new axle bolts have more thread on them than stock bolts, so if I were to
take a road trip, I could remove the blocks and take up the slack without
having to remove the U-bolts. (They say NEVER to re-use the U-bolt hardware, by
the way, so there's my disclaimer) However, to date, I've never raised the car
back up to accommodate extra load.
I've had the car with these lowering blocks for several years now and I check
the U-bolts ever once in a while to make sure they're still snug. Never any
change in status there.
As usual, 'Your Mileage May Vary', 'Opinions expressed are my own' and 'Improper
reassembly of your Triumph can cause injury or death.' Use common sense.
Please let me know if there's anything I can clarify with you.
-jeffrey
Jeffrey J. Barteet
Materials Research Laboratory
University of California, Santa Barbara
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