Ulsteroid Rear Suspension - Advice Please

[John P]

Hi,

I have an Ulsteroid which is fitted with what I assume are standard saloon rear springs but with just 5 leaves having had the top two removed to reduce their stiffness. They are also bound with self amalgamating tape.

The ride has always been very hard to the point where I have to be careful to avoid potholes or temporary ramps leading up to road repairs or the jarring can be quite painful. In fact, if I see them in advance, I normally try to bend slightly forward away from the seat back which helps.

I have seen old films of cars in period and it does look as though the drivers had this problem on bumpy tracks but I'd like to improve matters if I can.

Is this likely to be too firm springs or could it be related to the shock absorbers being too stiff? I think they are fitted with Ferodo type friction disks and not beech wood which I've read would have been used originally.

Any advice?

John.

[JonE]

have you tried seeing if the shock absorbers are locked solid? If its on saloon springs then will they not be far too curved, unless they have been retempered.. unless they have a massive spacer under them to make up for the lost two leaf thickness when tightened ?

[John P]

Sorry, should have said that they were flattened and re-tempered when the two leaves were removed.

A spacer to replace the missing springs was fitted but I can't remember if this is below or on top of the spring.   I thought it was on top.

[John P]

Any advice?

[Reckless Rat]

Have you checked to see whether the springs are bottoming out under the weight of the car? You could try noting where the springs etc are sitting in an unladen situation and then where they are if you jack the car up under the rear crossmember and allow the axle to hang down. There should be a goodly difference. It is difficult to see however how much the axle will rise when under load but it may just be that it has bottomed on the underside of the car. Not really ideal...

Some photos might help.

[Ivor Hawkins]

I know this may sound silly, but have you stood in the cockpit and jumped up and down to see if the suspension is actually working and not locked up?

On the various specials I’ve had, they were all quite “ bouncy” and though they would bottom out on occasion, they were far from harsh as far as rise quality is concerned.