Spring cambers

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

After some comments regarding lowering my special (See The Brookfields special thread), I would like to investigate how much I can lower the car without resorting to bending the front axle (and the expense so entailed).  I've read the 750 companion, Bill Williams book and several threads here but unless I'm missing it I can't find specific numbers.  Although I understand that these could vary depending upon the weight of the car.

The original concept for the car was for it to be used for vintage trials so.....

Can (or should) I reduce the number of leaves in the springs?

What is the lowest (unloaded) camber I can reasonably have the springs set to?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Howard

[Mark McKibbin]

I have a bowed axle however I started at the other end as I was sick of my flat rear springs bottoming out so I went from flat to 2.5" camber at the rear then as the car was not level I added camber to the front of about the same amount, it seems a good compromise. I was not going to race and the roads can be bumpy around here. It could affect your caster but mine seems to drive OK.

[Alan]

If I was building a car for Vintage trials, I’d be very much inclined to use standard springs.

["Slack Alice" Simon]

Hi Howard

"Slack Alice" has a flat front axle and a standard front spring with leaves removed.

I can't give more details yet, I'm away for a while.

I just kept trying different combinations of leaves until it felt right.

Swapped the early 5 leaf for a later spring and just played about.

[Steve Jones]

If I was building a car for Vintage trials, I’d be very much inclined to use standard springs.

I've built a couple of cars for vintage trials over the last 30 years and in that time they've taken part in hundreds of trials. Standard springs are exactly what I've done on both. Also, elongated pointed tails need a degree of thought if they are not going to be destroyed on trials hills. This one doesn't look too bad but needs considering in relation to the eventual ride height.

Steve

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

Thanks for the feedback.  I kind of thought that standard springs should be OK but with so many comments regarding lowering I thought I'd ask the question.

I guess I need to wait until the build is finished to see whether or not I need to remove springs.

Cheers

Howard

[JonE]

Worth noting the green book figures are wrong and have caused a few people real hassle. Bill Sheehan and Ian Dunford have been trying to address, but they weren't corrected on a previous reprint. I now can't find the club site which has the correct rates on... can anyone post it?

[Tom Coates]

I had new springs made by Ian Dunford with 1 1/2" camber at the front and 3 1/2" at the rear, which is about half way between standard and Ulster spec. I have a standard front axle and there are no problems, I don't think that the front axle deflects very much. Supersports have a flat front spring and standard axle and they seem to work ok.

This set up works well on a road car, but as others have said, might not be optimal for trialling.