Suspension Modification

[Mick Hanna]

Thanks for all the advice and comments, thus far.

Ian, the car is raised off the ground, but I have only removed one wheel. I shall remove the other one. The car is supported by a trolley jack placed under the centre of the beam with axle stands either side, but the weight of the car is supported further back on the chassis by another pair of axle stands and a wooden cross beam. I have checked the kingpins and sought a second opinion from my friend John Cuttriss and we agree there is no play; there is no play in the front bearings either; the tracking is spot on; I will have to check the caster angle a little more closely, but visually it seems to be alright.

John and Andrew, I have the twin dampers fitted. I have owned and used the car for close on 13 years. It has never been 'hands-off' when steering, but I am well used to the vagaries of the car's behaviour on the road. It is only since the long drive to and from Moreton that I've had any real anxiety - it was two-up with luggage and with new Longstone tyres fitted. I have experimented with tyre pressures and it behaves a little better with higher pressure (28psi), but not enough. 

I am keen to try this modification.

[andrew34ruby]

 I have experimented with tyre pressures and it behaves a little better with higher pressure (28psi), but not enough. 

I always run my Armstrongs at 30 psi. Don't know why.

[Ian Williams]

I am inclined to agree, I also run tyre pressures above the old recommendations

[David Stepney]

I run on Avon Triple Duties at 24 psi. Seems to work for me.

[Mick Hanna]

Well, the modification has now been completed, but I have yet to road test it. 

It wasn't an easy job. I tried to follow the good advice offered here, but my car seems to have a will of its own. The axle and spring never did relax so I had to resort to a small crowbar alongside some judicious raising and lowering of the trolley jack, wooden spacers and tweaks with a rat-tail file. The bolt through the radius arm upper mounting was too long to insert from behind so had to be inserted from the front - just one of the head-scratching problems I had to contend with. I hope it will all be worth it. 

Would I do it again?

No, but at least everything is reversible.

[Dirk73]

I've found the radius arm geometry (on abused 90yr old arms) doesn't quite marry up with the spring position when you want to put the shackle pins back. If you slacken the spring U-bolts and the radius arm pivot bolt, that can allow a bit of play in order to line up the shackle pins (or the plates you added).

Does the car track better now?

[Mick Hanna]

Hi Dirk,

I haven't taken the car out for a proper run yet, just a couple of turns around the block, but it seems to track a little better, certainly no worse!