what are all these shocks?!

[Owain Lloyd]

today i started replacing my rear springs with some new ‘flying tiger’ ones and i have a few questions.

1) as i removed the old spring i started to wonder about the strange koni horizontal dampers on there. i’ve always know they were there but never took much notice. what is the effect of these and should i use them with the new springs? how can i test, adjust them? they seem increadibly stiff!
picture:
http://owainlloyd.no-ip.com:8080/photos … G2962.html

2) the rear end of the new spring is coiled the opposite way. is this ok?
picture:
http://owainlloyd.no-ip.com:8080/photos … G2961.html

3) the off-center front bush is towards the top on the old spring and towards the front on the new one. has is just moved over time?
old: http://owainlloyd.no-ip.com:8080/photos … G2959.html
new: http://owainlloyd.no-ip.com:8080/photos … G2960.html

4) there were some flat rubber washers either side of this front bush but they don’t fit with the new spring. it looks like they are not needed with the new spring. is that ok?

5) the main rear shocks are koni 82-1348’s. any opinions on this shock? and how can i adjust it?
picutre: http://owainlloyd.no-ip.com:8080/photos … G2957.html

6) that central allan bolt the holds the spring together and holds the u-bolt plate is very hard the tighten. i didn’t get i all the way into the nut threads. i’m thinking of getting a longer bolt and a nyloc nut for it. is that a good idea?

many thanks, again!

[Jeff Nichols]

Where did you get the ‘flying tiger springs" ?

1) The Konis may have been an attempt to limit axel hop. I had a mid-80’s Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with four shock on the rear axel. Two were horizontal for axel hop control. Is there a brack welded on the fram for the other end of the shock to attach?

2) My guess is it may lower the ride height. It looks like you have more leaves than the stock spring.

3) Original springs had the spring eye off centered closer to the car floor rather than front or back. I think Rootes did it to lower the roll center of the rear axel.

6) The bolt fits into a hole in the middle of the plate the u-bolts bolt to. If you replace make sure it fits throught the hole.

[Owain Lloyd]

thanks dude,

the springs came new from the previous owner. they had rob guerra’s business card taped onto them. they seem very nicely done – thicker leaves than the original but the same number. the ride height is nice – about the same as least sagging of my previous springs 🙂

one side of the horizonal shock is attached to the shackle bolt of the front mount of the spring, the other side is attached to plate that the u-bolts go into. i suppose this plate must not be original. speaking of which, where do you guys get new u-bolts? they are smaller than most common sizes and i couldn’t find any in chicago so i ordered some from ‘kansas spring’ with the dimensions i needed.

i figure, the u-bolts should hold the spring tightly so there will not be any load on the little center bolt and any quality allan bolt will suffice.

[Author]

Posts