Front springs and dampers
Discussion
The front of my car seemed very low and it understeered round roundabouts.I know my dampers are knacked at the mo,but to get me out of trouble I replaced just the springs for now.The N/S spring came out in 3 pieces and the O/S in five!!!!.Do check the springs.If they are originals,by now they will be well past their best.I will be looking at the Tower View spring and shocks as soon as money permits.Also you may have problems opening the bonnet as the springs have lost their height.
What normaly happens first is the springs compress up (the coils being close together) you will also find that when you open the bonnet the front grounds out before you can get the bonnet stay in place. you will have a very hard ride and knock all your fillings out when drivng on rough country roads. now the funny thing is, the backs don't seem to suffer as bad as the fronts do. BUT you should replace the lot if you can afford it if they are found to be faulty.
Cost! TVR replacements are about £100 each for a bolt on change. It is possible to strip them but I would just change the lot if you have to. Now you could go bananas and spend £200 each! but if you shop around you could pick up some second hand ones where someone if updateing for a new super set and flog you there normal ones. you may well get a response from this forum after people see this.
good luck.
If you need more info on what you should buy, just ask on the forum, someone will soon tell you.
Check out,' why does my front keep coming up`
gadgit.
>> Edited by gadgit on Friday 4th October 21:18
Cost! TVR replacements are about £100 each for a bolt on change. It is possible to strip them but I would just change the lot if you have to. Now you could go bananas and spend £200 each! but if you shop around you could pick up some second hand ones where someone if updateing for a new super set and flog you there normal ones. you may well get a response from this forum after people see this.
good luck.
If you need more info on what you should buy, just ask on the forum, someone will soon tell you.
Check out,' why does my front keep coming up`
gadgit.
>> Edited by gadgit on Friday 4th October 21:18
My S1 front springs were well past their use by date (one had snapped at the top coil). I shopped around - from the TVR dealer who wanted £100+ per spring, to a couple of spring companies that would manufacture a bespoke spring for around £25 each plus a £10 for delivery.
The problem with getting someone to make a pair is that you need to know the exact spec that the original springs were - if you have scoured the links (like I did), you will have found plenty of variations on what people have in their own cars (170lbs to 400+lbs!).
The TVR Dealer didnt have a make or part number other than the TVR part number - which isn't listed on what spec the springs should be.
As per the dampers, the spring spec and manufacturers were probably changed during the development of the S's so there doesn't seem to be a definative spec for each model. Just get ones that are as near as poss to what you have taken off. If they are not exacly right, you can play with other specs, but I doubt you will notice unless they are a mile off, or you really push the car on the road.
TVRCC advised that they were 250 lbs/inch compression, and gave me more specific details on outside and inside diameter, number of coils, diameter of the wire used to make the coiled spring, lenght etc...
The problem with the lenght is that these dimensions were taken from a stripped down S1, presumably with "tired" springs which could be shorter under compression than they should be.
I ended up getting a pair from Demon Tweeks, slightly longer than the spec TVRCC gave me, at 250lbs / inch compression and they are fine. Bonnett opens with a touch of clearance, ride is good, ride height is better than it was (the tyres still fill the arches in proportion), a bit of oversteer (due to my camber being wrong - thats my link further down!) but on the whole a good result!.
Price?.......£18.50 per spring and a fiver for delivery.
If you do it yourself, make sure you have spring clamps that will cope with the smaller springs - the usual road car springs are much bigger and the clamps are usually designed with the wider gaps between coils.
Still possible though (with a bit of struggling)!.
I'll post the TVRCC Spec, and the Demon Tweeks part number/spec on the bottom of this link when I get home tonight.
Paul (all above is for an S1, S2-V8S will probably be different again!).
The problem with getting someone to make a pair is that you need to know the exact spec that the original springs were - if you have scoured the links (like I did), you will have found plenty of variations on what people have in their own cars (170lbs to 400+lbs!).
The TVR Dealer didnt have a make or part number other than the TVR part number - which isn't listed on what spec the springs should be.
As per the dampers, the spring spec and manufacturers were probably changed during the development of the S's so there doesn't seem to be a definative spec for each model. Just get ones that are as near as poss to what you have taken off. If they are not exacly right, you can play with other specs, but I doubt you will notice unless they are a mile off, or you really push the car on the road.
TVRCC advised that they were 250 lbs/inch compression, and gave me more specific details on outside and inside diameter, number of coils, diameter of the wire used to make the coiled spring, lenght etc...
The problem with the lenght is that these dimensions were taken from a stripped down S1, presumably with "tired" springs which could be shorter under compression than they should be.
I ended up getting a pair from Demon Tweeks, slightly longer than the spec TVRCC gave me, at 250lbs / inch compression and they are fine. Bonnett opens with a touch of clearance, ride is good, ride height is better than it was (the tyres still fill the arches in proportion), a bit of oversteer (due to my camber being wrong - thats my link further down!) but on the whole a good result!.
Price?.......£18.50 per spring and a fiver for delivery.
If you do it yourself, make sure you have spring clamps that will cope with the smaller springs - the usual road car springs are much bigger and the clamps are usually designed with the wider gaps between coils.
Still possible though (with a bit of struggling)!.
I'll post the TVRCC Spec, and the Demon Tweeks part number/spec on the bottom of this link when I get home tonight.
Paul (all above is for an S1, S2-V8S will probably be different again!).
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