Tail Lift

[tiger j]

My tiger came with with dale's springs front and back,but the rear sits too low for my liking.With the car unladen the rear leaf springs are straight and I wish to have 1 inch added to the height.(There are no lowering blocks etc added to the rear).The rear springs have the inbuilt traction bar.
The spring shackle angle at the rear spring mount appears to have the same angle as stock setup .Can the local spring guy heat up and reset the spring curve so that I get the desired height.I do realise that by adding curve to the leaf spring that I am also in effect shortening It as well.Has someone gone through this exercise before?Are these springs unique in some way that by heating and re curving they are then compromised?
Many thanks in advance for suggestions regarding this.

John.
Perth Western Australia.

 

[0neoffive]

Warming Cold Irony

Very few people have the talents & experience to broad torch and quench a recurve into a piece of spring steel. Then there's the fun of getting the arch & spring rate balanced L & R. Best to have your welder/fabricator whip up a set of matching extended rear hangers. Much cheaper and less risky.
There's also spring companies who will take standard 1/4" stock like from the Jeep rears and build off a good 1st (long) Tiger/Alpine leaf until you get the arch and rating you are looking for.

 

[cobrakidz]

I took mine in (on my last Tiger) to a spring shop and had them re-arched----worked out well and only about $100.

 

[Duke Mk1a]

Just make some longer rear shackles.

 

[wag123]

Just make some longer rear shackles.

+1
There was a shop notes way back that talked about how this actually improves the rear suspension geometry.
I made a pair of shackles that has 3 sets of holes, one set of holes at the stock ride height, the second set 1 inch lower which raises the rear ride height 1/2 inch, and the third set 2 inches lower which raises the rear ride height 1 inch. If you do this you will likely need to adjust your exhaust system so that the rear axle does not come into contact with the tailpipes when the car is jacked up.

 

[tiger j]

tail lift

Thanks for all your advice. Is there a chance You can post a pic of the extended rear shackles ? How can I access the shop notes in regards to the benefits to the rear geometry?

Regards
John.

 

[Duke Mk1a]

John,

Pics worth 1000 words. Bolt holes are 4" on center.

I also have Dale A rear leaf springs and did not like the ride height.

With 4" shackles.

My engine is producing ~450 HP and have had no issues with the height.

 

[tiger j]

tail lift

this is the before shot.

 

[0neoffive]

Tail Dragger

Doesn't look all that bad as it sits, but these weren't supposed to be off-road rigs in the first place. Duke's solution is as practical as things can get. The pic shows the old BRG's stock length with the connecting cross link, which I would include in any re-fab. You can note the beefy 3rd leaf that also runs almost full length to the front for more anti-wrap support.

 

[Cal44]

Guess I'm odd man out.

I purchased the springs (front and rear) and found them to be spot on. Dale did tell me the the rears are a little on the hard side. I found them too be just fine as I like a firmer ride.

As for the ride height? I couldn't be happier.
Because the arch in the rear fender is lower than the arch in front fender it messes with some folks view of the lines.

A good for instance is, trying to lower and lower the front until it looks right. I have a hard time getting of speed bumps now and mine is a stock height (+/-)

I hooked up Koni's as well.

TigerJ.........yep, the picture you provided shows the car sitting way too low. Something is amiss. Did someone pull out one of the leafs?

Mike

 

[cobrakidz]

I like the front that low----trying for that look in my Tiger.

 

[tiger j]

tail lift

Thanks for all your help guy's.
Re fabricating the shackles as in Duke's pic is the path I will take.Its an easy reversal/ adjustment for obvious reasons.
To Cobrakidz..... the front has dale's 450's with factory rubber insulator's removed.Car has the crown of the bumpstop rubber removed and it has about 3/4 inch suspension travel.Koni's front and rear.Compared to stock the ride is firm but not too firm and it handles very well with no spring wind up.I will post an after pic.

 

[cobrakidz]

Thanks for the info......

 

[chirodoc]

TAIL LIFT

A cheap,quick and dirty way to lift the tail is by installing a set of helper spings. I got a set from J.C.Whitney way back when I needed fender clearance for my racing slicks ( 10.5 wide). You adjust the ride height by tightening or loosening the u bolts. When mounted on the front half of the rear spring it didn't adversely affect ride harshness. I seemed to help sping wrapup and axle tramp on bonzai starts at the autocross as well.

 

[wag123]

On mine, I welded cross bracing between the shackles (like the factory shackles). This prevents the shackles from deflecting horizontally during cornering.

 

[Duke Mk1a]

On mine, I welded cross bracing between the shackles (like the factory shackles). This prevents the shackles from deflecting horizontally during cornering.

I agree that I need to do that too.

 

[tiger j]

tail lift

Sounds Good. I will weld in a cross piece to tie the two halves together as part of the fab. Thanks.

 

[wag123]

I agree that I need to do that too.

Too much horizontal deflection in the rear shackles can cause the front spring mounts to tear loose. Because of the lever effect, a small amount of deflection in the rear mounts can put a great deal of stress on the front spring mounts! They are already a weak point on our cars without any additional help to fail.

 

[XTIGERX]

I like the nose, front end, down look on mine. Today, just out of curiosity I wondered how much slope there was from front to rear. I took a scientific approach and used a steel measuring tape. I measured from both ends of the side trim piece to the garage slab. I got 27" at the front and 28-1/2" at the rear. From what I can tell mine is a stock set-up. Does anyone else get around an inch and a half slope?

Justin

 

[michael-king]

I have dales springs front and rear.. and my car sits very low and level.. i dont mind a slight nose down stance.. the stock stance is quite level but the front guards, as on alpines always, appear to be floating over the front wheels.