Upgrading rear leaf springs

Sam

Sam

New Member
Now that I'm coming to the end of fitting out the rear of my camper, she's sitting a little low and too close to the bump stops, grrrr! My MOT tester confirmed you can just cut the bumps so they're smaller, but I want a better solution, so I'm thinking stiffer leaf springs at the rear to overcome this issue. Has anyone any experience of doing this, and if so, who did they use? I'm guessing now I've got rid of the old, rotten chipboard and replaced it with ply, she probably weighs quite a bit more now!
 
I got the springs on Bonnie re-tempered and an extra leaf put in at Mancunian Springs in Manchester. Cost £200 but made a lot of difference.
Give Martin a bell, he's done springs in the past.
 
I think they were fitted from new. The old ones were split and hard as a bullet when I got the van, and I was amazed to be able to get direct replacements in a range of hardness. They work really well, and reduce roll considerably.
 
All go saggy over time, extra weight or not, mine sits a little low. Re-tempering will Raise it considerably. Getting mine done and then re-rolled to drop it again (people have mixed feelings on re-rolling but I want it a few inches lower to handle better and easier to get in and out.
 
For my V8 commer I pissed off the lever shocks and added coil over shocks with adjustable ride height via a C spanner.
 
colinthefox said:
Sounds like a good solution.Have you got any pics of the setup?
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No, sorry. And seeing as we just rolled it, I'm not sure if it is the best solution!

I took every second leaf out if I recall correctly and had to weld in a small bit of framing so the top of the shock could be in double shear.
 
As I'm fitting a Spacevan 4.77 axle to my van, it's a good time to overhaul my rear end.
Looking at getting the leaf springs overhauled locally (but not sure what to ask for - so advice welcome !)
I've got a pair of NOS Armstrong dampers which I'll drain and refill with fresh oil - what is the current thinking re. grade ?
Also, wondering what the longer term road test results are on these bump stop replacements
 
Paul Goldsmith said:
Also, wondering what the longer term road test results are on these bump stop replacements
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I can't fault the rubber supplementary springs at all (and despite appearances, they don't behave like bump stops). We've done 10K miles on them in four years and they're still good. At less than 100 quid replacement cost I won't mind replacing them again in a few years if I have to. The great thing about them is there's virtually no engineering involved in fitting them.
 
The assisters do sound good but if you don't want to go down that rout then re-tempered and re-profiled springs would be a good starting point. What ever you do with the springs fill your new dampers with SAE 50 oil (not 20/50), the original they used was something similar to SAE 20 so you will feel a big difference in ride. I've done it to both vans (and the Traveller) and it's a bit of a revelation.
 
That's great Panky, definitely getting my leaf springs overhauled - good to know what to ask for specifically ! The higher viscosity oil on the dampers sounds worthwhile too.

Very tempted by the assisting rubbers too, thanks for the update Colin - very much appreciated.
 
A bit far for you but I got Bonnies done a few years ago at Mancunian Springs in Manchester, cost £200 for the pair and that included an extra leaf being made and fitted,
 
Thanks Panky, assume the extra leaf was to improve stiffness on the heavier Roadranger body. Looking online, I was rather surprised to see leaf springs still widely used !
 
Yep that was the reason. She was very barge like with a saggy bottom until they were fitted along with the 'upgraded' dampers. Spring assisters would have been even better in her case.
 
colinthefox said:
I can't fault the rubber supplementary springs at all (and despite appearances, they don't behave like bump stops). We've done 10K miles on them in four years and they're still good. At less than 100 quid replacement cost I won't mind replacing them again in a few years if I have to. The great thing about them is there's virtually no engineering involved in fitting them.
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Just spotted that you're running a Jennings conversion, so wondering whether you feel that the 65 hardness might be a bit firm on my lighter HiTor ? My plans do include firming up the Commer front suspension with the Hi Lux dampers and possibly shorter coils.
 
Paul Goldsmith said:
Just spotted that you're running a Jennings conversion, so wondering whether you feel that the 65 hardness might be a bit firm on my lighter HiTor ? My plans do include firming up the Commer front suspension with the Hi Lux dampers and possibly shorter coils.
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I'm not familiar with the finer details of a HiTor conversion, so I can't say for definite, but my feeling is that the same ones (65 shore) would be OK.
 
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