Leaning (leaf springs)

[Dallas]

Hi fellas, I've notice the Capri is leaning on one side at the rear (driverside), its had brand new shocks, and the leaf springs look ok.

Can it be driver side spring is weaker?

[Mc Tool]

Well it must be leaning at the front too, unless the chassis is twisted , so it could also be a front spring . Springs may look fine but still have lost some boing (as they do with age ) and , your going to love this , the best way to diagnose the problem is to swap the springs from side to side ,one end at a time. Before you do anything get the car on a known flat surface and measure it ....with a ruler or tape measure ....not your eye and be sure you actually have a problem. I know a guy who went mental trying to sort the same issue on an escort ......which had a skewiff bumper, and another who was parking and measuring a car on the most uneven floor I ever saw .

[D366Y]

Well it must be leaning at the front too, unless the chassis is twisted , so it could also be a front spring . Springs may look fine but still have lost some boing (as they do with age ) and , your going to love this , the best way to diagnose the problem is to swap the springs from side to side ,one end at a time. Before you do anything get the car on a known flat surface and measure it ....with a ruler or tape measure ....not your eye and be sure you actually have a problem. I know a guy who went mental trying to sort the same issue on an escort ......which had a skewiff bumper, and another who was parking and measuring a car on the most uneven floor I ever saw .

Very good advice here before you go throwing money at new parts!

[Major_Tom]

Dallas, I thought you had been ambushed in an air vent by a violent alien in 1979! Glad youre okay.

[D366Y]

Dallas, I thought you had been ambushed in an air vent by a violent alien in 1979! Glad youre okay.

[Dallas]

Lol Thanks guys.

I've had a look at the front, it doesn't seem to be leaning, front spring looks ok.

When stood at the rear, you can only see a slight lean on driver side, but the wheel to arch clearance is half inch less when compare to the N/S rear. wheel.

I would imagine the O/S rear spring is weaker/worn and is sagging a little.

[Not_Anumber]

I changed mine for the same reason a couple of years ago and took the opportunity to change to poly bushes at the same time and replaced the worn rear shackles. The ride quality improved significantly as did the cornering.

Leaf springs arent vast money. I got a pair of new ones from CCI at the time but have a word with Martin as he sometimes has a good 2nd hand pair of single leaf springs in stock. Also poly bushes.

[AGD4692]

I have pictures of my car brand new (2.0 Ghia) showing a slight lean at the back to the right (drivers side). With the car a couple of months old the leaf springs were changed under warranty, no change... and the front springs were checked for possible height discrepancies.

When I took over the car from my father at 18, couple of years later I fitted 2.8i leafs and new front springs, no change...

When I worked at Ford UK, I enquired about this and the reply was "production line tolerances". There must be some "technical" reasons behind this as photos of brand new left hand drive MK3's show them leaning slightly to the left.

To this day when viewed from the back, the right side sits approximately an inch lower.

[Mc Tool]

Has any one actually bothered to put the vehicle on flat ground and (using a suitably
accurate device ....not eyes ) measured all 4 corners . Cars that are fine at one end but off level at the other must be twisted
( makes me wonder what the factory called acceptable ) .Probly the easiest way to sort this is to get an appropriate sized Mrs

[T.M.]

Hi,
I measured it few months ago on my LHD 2.8i. It was in garage, so possibly flat ground, but I didn't check it with spirit level.

Dimensions is from ground to top of wheelarch (with full tank of fuel):
Front left - 22.32"
Front right - 22.13"
Rear left - 22.60"
Rear right - 22.17"

This dimensions for 2.8i (on 205/60 VR13 tyres inflated to 1,95bar) with 1/2 tank of fuel should be:
Front - 22" - 22.5"
Rear - 22.5" - 23"
From John Miles chassis engineering article (August 1983): http://www.a400mod.com/VHK494S.htm


Looks like it's leaning on right side, but like AGD4692 said, there were "production line tolerances". So differences 0.19"on front and 0.43" on rear (probably 0.31" both on exactly flat gound) on 36 years old suspension is ok for me.
In addition it is LHD, so car is maybe in level with driver on board.


Tom

[Mc Tool]

A garage floor should be pretty flat,and level . I think half inch lee way is a lot ,specially if it is hi on left front and right rear and low on right front and left rear ,whole inch difference . No wonder some peeps are not happy . Fortunatly I know my shed floor is not flat (sockets roll away ) so there is no point in me rushing out to check my car ( otherwise I would )

[T.M.]

I think half inch lee way is a lot ,specially if it is hi on left front and right rear and low on right front and left rear ,whole inch difference .

Hi,
maybe I didn't write it clearly, sorry for that:

This is what I measured:
Front left - 22.32"
Front right - 22.13"
Rear left - 22.60"
Rear right - 22.17"

This is what it should be on 2.8i when it went new from production line:
Front - from 22" to 22.5"
Rear - from 22.5" to 23"


Tom

[Mc Tool]

Yeah I got that ( just added it up wrong ), just thinkin that if you added the tollerances up pesermistically you could have an inch out but I now see it could be 1/2"