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Comment by James Doulton on February 10, 2013 at 16:34

Cheers guy, I have a feeling that replacing both springs is the only way that I'll get it sorted.

Incidentally, while I had the axle disconnected from one of the leaf springs I 'weighed' that end and got 17Kg, just in case anyone is interested. With my wheels weighing 18Kg, that would make the unsprung weight approximately 35Kg each side, so very similar to the front.

Comment by Dave Taylor on February 10, 2013 at 12:37

It can be done like Ade says you need to cut a 1" hole directly over the bolt head, I think from memory the bolt is 3/4af, or 19mm. You can then get a socket in there, a 1" grommet covers the hole when done.

Comment by Adrian Southgate on February 10, 2013 at 12:00

There are ways of re-engineering it so you can access it from the inside of the tub, mainly means cutting an access hole in exactly the right place with a hole saw so you can grommet it afterwards.

One of the S3 or other melos owners will probably be able to point you in the right direction.

Comment by James Doulton on February 10, 2013 at 11:38

Well, I fitted the 2" lowering kit. I cut down one of the blocks so that it was 20mm so that I have made up for the shape difference in the springs. On the positive, that has made the car pretty level from side to side. On the negative, the exhaust is only about 2" off the ground, which means that it scrapes going into my garage and almost certainly won't clear the speed bumps around here.

I decided to fit the kit to both sides because I thought that it might fail its MOT if they noticed that it was different on the two sides. I guess that I'll have to think again.

Would I have to remove the body to get to the front leaf fixing?

Comment by Adrian Southgate on February 9, 2013 at 17:14

I wouldn't trust the bodywork to be 100% perfect as regards dimensions. The Legerra mould had one wheel arch 3/4 of an inch higher then the other. Always looked like it had more clearance on the passenger side than drivers and when you measure from the edge of the bonnet there is a substantial difference.

Comment by Big Vern on February 9, 2013 at 16:52

There should be a bolt through the leaves to join them 2gether. If one spring is flatter in the front portion then the wheel will sit slightly further to the rear but I wouldn't have thought by that much. 4 leaf, 2in x 1/4in leaves sound like std mk1 escort so that would nowhere near the value you obtained.

Comment by James Doulton on February 9, 2013 at 16:06

I have 4 leaves on each, they are 2in wide and 1/4 in thick.

Do you think that the difference could be that one side has sagged and that the new one is the proper shape?

I also think that the rear axle is not straight because the offside wheel is not central in the wheel arch but is closer to the front. That is the side with the new spring. It looks like it is exactly an inch forward of its proper place. I thought that the springs had little dimples to ensure that everything was lined up correctly.

Comment by Big Vern on February 9, 2013 at 15:33

The stiction can be very high with leaves. Some years ago a friend of mine was measuring a test car, they loaded the rear to max axle weight but the body movement was only a few mm, then someone slammed the boot lid and it dropped nearly three inches! How many leaves do you have on each spring and what width are they?

Comment by James Doulton on February 9, 2013 at 15:02

I just can't see how my measurements are so far out. I would have thought that stiction could be significant but surely not enough to wreck my measurements and to get double the rate. But something must be wrong. I'll kick myself when I work it out.

The two springs look the same thickness, so if they were the same rate but different shape then I could correct my static balance by using a lowering kit on one side. I have the lowering kit, it arrived yesterday. The dynamic behaviour would be pretty much unaffected.

Comment by Big Vern on February 9, 2013 at 14:36

trying to look out my spring info - there is nothing listed for saloon cars over 160lb/in - some rally slipper springs are about 180lb/in haven't found the rate for van springs yet but I don't think even they are 380lb/in

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