The 'E' Type Forum

I am attempting to replace the shock absorbers in my 2+2 series 2.
I have removed the 4 spring shock /absorber assemblies from the IRS, and now need to seperate the springs and shocks. Has anyone any advice on how best to achieve this.
Mike Longmead

Carefully. There's a lot of potential energy stored in those compressed springs.

Option one is to rent/buy/make a spring compressor. Option 2 is to take them to your friendly neighbourhood suspension shop and pay them a small amount to do it for you.

Go with Andrew's suggestion and buy/rent/borrow a spring compressor, or have the work done. It's not a complicated job with the correct tools, but an extremely dangerous one without them.

Sorry for my poor English...
I use two tie-down ratchet straps, the type with no hooks.

C

Well, this subject is being discussed, somewhat acrimoniously , on another thread, but I must caution with the utmost strength against makeshift techniques such as ratchet straps. They are far too weak to cope with this job, and are a serious, and potentially fatal , accident waiting to happen . Removing springs is one of the two most dangerous jobs on almost any car, the other being having any significant body parts under in it when it is supported only by a jack. Either buy the proper tool - they are not expensive compared with a funeral - or take the shocker/spring combos to a workshop who have the proper gear . You would not believe the amount of energy stored within a compressed road spring - it can produce a clean hole through a 150mm brick wall in the merest fraction of a second

Christopher's note is worth repeating, having had a very close shave during my training when a very poorly maintained correct tool failed.

The spring removed one finger from the operators hand, went through a car, breaking two door windows and then through a breeze block wall.

Please use the correct tools

I had no problem disassembling the springs. Put the spring compressors on and tightened them up. A few scrape marks on the shocks, but they were being discarded anyways.

Putting them together was a different matter. With the compressors on the springs, there was just not enough room for the shocks. I tried but it was getting dangerous so I took them up to the suspension shop and had them put it together.

Now I know why SNG sell the shock/springs assembled

I have removed the first shock absorber assembly, and removed the shock from the spring. I used a custom made tool to compress the springs, details of which I will post later this week.
The springs currently installed are Koni,s, there is also a tubular dust shield installed between the spring and the shock. I have found no reference to this dust shield in any of the service or parts manuals. Could this part be specific to Koni shocks.
The Koni,s appear to ne in good order, however the car came with a new set of standard Whitehead shocks, still in boxes. The question is, is it better to retain the Koni,s or replace them with the new shocks
<a href="http://s1078.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... 9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w49 ... G_1999.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>

Theis is the picture that failed at last post

I have followed this and other threads on this subject with interest, and the material gathered, some good and some downright scary, prompted me to design and build a spring compressor specifically for the E-type rears.
The criteria were
1 Low cost. The resulting spring compressor cost under $20.00 to produce
2 lightweight. The ends are made of aluminum, and the base of steel tube
3 Safe to operate. The four post design ensures the spring cannot slip out of the compressor.
I have completed my shock installation using this setup, and it worked perfectly. Centering the spring on the shock to install the collets was a breeze using the four posts.
Attached are drawings of the component parts, except the rods. These are ?? threaded rod 18? long with a nut welded to one end.

Just removed the rear shocks with a view to replacing the awful Koni's with Boge. Quickly discovered that getting a DIY spring compressor that would fit the tight coils of the E-Type was a real problem. I tried a couple of garages and Kwik-Fit but none of their tools or adapters would do the job. Suddenly hit me that the place to go for small springs would be a motorbike shop and sure enough they had the perfect tool to do it. Springs off and back on the new shocks in minutes for the price of a drink. They used this tool to do it:

?433 from Amazon if you have a few to do!:

Or one of these for ?165:

http://tinyurl.com/oq62uo8

Mike L wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 14, 2012 5:01 pm

I have removed the first shock absorber assembly, and removed the shock from the spring. I used a custom made tool to compress the springs, details of which I will post later this week.
The springs currently installed are Koni,s, there is also a tubular dust shield installed between the spring and the shock. I have found no reference to this dust shield in any of the service or parts manuals. Could this part be specific to Koni shocks.
The Koni,s appear to ne in good order, however the car came with a new set of standard Whitehead shocks, still in boxes. The question is, is it better to retain the Koni,s or replace them with the new shocks
<a href="http://s1078.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... 9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w49 ... G_1999.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>

My originals had dust shields, my replacement Boges came without dust shields so I fited the original dust sheildd to the new Boges and painted them both the original grey colour.

Hi, if possible could you let me know what length springs you have used?
Thanks
Darryl

I found a tip that said you could use old e-type brake discs, threader bar and nuts to compress them. I used this method and found it safe although as a result of the potential danger from the stored elastic energy, I wore a safety visor and welding gloves. You of course should only do what you're comfortable with.
Yours,
Phil

The method does work but take a look at the thread thickness of a proper spring compressor. The thread pitch and bolt thickness are proportionate to the expected load. Safety glasses are of no consequence when the stored potential energy is enough to gouge or punch a hole in a breeze block.

kind regards
Marek

dlgis wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:18 am

Hi, if possible could you let me know what length springs you have used?
Thanks
Darryl

I also used threaded rods and an old brake disc to remove the springs, I re-used the original springs, mine is a late 3.8 so the free length should be 10.5". I measured mine they were 3-4mm longer than that. I also measured the deflection under the wight of a 50kg (110lb) bag of cement and it seemed about correct, I can't now find where that is specified in the service manual but it is in there somewhere.

Allrand wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:34 pm

dlgis wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:18 am

Hi, if possible could you let me know what length springs you have used?
Thanks
Darryl

I also used threaded rods and an old brake disc to remove the springs, I re-used the original springs, mine is a late 3.8 so the free length should be 10.5". I measured mine they were 3-4mm longer than that. I also measured the deflection under the wight of a 50kg (110lb) bag of cement and it seemed about correct, I can't now find where that is specified in the service manual but it is in there somewhere.

Thanks for that, i need to remove my rear springs in the new year to check. I suspect they are too short, hence my ride height is too low.

In case of new springs, both front and rear, I can recoment to use the parts from CJ.
http://classicjaguar.com/cjparts/sus.php