Series 3 New Owner, New Problems - Rear Springs

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L

Lby

New Member
Posts
8
Location
Watford
Good Morning. All new this Landrover lark, but I need some honest advice.
The landrover I have bought seems to have the wrong springs on it. A question I have relating to why the rear springs hit the hanger. On a SWB series 3 what should this distance be see pictures. Are they the wrong springs or could it be that the spring hangers have been incorrectly positioned.
Does anyone know what the distance should be from the rear of the chassis to the rear hanger, and what should the distance be between the front and rear fixing points for the spring at the front and the shackle at the rear?
Thank you everyone in advance.
 

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Looks to me that when a new rear crossmember was fitted or chassis legs repaired the replacement spring hangers were welded on to far forward as you suspect. I will measure mine tomorrow if you need.
 
I thought that.

When I rebuild my chassis, this is where mine ended up. The dimensions are in the repair manual, widely available free on line.
IMG_20180312_122419.jpg
 
Ok just been to look at mine...S3 88" should be the same as a 109"

TBH that measurement wont help you you seem to have a DIY hanger mount....good chance its welded on to far forward.

A more useful measurement I made....was from the rear chassis were you ask for....to the center on the top hanger bolt....on mine that is 6.5ins.

Took a picture....lets see if I can upload it..

If I can help and more just ask.

Nick.
 

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tottot said:
Looks to me that when a new rear crossmember was fitted or chassis legs repaired the replacement spring hangers were welded on to far forward as you suspect. I will measure mine tomorrow if you need.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Not good news for a none welder, It would have been nice if the MOT garage picked this up before I bought the car. 3 years of saving for my Son's Dream car for his 21st has turned into a night mare.
A blow out within two hours of picking it up - thankfully not on the M6 which we were 30 mins previously. Two days later the poorly secured rear loom got caught on the propshaft and was ripped out. I feel like I have been robbed.
 
Lby said:
Thanks. Not good news for a none welder, It would have been nice if the MOT garage picked this up before I bought the car. 3 years of saving for my Son's Dream car for his 21st has turned into a night mare.
A blow out within two hours of picking it up - thankfully not on the M6 which we were 30 mins previously. Two days later the poorly secured rear loom got caught on the propshaft and was ripped out. I feel like I have been robbed.
Click to expand...
Which part of the loom? Front or rear?
 
tottot said:
Common for a replacement loom [ trailer cable ] to be fitted outside the chassis when rear crossmember replaced or other chassis work done. As OP found needs to be properly fixed in place
Click to expand...
Tell me about it , I reinstalled a temporary route for Speedo cable after engine swap in too much of a hurry to test it, wrapped round the prop taking out my oil pressure gauge capilliary line, tank gauge wiring, and a brake pipe as it thrashed around . Lesson learnt:D
 
nickjaxe said:
Ok just been to look at mine...S3 88" should be the same as a 109"

TBH that measurement wont help you you seem to have a DIY hanger mount....good chance its welded on to far forward.

A more useful measurement I made....was from the rear chassis were you ask for....to the center on the top hanger bolt....on mine that is 6.5ins.

Took a picture....lets see if I can upload it..

If I can help and more just ask.

Nick.
Click to expand...

9 inches on mine - this is a Bl@@dy nightmare.
rear hanger measurment.jpg
 
Its not a big job.....cut off that one with an angle grinder.....weld a new pair on....or get somebody to do the job.
If your not a mechanical type person...an old landrover is not a good idea unfortunately.

It may sound a lot of work but its not really....what the rest of the Landrover like....let hope the guy that fitted the hanger has not done anymore work on it.
 
Thanks but this is the LWB, mine is the 88. I think it is supposed to be around 6.5 inches from the rear of the chassis, which would look right.
Sadly I think the Landy will have to go. It was a present for my Son's 21st. His dream car. Now my greatest regret. Saved up for 3 years, now Poof, it's gone.
I can't weld, and didn't want to pour money into getting welding done. I trusted the Guy who sold it to me who assured me it was all fine, and it would just need tinkering. which I can do, but welding - Nope - no room no equipment.
An expensive, but valuable life lesson. I am fairly philosophical about it now. I will end up loosing £1000s but it could be so much worse. My Son survived the blow out on the way home, after driving it for less than 100 miles. Rewiring the rear only took a few hours after it wrapped round the prop shaft.
There are people in Greece that have lost everything. So what am I moaning about.
You know you have been done when there is radio silence to every attempt to contact the seller. "I'll sort that all out for you, you will have no problems, it needs a bit of tidying" My Ar$e!
Thank you all that have replied to my post and for helping - keep up the good work.
If I can give a bit of advice to others who may be considering buying a Land Rover, or anything else for that matter - Run a mile if the Guy selling has big angry Dogs, they ain't there as pets. They are there for his protection.
 
Lby said:
Sadly I think the Landy will have to go. It was a present for my Son's 21st. His dream car. Now my greatest regret. Saved up for 3 years, now Poof, it's gone.
Click to expand...
Vehicles this age will always have some bodges, unfortunately as was stated above. if you are not happy pottering around to fix them then maybe this is not the vehicle for you.
I would go round the vehicle with the service manual and see if you can find and tidy up what you can before making a decision. If you find no more that old tyres, the wiring loom and the spring hangers wrong then that would be a result. Thats actually not that much wrong. The spring hangers are a relatively easy fix and even if you pay someone its not the end of the world if the rest of the chassis and bulkhead is solid.
I have had two tyres over the years blow out on me, all at motorways speeds and luckily both rears, One was a very old tyre on an old car that did not like 450 miles at motorway speeds and literally exploded and one was a new tyre that picked up a big nail on the motorway and went down quickly. Neither was the cars fault.
Before writing it of I would look and see just how bad it is, all old cars will have some niggling faults on them and will need constant attention.
 
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Lby said:
Thanks but this is the LWB, mine is the 88. I think it is supposed to be around 6.5 inches from the rear of the chassis, which would look right.
Sadly I think the Landy will have to go. It was a present for my Son's 21st. His dream car. Now my greatest regret. Saved up for 3 years, now Poof, it's gone.
I can't weld, and didn't want to pour money into getting welding done. I trusted the Guy who sold it to me who assured me it was all fine, and it would just need tinkering. which I can do, but welding - Nope - no room no equipment.
An expensive, but valuable life lesson. I am fairly philosophical about it now. I will end up loosing £1000s but it could be so much worse. My Son survived the blow out on the way home, after driving it for less than 100 miles. Rewiring the rear only took a few hours after it wrapped round the prop shaft.
There are people in Greece that have lost everything. So what am I moaning about.
You know you have been done when there is radio silence to every attempt to contact the seller. "I'll sort that all out for you, you will have no problems, it needs a bit of tidying" My Ar$e!
Thank you all that have replied to my post and for helping - keep up the good work.
If I can give a bit of advice to others who may be considering buying a Land Rover, or anything else for that matter - Run a mile if the Guy selling has big angry Dogs, they ain't there as pets. They are there for his protection.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be too hasty, I know it's gutting to be conned to any degree and you've had a couple of nasty experiences with the tyre and the loom.

However you have bought the vehicle now and that is the major outlay so if the spring hangers are the only serious thing requiring work, they would not be that expensive to fix. It might sound like wishful thinking but there might not be a lot else wrong, someone's cocked up the positioning of the hangers and washed their hands of any responsibility plus any other problems like the tyre which could be argued to just be unlucky.

It can be a steep learning curve but the experience could prove valuable and at least if you do sell it you could sort things out as best as possible so that you can sell it in a better state than you got it, and hopefully not lose any money.
 
A local independent should be able to sort that out, it's a simple welding job.

Or a mobile welder.

To make it easier you could ensure the bolts can be undone, and, if you are really generous, buy a couple of new spring hangers. They've cheap.

A very quick search reveals welders near you.
 

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Spring hangers are £20 each or less, so no biggie, if you get someone around to weld at your place you could have all the work done, bar the welding. Jack the vehicle up, put the chassis on axle stands, undo the bolts, drop the axle away, (carefully) cut off the old ones, tidy up the chassis so the new one fit and clamp in place.

Ensure the weld point is immaculate and then all the welder has to do is zip around with the MIG. You can then paint and reassemble.

A days work if you take it really slow. Buy a 4.5 inch angle grinder and a box of 1mm disks, and a flap wheel, if you don't have.
 
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