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chester rides again
12-29-2007, 09:28 AM
my springs arrived with one u-bolt missing as well as a package of nuts/washers and there are no instructions included :mad: needless to say i'm a little disappointed as this is my only weekend to do this project.

are the right and left springs the same?

are all the u-bolts the same?

do i follow the spring mounting in the green bible?

jeff

I Leak Oil
12-29-2007, 10:28 AM
Jeff, I don't believe the RM springs are handed like the originals. As for the U-bolts, the 4 rears are all the same. On the front, 3 are the same and 1 a little different as it goes on the inner right, it accounts for the different shape near the diff. Yes you can follow the general instructions and torque recommendations in the manual.
Jason T.

Jim-ME
12-29-2007, 03:37 PM
RM U-bolts are larger in diameter and shorter than the factory ones unless they have changed them since mine were installed. Call them and I'm sure they will make it right by E-mailing you the instructions or you can figure out which one you are missing and have a spring shop make you the one you need.
Jim

Jim-ME
12-29-2007, 03:44 PM
This may be of some help:

Q. Why do you package 'U' bolts with all your springs?
A. We supply high quality 'U' bolts a full ½ inch diameter with rolled threads, washers and nuts. The U bolts are the right length for the springs. Most of the time the old 'U' bolts are rusted, inferior in quality or simply don't fit. You may have to enlarge the holes in your clamp plates very slightly to fit our 'U' bolts but you get much better clamping action. It is very important that a parabolic spring be well clamped or stresses will develop exactly in the middle of the spring where it is drilled for the center bolt.

Q. Are your springs sold in left hand and right hand sets?
A. No. Both sides are identical. Our experience with factory springs over the years has been that if you install springs of different camber the truck will always sit tilted. With the parabolic springs of even camber you might notice a slight lean with only one person in the truck but this is negligible.
Occasionally we hear of a Land Rover which does not sit evenly from side to side with new springs fitted. In every case of this nature we have found that repairs have been made to the frame which altered the position of the spring hangers.
The trim of the Land Rover can usually be adjusted in such cases by biasing the tension of the spring bushings somewhat.
Jim

chester rides again
12-29-2007, 05:32 PM
ok, so my bro-in-law spent about 3 hours just getting the old springs off the rear, and that was on a 7 year old galvanized frame. we ended up sawing off one spring shackle bolt. :( lots of pounding as the spring bolts really didn'w want to come out.

any helpful hints to get the front ones out?

seeing how i live in a rural area, i found only one place that had the u-bolt I needed, and had no luck finding the bolt.

thanks for all the posts. we're hoping to have the rear put back together tomorrow as the garage is getting torn down this week. but... when it's all done, i'll have a nice heated garage!

scott
12-29-2007, 10:02 PM
took better than 6 hrs to put on my fronts. 5.5 hrs of sawing, torching and beat the crap out things. but i was removing 43 y/o springs.

I Leak Oil
12-30-2007, 10:31 AM
took better than 6 hrs to put on my fronts. 5.5 hrs of sawing, torching and beat the crap out things. but i was removing 43 y/o springs.

Been there done that! I've completely replaced my springs twice now over the past 13 years. The first time was a horror show! No need for the gorry details as it's certainly not a unique experience. The second time, and from then on, I will always plan on replacing the bolts and the chassis bushings. If I don't have to, it's because the copious amounts of anti-seize did the job!
Jason T.