Spring Problems

[sjmst]

My plan was to put 1972 springs in my 81 Spider to lower it a bit. The mechanic I used (not a "Fiat" mechanic) put in the 72 springs and the car did not sit right. I had him take them out and put my original 81 springs back in.
Now the car STILL does not sit right. The right back is too high.

Anyone have any ideas as to why the springs that made the car nice and level two weeks ago, now are not level when re-intsalled?
Thanks
Sam

[mbouse]

only having all four springs out at the same time once in my life... i do not recall if the fronts are different size than the backs....but i do know that most springs are sold in sets...

is the mechanic sure he put all four in the same corner as before?

[pope]

The fronts and backs do not look alike. The fronts are shorter and are a tighter coil, where the rears are taller and a more open coil.
I guess you should have labeled them before you took them off.

Make sure that the rubber spring seats are installed correctly and the springs sit in them correctly.

[manoa matt]

The fronts are shorter and thicher than the rears, there is almost no way to confuse them.

Check the rubber spring perches at the top and bottom of the springs. Its likely that the spring is not seated correctly in the rubber perch, or the rubber perch is not well seated to the bracket on the axle. The rubber perch has a step in it that the end of the spring should be close to.

The spring perches also have orientations, the blue ones go on the axle and the black ones go on the top of the spring. Also there are drivers and passengers side perches. The rubber spring perch has a small nub on the bottom that goes into a hole on the axle bracket. If the spring perches are mixed up between drivers and passengers sides then the spring or the perch will not sit correctly and the step in the perch will not line up with the end of the spring. You can always just cut off that small nub, it doesn't do much.

I figured all this out when swithcing out a friends rear diff, you have to play around with the spring and perches till you get it right, you may need to flip the spring to get the spring ends to line up with the step in the spring perch. Its good to label things when dissasembling or just do one side at a time.

[sjmst]

Thanks all, I think the rubber perch suggestion may be the issue!

[sjmst]

Well, the mechanic tried again, He switched the springs, adjusted up on the lift, down on the ground, every which way. Still one side higher than the other!

Stumped.

[mdrburchette]

Did you replace the shocks? You may have a problem there.

[So Cal Mark]

are all 4 tires the same size?

[manoa matt]

Were any of the rear trailing arms removed, or loosened? I wonder if one side was tightened under load while the other side was tightened without load.

Also double/tripple check the upper spring perches, its easy for them to get hung up on the cylindrical lip they nest around while you are fooling with the bottom one

I wonder if Fiat ever made a provision to accomidate/level the weight of the driver and the gas tank on the same side?

[sjmst]

I think I figured out what the problem may be!

Look at these pics. The first is the right side where the spring seats at the top. Notice how there is a gap of almost an inch from where the coil ends and where the "stop" is?

For comparison, the next picture is the left side. Note how the end of the spring fits right up against the the "stop"

What do you think, could this be the reason that the right side that doesn't go all the way to the end sits higher?
Thanks
Sam

[So Cal Mark]

that spring seat just needs to be rotated slightly, but I can't see how that will create the height difference you have

[sjmst]

Me neither, but it is an obvious difference. One is not seated right and sits high, and one is seated right and is normal.

[So Cal Mark]

it would only sit high if the pigtail was on top of the step. Look at the spring, it's sitting against the rubber seat all of the way 'round

[pope]

Something doesnt look right here. The springs sit on a metal seat on top. The metal seat sits on a rubber seat that is black. Those two seats then get pushed up into position.
Do you have those two items at the top of the spring?

[manoa matt]

Those springs and perches look like they are well seated and in the proper orientations. Not sure what else it could be, but here are a few ideas:

1. Were any of the rear trailing arms removed, or loosened? I wonder if one side was tightened under load while the other side was tightened without load.
2. Are both tires the same size, if they are, are they both at the same psi?
3. Are the shocks binding? push down on each side and note the rebound.
4. When the shocks were re-installed is there a rubber grommet on the top of the shock before it is inserted into the tower, there should also be another rubber grommet on the top visible in the trunk.
5. How much gas is in the tank?

If all else fails get a "Costanza wallet" and level yourself.