yeah thats the stuff!

Agree with dattodevil. Cheers dodgeman.
By the way can i assume dodgeman refers to your other car?

Quote:


I believe it is called HHS-2000, Dodgeman, you have some really good advice, A cost effective way of improvement. That, I like

McMaster/Carr catalog - plastics
Here are some plastics and there uses. This site is a little industrial but they have almost everything. Acetal/delrin is often used for suspensions. As well as nylon and teflon.
Locally, you might be able to find a plastics supplier that sells rem's. That way you can buy something now and you may not have to buy 5ft or whatever minimum.
Those are some good tips on checking your leaf springs, D-man. I'll try cleaning or at least greasing my leafs and see what happens.

As the poster of the IRS thread this is all very interesting stuff and exactly what i was looking for as far as advice is concerned.
I just bought a can of high pressure adhesive lubricant on the weekend (a Wurths product can't remember the name) It's supposed to be used for hinges etc and i reckon that would work really well as a tester for this problem.

By the way i also have changed my mind on the IRS idea. It was simply that and the comments and advice i've recieved have convinced me to go the twin link and panhard rod route for the time being.

The bloke i work with on the stuff thats past my skills also pointed out that an IRS setup was pretty heavy which would negate one of the 1200 (and 1000!) most endearing features; it's nimbleness due to it's light weight.
They're damn go-karts! Heaps of fun nipping through the traffic!

This Web site is a gold mine of ideas and advice! Can't get enough.

Thanks for the link.
The text with the lining material says that this works really well with chrome springs & i can vouch for that, as the chrome is an ideal surface, but is not legal in some states as the chrome plating process induces a measure of "Hydrogen embritlement" into the surface of the plated steel. Since the main leaf locates the axle, a broken one can spoil your afternoon.

Now, it's unlikly that there would be many of us that would chrome their springs to improve ride quality, but for those that are thinking of it, check with your rego Nazi's first.

Jempson
I dunno about "kooky" but the use of a transverse spring in an independant front suspension is certainly uncommon, although i think Peugeot used this concept in a model or two. As long as the spring is nice & pliable, the ride will be good.
Datsuns use of the leaf spring in the front overcame a space limitation problem, where a short coil spring would have needed to be too stiff.

Here is a source.

Most 4wd places sell this kind of stuff.

I will try and find another link to this kind of thing, I remember someone sold a circle one for the end of each leaf which involved drilling a locating hole to keep the product located on its own.

Excellent post Dodgeman, the points you make are doubly important to 1000 owners, with your kooky traverse front leaves.

I agree that getting the existing suspension in the 1200 (or 1000) working at its optimum makes more sense than starting from scratch.
There are so many variables that may not be apparent until you assemble and test a system under load. Anything is possible however, and I'd love to be proven wrong.

James.

Thanks Chris, Once again you have shared a pearl of wisdom to further enhance our datsun experience.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the simple, well tried, & thoroughly proven, leaf spring "design." They locate the axle both longditudinally, & transversly, without any added linkages, & they provide the springing medium, all in one crudely engineered, low cost, package.
It aint rocket science, but in a car who's real selling point was it's low low price, this basic system has a lot to offer.

All we need to do with leaf springs, is make sure that we get the best from them.

Anyone have a source for the interleaf, friction reducing, material?

I sold a set of "rebuilt" reverse eyed springs that I made up some nylon blocks for between the leaves. I made them up on the lathe from a bar of nylon.

I don't know what Mikali did with these after I sold them to him, but they were a great set of leaf springs.

Chris