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        General >> Give/Need advice to/from others >> Rear spring colour codes
        
(Message started by: jonnycab on Feb 18th, 2008, 12:12am)
Title: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 18th, 2008, 12:12am
Does anyone know how to identify the strength of a rear spring from the (paint brush mark) colour codes ?

As far as I know, there are yellow & purple......could be more  :-/

According to FMD, there are two different springs fitted....a standard spring or a towing spring. But they couldn't tell me the colour codes of each spring as Ford don't make them anymore & so they have no info on them  ???
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Feb 18th, 2008, 4:09pm
well i know on the front of my td it uses purple........which is probably no use to you whatsoever ::)
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by peteHull on Feb 19th, 2008, 9:03am
The standard springs off my 2ltr car are coded yellow
The springs off the estate car are coded with pink and blue.

Hope this helps

Pete
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Highlander on Feb 19th, 2008, 10:47am
Is that front springs Pete?
I know the front ones are coded, never realised the rear ones were too, i thought there would be only one type for the estate rear, didnt know there was a towing option
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by peteHull on Feb 20th, 2008, 12:16am

on 02/19/08 at 10:47:20, Highlander wrote:
Is that front springs Pete?
I know the front ones are coded, never realised the rear ones were too, i thought there would be only one type for the estate rear, didnt know there was a towing option


No Stuart these are the rears, I have the ones off my old 95 2ltr and have a pair off an estate that I bought off a member on here.... (Havn't had time to fit them yet)

The rears on the saloon are slightly softer than the estate version apparantly....

I think the fronts are slightly more spindley than the rears although I haven't actually removed them off the struts....

hth
Pete
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 20th, 2008, 11:00am
I'm thinking that the yellow marked springs are standard & the purple are the harder towing springs that FMD list  :-/

My old ones were marked yellow & the car seemed to sit very low at the rear, but I replaced them with a brand new pair of 'Lesjofors' estate springs (tenner off Ebay). This raised the rear by over an inch, but they now seem to have settled in & dropped  ::).... The rear is still higher than it used to be, but not as high as I'd like  ;)

With a digital caliper, I've measured the diameter of the old yellow marked springs & it is 14.84mm, give or take a couple of hundreths. The diameter of the 'Lesjofor' estate springs which are currently on the car are 15.34mm, give or take a couple of hundreths  ;)

So the Lesjofors are about half a mm thicker that the yellows.....this is probably why the car is still sitting a little higher than it used to.

If anyone with purple marked springs would care to measure the diameter of them, then I reckon that they may be thicker still, possibly almost 16mm  :-/

This may prove that they are indeed the towing springs that FMD are refering to  ;)
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Simmo on Feb 20th, 2008, 3:55pm
JC, I can't see a colour on my estate springs but they measure up at 16.5mm. The car did have a tow bar fitted before I bought it. Mike
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 20th, 2008, 5:14pm
Ah, that's interesting Mike  ;)...... If there are any markings, then they will probably be close to the top (mine are), so difficult to see  :)

It's possible that all estates have the same springs as the height is also determined by the self levelling shocks, but some saloons defo have different springs fitted than other saloons, I'm sure of it  :)

My old Scorp had a tow bar fitted & that was alot higher at the back than my present one which doesn't have a tow bar. I never did check the springs, but I'm willing to lay money on the fact that they didn't have yellow paint marks  ;)

All we need now is for someone with a high sitting saloon to confirm that the spring diameter measures at 16mm or above  :)
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 21st, 2008, 4:23am
No-one gone out to measure their springs yet then ?  ???.......... :)

Looks like I'm gonna have to go down the local breakers (got 7 Scorps breaking at the moment) armed with my digital caliper & start measuring rear springs  ;D.........

The yard owner is going to think I'm either some kind of nut or just a geek  ::)

Personally, I'd prefer 'some kind of nut'.....it's so much more refined & eccentric  :P..... ;D

Hopefully, he'll forget all about my strange quest, when I return with the thickest pair of springs I can find & pass his palm with a piece of purple paper  :)
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Highlander on Feb 23rd, 2008, 1:46pm
I've got a 96 TD Estate with blue and white coded springs Jonny
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Highlander on Feb 23rd, 2008, 1:47pm

on 02/21/08 at 04:23:13, jonnycab wrote:
The yard owner is going to think I'm either some kind of nut or just a geek  ::)


Tell him to come and join the rest of us at www.jonnycabsanutter.com  ;D
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 23rd, 2008, 4:50pm

on 02/23/08 at 13:46:22, Highlander wrote:
I've got a 96 TD Estate with blue and white coded springs Jonny


What's the diameter of the spring coil Stuart ?

I've been down the breakers today & no luck, every saloon spring I measured was the same (14.8mm) & every estate spring I measured was the same (15.3mm).

I've rang FMD again & they've confirmed again that there is defo 2 options on the saloon, the standard spring & towing spring. But both are now discontinued & no longer available, although I'm sure there must be thousands of them just sitting about in some warehouse somewhere  :-/
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 23rd, 2008, 4:53pm

on 02/23/08 at 13:47:54, Highlander wrote:
Tell him to come and join the rest of us at www.jonnycabsanutter.com  ;D


..... :P........ }{
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Highlander on Feb 23rd, 2008, 8:21pm
15.3
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Highlander on Feb 23rd, 2008, 8:24pm
Is there a difference in the number of coils possibly?
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 24th, 2008, 2:48am

on 02/23/08 at 20:24:40, Highlander wrote:
Is there a difference in the number of coils possibly?


There can't be....It wouldn't fit  :)

It's all down to the diameter of the coil which makes the spring harder....it's the only logical solution, isn't it ?  :-/
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by Highlander on Feb 24th, 2008, 12:39pm

on 02/24/08 at 02:48:52, jonnycab wrote:
There can't be....It wouldn't fit  :)


Not even by making the coils closer together? ;)

Alcohol is a terrible affliction ;)
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by gozz on Feb 24th, 2008, 1:47pm
  It's an affliction which I have ably mastered!
   On my funeral vehicles(speaking of afflictions) the front springs have more coils AND thicker wire,and have to come via Coleman Milne.I reckon the rears in association with self levelling could be Ford estate car,which I am told are heavier ?
                GOZZ
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 24th, 2008, 7:17pm
I've just had a thought  :D.....

.......would it at all be possible to fit estate self levelling shocks to a saloon ?.....

......or am I still pished from last night ?  ::)..... ;D
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by scorpio_man on Feb 24th, 2008, 7:28pm
hi there

yes and no. you try getting a good set! :(

then i'm sure the rear wishbone is different. the estate shocks go through the 'bone, the saloon fit on the side of it.

all in all, some amount of changing.

why not get a spring manufacturer to make some to suit?
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by scorpio_man on Feb 24th, 2008, 8:38pm
http://www.alphasprings.co.uk/car-springs.html


hth
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by jonnycab on Feb 25th, 2008, 12:15am
I'm aware that the estate rear suspension is different & that the shocks run through the springs rather that behind them  ;)....just wondered if the shocks had the same top & bottom fitting  :)

Thanks for the link Andrew  ;)
Title: Re: Rear spring colour codes
Post by scorpio_man on Feb 25th, 2008, 6:35am
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/scorpio_man/scorpio%20bits/DSCN0826s.jpg

estate rear shockers


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