Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => Kaiser Forum => Topic started by: fljags95 on December 18, 2009, 10:50:10 AM
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i need to replace both front coil springs on a Manhattan. When I removed them both of them were broke at one coil up from the bottom. Is this something the Kaiser does or was it Hard driving by previous owner? Does someone have a pair for sale? Dan
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Rear leaf springs on Kaiser were more prone to break than front coils. I would imagine that the PO probably bottomed them out more than once. 71-73 Mustang V8 coils are almost the same, they have one more turn than KF units so the ride will be a bit higher and stiffer.
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You might try Larry Barker he may have some good used ones. His phone number is (623) 486-1403 cell (623) 373-1456 and address is 7136 W. Sahuaro Drive, Peoria, AZ 85345
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I got a NOS pair from Rudy Phillips a few months back. There are a few shops online which will make them up for you for about the same $$.
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I appreciate all the help. I will call both Larry and Rudy and see what i end up with.
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How much does Rudy charge for the springs? I have a NOS set from MOOG I might sell if it is worth the time and effort to ship--they weigh a ton it seems.
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Remember that the springs should be of unequal stiffness, to accommodate the greater weight on one side of the car. NOS have color markings to indicate deviations above or below normal, and one needs one of each. With used one really would need to check deflection to make sure you have an acceptable "pair." This balance thing seems petty, but if you don't get it more or less right the car may sag on one side.
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Remember that the springs should be of unequal stiffness, to accommodate the greater weight on one side of the car.
Anyone care to explain this a little further for my knowledge?
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Front springs on full size KF cars are stiffer on the driver's side...to compensate for the additional weight of the battery and driver. I think rear leafs on the 51-5 cars are the same to handle the weight of the fuel tank and driver. The driver's side coil stands just a bit taller than the passenger side does when compared off the car. On NOS coil springs, the left is marked with a dot of white paint. At least, the NOS set I have for my 50K are so marked.
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Sometimes there isn't a lot of difference in height-one really needs to put some significant weight on them and measure deflection. They were all I think supposed to be the same height, and then selected right/left depending on how stiff they were. If one ends up with an unbalanced set, one can insert one of those little thingees from Whitney or wherever to boost the one that needs to be stiffened. did that once and it didn't seem to be perceptible performance wise.