Rear suspension and drive shaft

[william]

Thanks Jim,

Things like the fins on the Diff. are stuff you don't think about untill they crack. Thanks for the advise.

Man, this is frustrating. I really am starting to think I need to start looking for a pair of used Leaf springs?

I'll also try contacting some of the Ferrari guys in my area that you suggested Jim.

[Jimmyr]

William, the nice thing about working on a Ferrari is that it is not your everyday car, and thus you can take your time and chip away at it. I find that if I just complete one item at a time and do not try to do everything together; it is that much smoother. And the best advise is if you need help seek it from whatever means available. As I told you Ferraris were built with logic and simplicity; the only areas that are not is where someone else decided to do it their way and not the Ferrari way! Jim

[william]

I put about 300 lbs in the trunk last night. Wow what a difference! The rear springs came down and the shackles came down as well. Plenty of clearance between the drive shaft.

The car sits way to high and my hope is to train the springs with weight over the winter. I'll also try to drive it this Fall with some weight.

I'll be sure to bring the cables up so the drive shaft and axle are not damaged.

The car has about two and a half coffee cups of clearance between the top of the tire and fender. Or would it be 8 espresso cups:) It sits with a little rake and I believe the cars are to sit level.

[Jimmyr]

William, looks like the spring rearc that someone did long ago was the problem. The springs usually will not settle much with the car sitting in the garage; it is the bouncing and flexing on the road that will do the most good. It does sound like the rearcing was way too much, if the extra weight does not bring it down then a trip to the spring shop is in order. Jim

[william]

Thanks Jim, I plan to drive the car with some weight. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks Kerry for all your help as well.

[PETER GABRIEL]

My car is currently supported on 4 horses, the 2 rear are supporting the axle tubes. This gives about an 1 1/2" slack in the wire cable. And, about 2" clearance between the axles and the exhaust. Is it possible that the cables were lenghtened to much and the axles are hitting the exhaust?

You don't need much of hit hit to produce a loud noise, because of resonance and travel through the frame and body.


Peter Gabriel

[Pete]

?, does the rear of the car seem high (when on the ground ofcourse)?

Surely if the springs have been retensioned wrong the rear will sit too high and thus the rear axle will contact these 'cables' when at rest.

I have no idea about Ferrari rear axles, but 105 series Alfa Romeos have axle 'drop' limiting straps (made out of some sort of felt or rubber?) and the whole idea is if the rear of the car should leave the ground these straps limit the axle travel ... and hold it up. Sounds like the same concept with the very similar Ferrari suspension ... only difference is spring type.

I thus would not have thought the axle touching these 'cables' would have caused a bang (the original bang mentioned) ... surely Ferrari would not design a component to bang in normal use.

Thus I believe your driveshaft was hitting the cross member or something else was hitting something else ... ?

Pete ... who knows little :-)

[jsa330]

This thread has helped me solve a problem...when I read about William's car banging, I realized it's the same kind of noise I get when hitting a couple of particular bumps too fast. I've never been able to figure it out. Also, the rear of my car seems to sit a little high.

Car is supported by the frame on jackstands now, and indeed, when I looked underneath I saw the driveshaft is in contact with the rear cross member. There's about 5 1/2" of clearance between the upper part of the reverse curve on the bottom of the inner rubber donuts and the axle shaft tubes, with the weight of the rear suspension apparently being supported by the two tight sections of steel cable and the crossmember.

It looks like I need to take some distance out of the 5 1/2"axle-to-donut clearance by jacking up the axle, loosening the cable bolts, and taking the cables up while the car is supported by the frame.

Questions:

-Is this assessment correct?

If so:

-How much should I reduce the 5 1/2" donut-to-axle clearance?

-what's the proper tightness for re-torquing the cable bolts?

-Is this a job best left to the shop?

Thanks,

Scott

[Grigio330GT]

Hello,

I have a question regarding the shackles on my 330GT. But first, I should introduce myself.

I have a 65 330gt interim (2 headlight, but w. 4 headlight interior) #7895. Its mostly a "driver" - mechanically fairly sound, and mostly unmolested (except for a poor paint job and worse carpets). I have owned it since 93, and have done mostly maintenance and some minor to medium level repairs and reconditioning. I have not done much with the car over the past 6-7 years (kids), and have just started to work on it a little.

I am currently refurbishing the rear control arms. I have removed them , had them p-coated (along with the mtg bracket) , and pressed in new silent-blocs. I also had all the hardware manganese-phosphate coated (more weather resistant than bluing/black oxide). I have nor removed the springs, based on all the warning -0 though I may get to that when I have researched it enough)

But now my question - are the shackles supposed to be able to swing freely on their pivots? Even tough I did not remove the springs, I loosened the 24 mm shackle pivot nuts (front shackles), and that "loosened" the pivot so that the shackles were not longer "locked". I should say that the springs WERE removed a few years ago to have new bushings installed. It seems the shackles were re-installed with the nuts torqued down to lock them in place. Kinematically, it seems they should be free to swing.

While I am at it - anyone know if the nuts for the control are bolts are supposed to be black or nickel? From what I have gathered, its black, but want to double check.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who contributes to this web site - it is a great resource. And of course a big thanks to Tom.

Regards

Dave

[tyang]

Hi Dave,

Welcome aboard, and we're all happy to help.

Looking at the material used for the spring eyes, it would seem that they were designed to move in their pivots. The silent block bushings are locked in place, but only after the suspension is loaded.

Here's an entry where I replaced the bushings in the rear springs:
http://www.tomyang.net/cars/ferrari252.htm

You can imagine how badly this could have behaved when the rear suspension was loaded!


Tom

[Grigio330GT]

Hi Tom -

Thanks for the reply.

I agree that it seems that the spring eyes should pivot - mine even have grease fittings to facilitate this. But what about the shackles themselves? Should they also pivot at their mounts, or should they be torqued down with the suspension loaded? The bolts to which I am referring are the ones that attach the shackles to the car.

It looks like the free state of your spring is not "circular". Sid you have to do anything special o remove them? My understanding is that you need clamp a "support spine" to the bottom of the spring to keep the spring "flat" while your remove it. True?

Thanks again for all your help and the site.

Dave

[Art S.]

Hi Dave,

I can't help much on the suspension and finish front, but in case you are interested, you have an early Series 2 with no AC, not an interim (series 1 1/2). The interim was a 4 headlight car. Most early series 2 cars without AC have the series 1 dash. Mine, which is a few cars newer than yours (7919) is similar.

By the way, where are your window switches located and who are they made by?

Regards,

Art S.

[Grigio330GT]

Hi Art,

Thanks for the clarification - I was always a bit confused by the evolution of the 330GT .I have never found an reference to the "early series2 with series 1 dash", so your note is enlightening.

My window switches are on the door. I THINK they are Carrello, but I may be mistaken. I'll check when I have them out next.

Regards,

Dave

[tyang]

Hi Tom -

Thanks for the reply.

I agree that it seems that the spring eyes should pivot - mine even have grease fittings to facilitate this. But what about the shackles themselves? Should they also pivot at their mounts, or should they be torqued down with the suspension loaded? The bolts to which I am referring are the ones that attach the shackles to the car.

It looks like the free state of your spring is not "circular". Sid you have to do anything special o remove them? My understanding is that you need clamp a "support spine" to the bottom of the spring to keep the spring "flat" while your remove it. True?

Thanks again for all your help and the site.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I torqued the shackles down at the frame mounts under load. I'd imagine wherever the silent blocks were used, they allowed the rubber to move, while the bushings with the other material was designed to turn in the spring eye.

The springs are going to pop out of shape when you unbolt them, and will definitely need some kind of tool to get them to line up again. We used brute strength, large pry bars, and a whole lot of bravery to get mine to go back in. Francois has been doing this for so long, he knew exactly how to muscle them in, but I would suggest a safer method. I have a drawing somewhere of a spring tool if you need it.

These springs will turn eliptical when you remove the spring clips.

Tom

[william]

Hi Dave,

I believe the shackles that attach to my car must pivot to some degree. I know that I originally thought that my shackles had "fliped over" causing my ride height and springs to be way to stiff. This however, was not the case.

Jimmy Riff?