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1972 MGB Rear end assembly

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ERO Rich Osterhout
Toledo, OH, USA   USA
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Rear end is rebuilt and painted and I'm ready to reinstall it on the car, The leaf springs are loosely attached, Which end of the leaf spring and the rear end assembly gets attached first? Would it be the front of the leaf spring or the rear eyelet of the Spring. Do you need to add some weight in the trunk to flatten out the spring?thanks Rich O

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billymgb1000 Avatar
billymgb1000 william gaulin
harrisville, harrisville RI, USA   USA
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1973 MG MGB
1974 MG MGB V8 Conversion "Sweet Thing"
hello rich
just put your rear end on the jack. attach the front of the leafs first then pump the jack until the rear meets the shackles and bang your done. no weight needed in trunk be carful and good luck

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gray Avatar
gray Graham Moore
CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGE, UK   GBR
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I agree with Billy. The only reason I am posting this comment is to say IGNORE the Haynes workshop manual advice of attaching the centre of the spring first (they say the reassembly is the reverse of disassembly having said to loosen the rear shackle, front eye then U bolts to pull it apart).

When I followed Haynes, non the wiser, 10 hours later, the spring was still not on. I gave up to use common sense (Billy method) and the whole job took an hour per side including telescopics!

Gray

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Steve Lyle Avatar
Tulsa, OK, USA   USA
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1972 Lotus Elan
1972 MG MGB
Or hang the springs first, prior to attaching the axle to the springs. Front ends first. Hold the axle in position with a floor jack, over the springs, of course.. Less weight on the springs makes them easy to handle, simple matter to bolt on the axle once the springs are on.



Documenting my project in my journal at https://www.mgexp.com/home#journal

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ERO Rich Osterhout
Toledo, OH, USA   USA
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Well,I will give it a go...thanks.Rich

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ERO Rich Osterhout
Toledo, OH, USA   USA
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Steve,your saying bolt the front eyelets,then lift the axle up and attach the rear eyelet...then bolt the spring plates,etc.??

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jdevol Avatar
jdevol J Devol
Swansea, MA, USA   USA
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I just finished this battle. I did it by putting the axel under the car on stands, put the rear shackles on, put the front bolts in, then dropped the axle to the springs.

I had to compress the springs to get the u bolts below the spring. I used a large c clamp and a 2' section of aluminum tube. One end of the tube was on the front of the spring the other on the bump stop. Once I got the axel to the spring with the clamp, I used the nuts on the ubolts to bring the axel and spring together.

On my other gt it was much easier but those springs were the originals.

Best of luck.

Jim

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ERO Rich Osterhout
Toledo, OH, USA   USA
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Sounds like a battle.I will give it try here real soon,sure would be nice to gave a lift.

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ErnieY Avatar
ErnieY Ernie Y
Albatera, Alicante, Spain   ESP
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In reply to # 2749192 by jdevol I had to compress the springs to get the u bolts below the spring.
Huh, compress the springs ?

There is a centre bolt through them holding the leaves tightly together so what was there to compress ?

With the axle sitting on the springs complete with all pads and plates etc. the U bolts should be more than long enough to go all the way through and out the bottom typically protruding by 3/4" or so so there should be no difficulty at all in getting the nuts on.

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Steve Lyle Avatar
Tulsa, OK, USA   USA
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1972 Lotus Elan
1972 MG MGB
Yep. Or lift the axle up into position first. Either way.



Documenting my project in my journal at https://www.mgexp.com/home#journal

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billymgb1000 Avatar
billymgb1000 william gaulin
harrisville, harrisville RI, USA   USA
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1973 MG MGB
1974 MG MGB V8 Conversion "Sweet Thing"
I don't understand what you mean by compress the springs. didn't you tighten the center bolt like ernie said. just wondering

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