I think it is c possible that A M Philpot misunderstood you requirement, the work on reclaiming corroded fork legs, which have to plated and precision ground to dimensions, completely unnecessary on our spring boxes, what they did for me was a light polish to remove as much corrosion as is practically possible and then a very thin layer of hard chrome that should resist scoring damage. I have to say that I am very pleased with the results on my rear spring boxes.
FT: Frame (Twin) Rear Inner Spring Boxes
- Thread starter Peter Holmes
- Start date
I am not sure . One of the heavier people who bought one of the JE steering stem kits from me wanted adjustable spring boxes so that he could tune the suspension, rather than resorting to using packing pieces. It took me some time to find a suitable tube in stainless steel and the tube I did find was the correct OD but the ID was only suitable for the weaker springs, not the 45lb/inch needed for someone well over twenty stones. Eventually a Northampton based member offered to bore some of the tube out and that took some time. I now have enough tube to make up at least three of these systems but those who follow some of what I do will realise that things have to get fitted in and so far the adjustable spring boxed have not got to the top of the list. It might be easier to find mild steel tubing the right size rather than the stainless I was interested in.
The Spares Co. got the rear spring boxes in stainless on stock. 30 years ago I got all inners and outers from Doug Richardson, the pushrod shrouds too. He made all of these items by rolling flat material and welding end plates onto them plus polishing and black paint. He is the Devon Rim Company today, as far as I know and my guess still supplying parts to the Spares Co. ??? Don´t know about front inners and outers from Spares Co. , stainless or no. I´d try to rivet a ring of high wear plastic up the open end of the inners for guiding them in the outers. So they will not get scratched by the outers most of the time. An alternative is to dimple the inners and those positive protrusions will do same. I think Hagon do this with their inners when having all enclosed shocks.
Vic
Vic
Doesn't ClevTrev do that?
These are the rear spring boxes I use on my Rapide. They were made by Justin Mackay-Smith years ago, and the springs were made by Davidd. I was warned that using lubrication or grease tends to pick up grit in the plastic rings and wear out the inners. That is the reason I added the thin cups at the ends of the springs. I painted the springs and used just a thin wipe of grease in the end cups and not on the rings. The rings seat in a turned recess in the inner bore so do not need riveting or bonding. These complement a Thornton/Works non coil over damper and avoid the problems caused by too short original spring boxes which can cock and even lock up end to end when used with unconstrained springs.
I have some doubts about putting plastic spacers in various places. The clearance between the inner and outer tubes is small ( I can't give a figure at the moment) but certainly thous rather than tenths. There is also quite a long distance between the top of the inner tube and the bottom of the outer. Plenty of distance to allow some tilting unless the plastic is quite long. It also has to be realised that if the fit is too good it will act like a pump and a hole will have to be included to prevent pneumatic compression. When I was trying to source ss tube to make the adjustable inners I was told that the tube now comes from Italy via the fabricator. Then a member (sorry but do not have access to your name at the moment) put me on to a firm in the UK from which he had got some tube. When I contacted them they could no longer obtain it so I bought the correct ID from them and then had it bored. Remember that my background is not engineering, I just muddle on the best that I can and it is possible that someone with the right background might do better than me. The problem with all these parts is that they are needed in such small quantities that one has to use off the shelf sizes as it is uneconomic to get the right sizes made in small amounts.
Norman,
You are talking about front spring boxes, and everyone else is talking about REAR spring boxes, which is confusing the original question.
With rear S/B you can have over 60 thou clearance between inner and outer, which allows for a nice plastic or PTFE ring
You are talking about front spring boxes, and everyone else is talking about REAR spring boxes, which is confusing the original question.
With rear S/B you can have over 60 thou clearance between inner and outer, which allows for a nice plastic or PTFE ring
I think I will send them a photo and try to get a more accurate quote from them. Do you remember how many microns of chrome they put on, and how much it cost you / how long ago?
Paul
If you look at posting #3 and then others following that it seems that both are being discussed. I had assumed that the title was wrong but maybe it was correct and I have been led astray ( goody). If so sorry about that.