Grayson spring assisters - web site?

[ChrisUK]

Anyone any experience of Grayson spring assisters, the uprated spring or add-on springs, not the rubber inserts. I believe they are still available but can not find a web site for them. My Mazda 6 estate rides a little low when loaded modestly and 75kg nose weight and I am concerned re. feries, particulary the smaller Scotish ones.

Chris

 

[WatsonJohnG]

That's because you made the same mistake that I made and left the "T" out !!

Its Grayston

http://www.springassisters.co.uk/

 

[ChrisUK]

That's because you made the same mistake that I made and left the "T" out !!

Its Grayston

http://www.springassisters.co.uk/

Thanks

Chris

 

[Steve L]

Hi Chris,

I used some grayson coil spring assistors on the back of my last Renault 25 GTS.

They were the rubber rings that fit between the coils of the original springs.

They did a very good job of boosting the saggy rear end of the 25, as I only had a couple of inches between the jocky wheel and the road without them. I did have to make a slight modification to them to keep them in place though. I drilled two holes, one at the top of the upper end of the block and one at the bottom of the block at the opposite end. Through these I put a plastic 5mm wide cable tie to secure the rubber block to the coil spring of the car. This stopped them wriggling out as the Renault springs were quite a large diameter which gives the car the soft ride.

Driving solo was no different after the addition of the assistors, but with the van on the back I now had an amazing 4 extra inches of clearence.

The caravan was loaded to 75Kgs nose weight both before and after assistance.

Since then I've changed to a Laguna estate and no longer have to use spring assistance. So I now have a set of coil assistors gathering dust.

Steve L.

 

[Lutz]

I appreciate that the Renault 25 had a soft suspension, but if, as you say, the jockey wheel only had a couple of inches clearance to the road without spring assistors and 4 inches with them, then there was something seriously amiss with the suspension. If 75kg noseweight made a difference of 2 inches, then, taking full advantage of the maximum payload (I don't have the figure specifically for a Renault 25, but I would think it's somewhere around 400 to 450kg), assuming a linear spring rate and most of the payload over the rear axle, the back end of the car would go down a whopping 12"! The jockey wheel would surely have been scraping the ground or, conversely, the front end of the caravan up in the air if the car was empty.

 

[Steve L]

Not quite correct Lutz.

What I indicated was that I gained 4 inches by using the spring assistors, thus getting 6 inches between the jockey wheel and the road.

The car was loaded with 4 people and 2 Labradors in the boot ( with parcel shelf removed).

25's are notorious for being low slung on their suspension and also the tow ball height is very low indeed, as there is a massive plastic bumper to get round.

75Kgs is the max tow bar down load weight and the caravan has the same hitch weight. I found that going to the max hitch weight gave the best stability.

It was not the best car to tow with purely due to it's natural low ride height, but it was all I could afford at the time.

Cheers, Steve.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Chris

Over the years I have fitted them to:-

Ford Orion

Ford Sierra

Renault Laguna Estate

and latterly dad in law's Kia Carens

They do exactly what they say, stiffen up the rear and reduce sagging. Cheap at sub

 

[Lutz]

If, when you applied a 75kg noseweight, you gained 4 inches by adding springs assistors, then the effect would have been even more dramatic. A full payload of, say 450kg, would have made a difference of (450/75)x4" = 24"

 

[Dustydog]

Lutz

My experience, on the older cars was. No increase in suspension height but once hitched at least 2" less drop. The suspension was stiffer and not subject to so much pitching. It is possible with an older softer sprung vehicle like Steve's R 25 to actually gain some height. Because the springs cannot collapse as much as before with the Graystons fitted the rear end , solo will ride slightly higher. Maybe that's where Steve gets his figures from.

Don't forget when you fit them the suspension is fully extended and once the jack is removed the suspension will naturally sit higher because there is less compressible spring available.

If this didn't happen there would be no point in fitting them.

Cheers

Alan

 

[Lutz]

I am not questioning the effect of reducing sag that spring assistors have. I am just saying that if you were driving solo (or towing) without spring assistors fitted and the car is fully laden right up to its maximum permissible payload, the figures quoted would suggest that the back end of the car would be scraping the ground (unless the car has very non-linear springs).

 

[Terry_5112949]

I fitted a pair of Pyramid rubber doughnuts to the back of my Vectra, they do a good job in stopping it bottoming out when on rough roads. When hitched up and standing stationary the hitch height is the same as it was without the assisters. Driving without the van on the back there is no noticeable difference.

 

[Dustydog]

Lutz

You may be right that Steve's Renault 25 had defective suspension.

I think we must all agree that spring assistors should only be fitted to suspensions in a good state of repair. They will not compensate for worn out suspension, apart from the fact it could be dangerous.

Cheers

Alan

 

[WatsonJohnG]

I fitted a pair of Pyramid rubber doughnuts to the back of my Vectra, they do a good job in stopping it bottoming out when on rough roads. When hitched up and standing stationary the hitch height is the same as it was without the assisters. Driving without the van on the back there is no noticeable difference.

 

[ChrisUK]

Thanks for the replies, I was actually thinking about their replacement progressive springs, a lot more expensive than the rubber inserts, the rubbers - do they not put extra load on the original springs? On my mazda, the tow bar comes unter the rear plastic bumper, the cleareance between that and the ground is thus reduced. I have grounded coming off Scotish ferries a number of times without the van. The original springs seem OK, execpt the combination of small ferries + reasonable load. Chris

 

[WatsonJohnG]

They don't put extra load as that stays the same they just stop the coils closing together which could put more stress on the others I suppose

I fitted the MAD additional springs on a Picasso several years ago and I also had the MAD replacement variable rate springs on the last XT and I was very pleased with the result in both cases

I too have had damage coming off cross channel ferries in the past.

I think that a lot depends on the tide when you venture on to the ramp