Sprite Alpine Suspension

Jun 12, 2016
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I have an old(ish) Sprite Alpine with a steel chassis. I am not sure of the age. The suspension springs are of the combined spring and damper type, common to most modern cars. The springs are tired and the van sits low at the back when attached to a vehicle. The dampers still work.

Has anyone any idea where I could get replacement springs or complete spring/damper assemblies from? They look really easy to replace and would stop the rear of the van grounding occasionally.

Thanks
 
Apr 7, 2008
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From what you have described it's quite an old van and chassis.....

Have a look at section 5 to see if it is set up correctly obviously you will need to know the vans MTPLM and get it weighed so that the correct calculations can be done ....... If you are unsure of what to do correctly seek advice or better still get a mobile service guy out to check and sort it for you ....
 
Jun 12, 2016
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Thanks for the tip but the chassis in the picture is not the one I have. There is no adjustment for ride height. It makes no difference what the weight of the nose is (self-levelling rear suspension). Simply if the van is attached to the car the van slopes towards the rear instead of sitting level.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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zxz1 said:
Thanks for the tip but the chassis in the picture is not the one I have. There is no adjustment for ride height. It makes no difference what the weight of the nose is (self-levelling rear suspension). Simply if the van is attached to the car the van slopes towards the rear instead of sitting level.

There is no requirement for caravans to 'ride' in a level attitude, However caravans are designed to operate with a coupled hitch height of between 350 and 420mm measured vertically to the centre of the tow ball. I suggest you check your tow ball height which could be too high.
 
Jun 12, 2016
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Thanks for the advice.

'To get the best towing characteristics the caravan should tow level when hitched to the towing vehicle, taken when the the car is in 'touring trim'...' (taken from a Sprite manual circa 1968)

I have two tow cars and they both are at the right height. I have towed other vans and they do not have a very low rear. Looking from the side is is clear the springs have lost their tension over the years and need replacing.

Does anyone have any information on a supplier or any information about the make of struts used?
 
May 7, 2012
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You could try Swift or a dealer for the information, but this seems to be of an age where they no longer supply the bits, but should have records. If they cannot help possibly a caravan scrap dealer may have them.
 
Apr 7, 2008
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Ideally you need to get in touch with a Coil spring manufacturer and enquire if they can be re tensioned or a new pair manufactured. .. it's quite possible that when they are measured up and with the MTPLM of th van that something suitable will be found ...
 
Jun 12, 2016
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Raywood,
Thanks for your reply. I have thought about asking Swift but I doubt if they will have the records.

The problem with scrap parts is that they are as old as the ones they are replacing. Some parts need to be new(ish)!
 
Jun 12, 2016
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Sproket,

Thanks for that.
I think your are going in the right direction. I was putting of the idea of stripping the old units, it would have nice to have new dampers. It also means a load of extra work and messing about. And it will take a lot longer, days or weeks instead of a couple of hours.
 
Jun 12, 2016
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I never found a source for new springs and dampers.

However there are people out there who will refurbish old springs and dampers; I had to use a company to rebuild my coupling damper as they are unobtainable.

It all depends on how much you wish to spend and how bad the old ones are. My 30 year old Alpine sits low, I'm just careful over bumpy ground, going extra slow off road. I also put heavy items: gas bottle, awning etc in the car when towing.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Try contacting Historic Caravan Club - may not be quite the right name, but there is at least one organisation specialising in historic and/or classic caravans. The sort of problem you have is probably fairly common with their members.
Another possible contact may be Andrew Jenkinson who still writes for PCV magazine occasionally and who has written excellent Histories of Caravans 1919-1959 and SFrom 1960
My very firsts van was a 1967 Sprite Alpine (£317 OTR including an extra gas tap !) and gave excellent service for some years including tours to France and Germany. Happy Days and not much to go wrong. As I recall the road w heels were from the upright Ford Popular 1172cc of the same vintage, so perhaps some of the suspension came from the same source ?
 
May 25, 2019
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Thanks for the insight. A few other folks have recommended the same in taking the custom route as well. I was really hoping there would be a car of that era where I could just swap the struts 1:1. Overall like you said, It really depends on the cost of going the custom. It might be easier for me to get a torsion axle welded on instead as might as I would like to keep the Van as original as possible.

The shocks are pretty bad. I have taken it all over eastern Ontario, but there is a lot of bouncing. I am hoping to do some longer trips and take the Sprite out to Nova Scotia or Virginia beach so i would need something a little more comfortable to tow. Cheers
 
May 25, 2019
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Thanks for the leads, this is very helpful. I will definitely follow up on these. These retro Vans arent very popular where I am in Canada so theirs not much local insight here. Cheers.
 
Jul 19, 2021
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Hi. I'm wondering if you ever found the springs and shocks for your sprite. I recently bought one and am looking for parts as well. I'm in Quebec and looking for Canadian suppliers.
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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I think to have any chance of getting replacement suspension units you would have to find a suitable engineering facility , such as Spax, to make specific units for you.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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There is no requirement for caravans to 'ride' in a level attitude, However caravans are designed to operate with a coupled hitch height of between 350 and 420mm measured vertically to the centre of the tow ball. I suggest you check your tow ball height which could be too high.

To check whether a caravan's suspension is tired it would be more appropriate to measure the coupling height when the caravan is not hitched to the car, but standing level. This should be between 395 and 465mm from the ground to the centre of the coupling.
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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To check whether a caravan's suspension is tired it would be more appropriate to measure the coupling height when the caravan is not hitched to the car, but standing level. This should be between 395 and 465mm from the ground to the centre of the coupling.

Why on earth are you debating a reply from 2016 !!?

The topic has moved on to 2021 and finding suspension units.
 
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Mar 14, 2005
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I just thought that my post could be of use to anyone faced with a similar problem in the future. I only replied because the topic had been revived by someone else a couple of days ago.
 
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