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  • Maestro Spring Rates

    An unusal enquiry:

    Looking to uprate the suspension of a Maestro. It might be that something "off the shelf" and o.e. for another model might do the trick - the car is a 1.6, the Bulgaria models used diesel spec springs. How much stronger are they - does anyone know the poundage of my springs as a starting point? Are MG the same length of travel, perhaps a two litre MG spring might be stronger than the diesel ones? Are the two van options, five hundredweight and seven hundredweight, stronger again on top?

    Some brand new springs are available on ebay. If they are all interchangeable, are the springs all the same length?

  • #2
    I have been told that the ledbury springs are much thicker and sronger than normal disel ones..i think it was when i was at a car show with my old ledbury maestro. (or they were talking complete and utter rubbish)

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    • #3
      Just about all springs are out there brand-new (except that is the Bulgaria spec). So, what are the differences?

      ....thanks.

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      • #4
        The spring rates are different on a lot of models. Hardest ones I've seen are ledbury van fronts which are thicker than even the TD van springs.

        The poundage info isn't out there easily, although if you speak to a spring manufacturer they'll have a book with all the listings in most likely.

        Remember harder isn't necessarily better. The terrain that the ledbury cars were destined for meant that they had hard springs and soft dampers making the ride in the UK pretty horrid in my opinion. Good for rough roads and tracks but too figgety on reasonable roads in my opinion.

        Austin/Rover colour coded the springs to differentiate their rates. All springs were black but for example a white stripe denoted they were for a 1.3 maestro. A yellow stripe for an mg1600, or two stripes in some cases. NB those were random examples the parts software will give proper examples.
        www.maestroturbo.org.uk - The Tickford Maestro Turbo Register
        www.rover200.org.uk - The Rover 200/400 (R8) Owners Club
        www.roverdiesel.co.uk - My Rover Diesel Site

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        • #5
          Philip,
          be aware there are two platform heights for the struts, and many different length and poundage of springs. When new, the springs were marked with a colour paint splash on each coil. Somewhere I'm sure I have a file giving the poundage against colour and model but I've searched high and low this evening and cannot find it. John Dalton has the original file - he used to work for Rover and also has rallied a Maestro at International level - the Himalayan ISTR. If you PM me I may be able to help further....
          midget1380@btinternet.com

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          • #6
            If you find that file I would be really interested in that info too. I would suggest making it a sticky somewhere on the forum.

            Originally posted by mgdavid View Post
            Somewhere I'm sure I have a file giving the poundage against colour and model but I've searched high and low this evening and cannot find it. John Dalton has the original file - he used to work for Rover and also has rallied a Maestro at International level - the Himalayan ISTR. If you PM me I may be able to help further....

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            • #7
              Some useful info in this.....

              Right click and open the photos in a new window/tab to see them Big so you can read the small print!



              Last edited by EVO AL; 5th January 2011, 22:55.
              *****MG Maestro Turbo # 496*****
              Follow me at
              FourNineSix

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              • #8
                I have 2.0 auto front springs and struts on my diesel Maestro and the ride height is now slightly higher than standard, I think the springs are a bit stiffer, too.

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                • #9
                  Have you put diesel springs onto a diesel car? If so the improvement is just because they are brand-new?

                  The charts are fascinating but what we need to know is the poundage (old money) of where we are starting off fromt before we consider improvements (also in poundage), so if the 1.6L is say 90lbs, and the diesel 130 lbs, we know what we are going up to...are there any chassis engineers out there who can do an explanation for simpletons?

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                  • #10
                    It has the spring rate on there in N/mm its fairly trivial to convert that into lb/inch which is what "poundage" is I believe.
                    www.maestroturbo.org.uk - The Tickford Maestro Turbo Register
                    www.rover200.org.uk - The Rover 200/400 (R8) Owners Club
                    www.roverdiesel.co.uk - My Rover Diesel Site

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                    • #11
                      1 N/mm = 5.724 lb/in

                      Lowest spec is 97.3

                      Highest common ones are 152.8

                      Highest possible spec ones are 240.4
                      www.maestroturbo.org.uk - The Tickford Maestro Turbo Register
                      www.rover200.org.uk - The Rover 200/400 (R8) Owners Club
                      www.roverdiesel.co.uk - My Rover Diesel Site

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Philip Young View Post
                        Have you put diesel springs onto a diesel car? If so the improvement is just because they are brand-new?
                        No, they are petrol springs from a 2 litre auto Montego estate, both the struts and springs were used scrapyard items.

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                        • #13
                          there is something very up with the table of figures above. the spring rates are given in newton mm rather than newton m

                          So 20 is a common value for rear springs. That gives a nm value of .02nm

                          into ftlbs that is 0.014751242

                          WTF?

                          It seems to be clear in Dan's head but i don't see how?

                          i just want an idea of what rates were used as standard on the rear of cars. I have gone too hard on my coilovers so I need to find a compromise, best way is to know what standard is.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by countrydude View Post
                            there is something very up with the table of figures above. the spring rates are given in newton mm rather than newton m
                            The devil is in the detail.

                            The quoted rates are in Newtons PER mm (ie the force needed to compress the spring by 1mm)

                            HTH
                            1983 (Y) MG 1600
                            1985 MG EFi with digital dash (owned since 1987)
                            1987 700 City 1.6 Van
                            1988 Tandy camper 2.0D
                            1990 Advantage, just 29k on the clock
                            1990 Clubman D
                            1990 MG 2.0i (spares donor)

                            (all Maestros)

                            Daily drive: Rover 25 GTi

                            Weekend rave: Honda Civic Type R GT

                            Current projects: Allegro 1.7HLS, Allegro Equipe

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                            • #15
                              Standard is 114.5lb/in
                              www.maestroturbo.org.uk - The Tickford Maestro Turbo Register
                              www.rover200.org.uk - The Rover 200/400 (R8) Owners Club
                              www.roverdiesel.co.uk - My Rover Diesel Site

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