Hi there,

I have a real problem sourcing some rods to fit my springs. I decided to phone Jaguar and ask what it would cost just to put in the two speings. Not remove them. Just install them.

About 2h is what they would need and that would be €134/h plus 19% Vat! I'm no cheapskate but that I think is taking the ****!

It took me less than 20 min to take the axle to pieces. It can't ever be 2h just to install the springs... Even with the threaded rod method...

 

What's the problem with the sourcing, Daim ?
Ggreg

 

Well, the problems are many...

1. I've been conned regarding the first order. Down by €50 as the seller is non contactable and has closed his special UNF shop.

2. Shipping from UK to Germany is just way too expensive, especially when done via Amazon (last person wanted €40 just for P&P for 4 rods and 10 nuts).

3. If you can find some UK rods here, they are always UNC because - I'll quote a seller - nobody uses UNF

4. If I can find someone wit usable P&P then the rods cost far too much.

All I need is 4 rods, each about 12" long, each with a few nuts. And all that sent to Germany without being ripped off. Currently as it seems, impossible.

 

Daim,

Why don't you get your dealer to agree to charge you for the time it actually takes? It won't take them 2 hours, so you'll be ok.

Good luck

Paul

 

I suggested that and got the answer 'it is the time estimation Jaguar says and will be charged'. I even suggested to do it myself and pay them €50 to use the tool on their site not even in their workshop (the subframe would fit in my XJ8 boot). Nope, never, not company policy...

So I'm not paying €320 for a 20 min job...

 

Daim,


Do you want me to look into finding the rods here, shipping them out to you and charging you what it costs me from the US?


Tell me, specifically, what you need. I'll look it up, and figure things out from there. I have no idea what shipping to Germany would add to the cost.

 

In Canada I know that rod would cost about €7. Comes in 36" lengths, but that's enough to cut it into 4 pieces that would do the job. Postage would cost a lot less than €313! Let me know if you want me to source some for you.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I think that would turn out to cost a lot more than expected... Being from out of the EU it would cost import duties... Something TTIP would avoid...

 

Daim,

Don't know if this helps but apparently I can get 4 x1ft lengths of 3/8/" unf grade 4.6 mild steel bar for £6 delivered to me in UK. See here:

G.R Fasteners 3/8 UNF x 12" Threaded Rod Self Colour Pack Of 2 | eBay

I am not sure how to find out how much it would be for me to post that to you in Germany, but happy to try and find out. Maybe I could wrap up some similar sized metal that I might have in garage and take it to Post Office to get postage cost estimate? Alternatively, maybe seller could offer delivery to Germany at a price?

Let me know if I can help.

Cheers

Paul

 

I was thinking something similar, cut into 4 pieces it could go into a padded envelope and postage shouldn't be outrageous.

 

Thanks for the offers people. I'll try something totally different this weekend first. If that backfires, then I'll see what would work well. Though P&P from GB seems quite steap all the time

 

Agree on far too expensive P&P from UK to mainland EU in general.
Everytime I look for goods to be shipped to Brussels, I better find them in France or Germany instead of UK.
UK is really an island! and that will not improve with Brexit...

 

Not improve for whom?

 

Can you not go up through the centre of the spring pan & the hole on the subframe, using 1 large threaded rod & some large washers?
That way you can use whatever is cheap off the shelf where you are.

 

I did that to undo them. To do them up, you need some way to angle the rod and the spring pan...

 

Contact me via PM. I'm in the middle of a move from the US to Germany, and I might be able to fit them in...

 

Thanks for the offer... I might come back on it.

My try tomorrow will be a different approach:

I'll use a hydraulic press to compress the springs to about half their normal height. Then use some durable wire and wrap that around 3 spots of the spring, in order to 'strap' it up. Put the spring in, tighten the spring pan up and then carefully cut the wires...

 

How about durable chain instead ?

"Durable wire" leaves me with a very uneasy feeling....although I'm sure there's some really strong stuff out there

The difficulty (in my experience) comes in lining up the bolt holes. Lacking some sort of guide pins/bolts, you'll have to compress the spring enough to allow the spring pan to be placed directly onto the control arms. If 'half their normal height' is enough to allow this, then you'll be in good shape.

Cheers
DD

 

The wire I've got here is used to be part of static building parts, so it has some strength in it.

Chain would work, but would be awkward to undo...

 

Daim, l have replaced the springs more than once using a copy of factory tool and even then it is SCAREY all the time while that thing is in a compressed state. Some serious energy stored in that and durable wire might not be my first choice.