As a mathematican (and not a mechanic) I'm baffled by this idea that you can put a spring a right and a wrong way around based on the angle of the coils. Clearly the two springs have opposite threads - one right handed and one left handed - and it's important to get the right spring for the front and the right one at the back, but having chosen the right spring it doesn't change its handedness depending on which way round you put it. A threaded rod with a right hand thread still has a right hand thread if you turn it round the other way. That's not to say that the spring can't have a right way round and a wrong way round - the way the two ends are finished might be different - but whichever way around you put a given spring, the slope of the coils will be the same.
A very good point. Front and rear springs are different lengths so cannot be mixed up. Even so, Citroen in the official workshop manual are clear that there are only three checks to be made without specialist equipment. Verification of wire diameter, uncompressed height of the springs and last but not least direction of spiral winding. If they thought it was important it is probably best to go along with it, so I did.
Nylon is hygroscopic and swells with damp, also the idea of the cans and friction rings was to be part of the spring camping system, on early cars I believe it was the only damping system.
Interesting, I did not realise that nylon would absorb water and may explain why they tightened up over a winter layup. Their ovality may also have been the cause / contributory factor as they would be tighter / looser depending on their phase of rotation relative to the sleeves. Early cars also had batteurs on the hubs and frotteurs inside the axle end, which did most of the damping. In December 1954 Citroen removed the can covers completely, the "resorts apparents " cars when there were no friction rings at all. They quickly changed their minds over that one and reintroduced the can sleeves in May the following year. Thanks for watching !
My 2cv trike is sans cans,the one rear spring has an ex motor cycle spring inside the Citroen spring to give a bit more support. I can understand why Citroen went back to cans without cans the interconnection between front and rear suspension would have been lost, an essential feature of the suspension system. Interest in engine video ,stay safe I have mentioned you on the 2cv Specials club site.
Hi Ben, when I read your comment I thought I had better double check as I am prone to making daft mistakes. When the spring at the open end of the can was removed initially, it is wound to the left ( anti clockwise) from the end. Once I had finished moving stuff around on reassembly it was reinserted with the same wind, to the left. I went back to the manual in French and it stated that the front coil is wound to the left, the rear to the right. With the coils on the table it is difficult to see which way they are leaning, but they went back the way they came out. Thanks for watching!
As usual I learn so much with your videos, thank you. Silly question probably…why bother with the cylinders if it’s only a big spring inside? I ask as I’ve visited a well known 2CV restorer / racer and on his personal 2CV he did away with the cylinders. I expect there’s a good reason for having them though. I’d be interested in your opinion. Thank you, John
Hi John. That is a very good question. Citroen themselves tried without the spring tubes, the "resorts apparents" cars but only for a short period. I can only assume that they were concerned about the suspension getting blasted with grit and muck so went back to enclosed tubes.
@@oldnutsgarage ..Have you ever tried running without the cylinders? Apart from the large spring what else could be damaged? I have mud flaps all round on my Dyane which would help a little perhaps?? The other comment about tapping a small hole in the cylinder to pipe in some vegetable oil seems like a reasonable thought especially is you close it up with a small shallow bolt? Can you think of a reason why this might not be a way to go? I’m pretty clueless about this so any opinion would be appreciated. Thank you again.
I haven't tried running without the cans, but the damage would probably not be to the springs as such but the point of interaction between the rods and the cups. Add a slurry of grit and wet muck to that point and wear would definitely be accelerated compared to an enclosed can. If you did drill a small hole then a plug of dum dum or similar sealant on top might be a good solution?
Hi Eric, the yellow bucket is the same Citric acid solution that we saw in video 2, I wanted to show the bits coming out so viewers could make their own mind up about how effective the solution is. I think it does a really good job with no effort needed. Thanks again for watching and keep safe!
Hi John, I have not tried drilling a hole and to be honest this is the first time I have ever had a problem with suspension cans. I normally just use some rubber tube and a funnel to get the veg oil in and that has worked fine. There will be a further update about these cups soon, so please call back to the Garage. Thanks for watching !
Thanks for sharing this latest video. I found it fascinating and appreciated your attention to detail. Very useful. 👍
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching. If you know any other 2cv lovers please tell them about the channel.
As a mathematican (and not a mechanic) I'm baffled by this idea that you can put a spring a right and a wrong way around based on the angle of the coils.
Clearly the two springs have opposite threads - one right handed and one left handed - and it's important to get the right spring for the front and the right one at the back, but having chosen the right spring it doesn't change its handedness depending on which way round you put it. A threaded rod with a right hand thread still has a right hand thread if you turn it round the other way.
That's not to say that the spring can't have a right way round and a wrong way round - the way the two ends are finished might be different - but whichever way around you put a given spring, the slope of the coils will be the same.
A very good point. Front and rear springs are different lengths so cannot be mixed up. Even so, Citroen in the official workshop manual are clear that there are only three checks to be made without specialist equipment. Verification of wire diameter, uncompressed height of the springs and last but not least direction of spiral winding. If they thought it was important it is probably best to go along with it, so I did.
Nylon is hygroscopic and swells with damp, also the idea of the cans and friction rings was to be part of the spring camping system, on early cars I believe it was the only damping system.
Damping not camping!
Interesting, I did not realise that nylon would absorb water and may explain why they tightened up over a winter layup. Their ovality may also have been the cause / contributory factor as they would be tighter / looser depending on their phase of rotation relative to the sleeves. Early cars also had batteurs on the hubs and frotteurs inside the axle end, which did most of the damping. In December 1954 Citroen removed the can covers completely, the "resorts apparents " cars when there were no friction rings at all. They quickly changed their minds over that one and reintroduced the can sleeves in May the following year. Thanks for watching !
My 2cv trike is sans cans,the one rear spring has an ex motor cycle spring inside the Citroen spring to give a bit more support. I can understand why Citroen went back to cans without cans the interconnection between front and rear suspension would have been lost, an essential feature of the suspension system. Interest in engine video ,stay safe I have mentioned you on the 2cv Specials club site.
Thanks Neil, very kind of you. It is shame there is no way of swapping pictures on TH-cam I would like to see your trike and the suspension set up.
Pictures and video's are on TH-cam, just search neil curson.
The springs were put in the wrong way round, it is a section drawing and you are seeing the rear part of the coils.
Hi Ben, when I read your comment I thought I had better double check as I am prone to making daft mistakes. When the spring at the open end of the can was removed initially, it is wound to the left ( anti clockwise) from the end. Once I had finished moving stuff around on reassembly it was reinserted with the same wind, to the left. I went back to the manual in French and it stated that the front coil is wound to the left, the rear to the right. With the coils on the table it is difficult to see which way they are leaning, but they went back the way they came out. Thanks for watching!
As usual I learn so much with your videos, thank you. Silly question probably…why bother with the cylinders if it’s only a big spring inside? I ask as I’ve visited a well known 2CV restorer / racer and on his personal 2CV he did away with the cylinders. I expect there’s a good reason for having them though. I’d be interested in your opinion. Thank you, John
Hi John. That is a very good question. Citroen themselves tried without the spring tubes, the "resorts apparents" cars but only for a short period. I can only assume that they were concerned about the suspension getting blasted with grit and muck so went back to enclosed tubes.
@@oldnutsgarage ..Have you ever tried running without the cylinders? Apart from the large spring what else could be damaged? I have mud flaps all round on my Dyane which would help a little perhaps?? The other comment about tapping a small hole in the cylinder to pipe in some vegetable oil seems like a reasonable thought especially is you close it up with a small shallow bolt? Can you think of a reason why this might not be a way to go? I’m pretty clueless about this so any opinion would be appreciated. Thank you again.
I haven't tried running without the cans, but the damage would probably not be to the springs as such but the point of interaction between the rods and the cups. Add a slurry of grit and wet muck to that point and wear would definitely be accelerated compared to an enclosed can. If you did drill a small hole then a plug of dum dum or similar sealant on top might be a good solution?
Hello, thanx for the video. Whats in the yellow bucket? Greetings Eric (from Holland)
Hi Eric, the yellow bucket is the same Citric acid solution that we saw in video 2, I wanted to show the bits coming out so viewers could make their own mind up about how effective the solution is. I think it does a really good job with no effort needed. Thanks again for watching and keep safe!
@@oldnutsgarage I will try that. Soaking for a day and we will see. Thanx!
Can you drill a small hole, In the can and put some veg oil in every so often ? Great video again 👍👍
Hi John, I have not tried drilling a hole and to be honest this is the first time I have ever had a problem with suspension cans. I normally just use some rubber tube and a funnel to get the veg oil in and that has worked fine. There will be a further update about these cups soon, so please call back to the Garage. Thanks for watching !
Hello. What veg oil exactly do you use inside these? TIA
Thanks for video sharing but please make shorter videos for the future, please too slow talking about, too long video
Tosh…the videos are perfect, please don’t change!!!!
Same here: Please don't change your calm method!!@@johnmackay5288