Tapered Rear springs

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Sirromnel
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Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2016 1:33 pm

Tapered Rear springs

Post by Sirromnel »

Hi Everybody,

My car is a 1994 MK3 1.8i cat. A rear spring broke. Everyone quotes Kilen 71013 as a replacement. New pair fitted. Car looked stupid being 2 inches too high at the rear. Lot of research (because of little help from Kilen or the dealers). My car has tapered wire rear springs. Kilen 71013 is not tapered. The part number needed is Kilen 260450. Only one dealer in the UK that I could find knew this, AGR Automotive, Huddersfield.

Hope this helps,

Len
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humbucker
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by humbucker »

Thanks for the info, Len. Did you manage to get hold of the correct springs in the end?
Sirromnel
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by Sirromnel »

Hi,

Yes I did! And they are fitted and my car looks normal again! Here are the intriguing details. Kilen 71013 are specified for the Vaxhall cavalier 89-95. They have a constant wire diameter. My car is a Feb 94 1.8i Cat 90 hp and it is bog standard. The old springs removed had tapered wire where they got thinner towards the mounting points. I was told by the dealer that all this would have been taken into account by Kilen and that 71013 were correct. Not so. The correct springs are Kilen 260450 which have the tapered design. However, the boxes my new springs arrived in are marked " 260450-Vectra 88-9/95 and Astra cab 3/93-3/01. No mention of Cavalier at all. How can this be?

Best Regards,

Len
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humbucker
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by humbucker »

"260450-Vectra 88-9/95" would be Vectra A, the Mk3 Cavalier's name in mainland Europe. Kilen are a German manufacturer.
Sirromnel
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by Sirromnel »

Hi,

Thanks for that. Makes a lot of sense. I'd forgotten about Opel and indeed now you've said it, have some vague memory about seeing a Cavalier in France badged up as a Vectra many years ago!

In the last few weeks I've had to become quite an unwilling expert on Kilen. Just so you know, they have major distribution outlets in the UK, Germany, Russia and Sweden. The head office, technical design, and production is in Sweden. All my Kilen boxes have been marked 'made in Sweden' and 'Cold Coiled' which is apparently their claim to fame.

I'm going to write to Vauxhall themselves to try and bottom this matter. They just might play ball:-

Many years ago I wrote to them about the ABS on my new GSI Cavalier. In snow it would not stop on my steep drive down to the main road. With high walls either side there was nowhere to steer. The choice was hit the wall or slide into traffic (and all this at less than walking pace). My wife's Astra with no ABS would simply lock its wheels, plough the snow and stop quite easily. The response from Vauxhall was about all the statistical benefits of ABS and finished with the comment 'under no circumstances should remove fuse no.XX from the XX fuse box. Brilliant and made me laugh!

Maybe times have changed. I'll let you know if I get a response.

Best Regards,

Len
Sirromnel
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by Sirromnel »

Well this one is getting very interesting. Getting in touch with a technical department at Vauxhall is almost impossible. Tried their customer assistance department and eventually received a reply that they are 'not technically trained' and all enquiry's must go through the local dealer. Did that. Excellent chap who did his best but could only see discontinued part numbers and not any technical details. Called Vauxhall direct and got directed to their Heritage centre. Called them, nice chap, said he'd get back. Just to remind everybody my question to Vauxhall is simple. Was my car originally fitted with tapered wire coil springs
Sirromnel
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by Sirromnel »

I have a reply from Vauxhall Motors! They were very quick in doing so after I contacted their top managers directly.

My direct question was "Were my original springs constant wire diameter or tapered wire diameter?"

The response was "the rear coil springs on MK3 cavaliers were termed by Opel as 'mini block' springs and are of the tapered variety".

Job done as far as I am concerned. Vauxhall were excellent once I could get their focus on a 23 year old car (which is understandably not their daily concern!).

Beware of the Kilen listings for 71013. Check out Kilen 260454.

Regards to all,

Len
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ilovedmymantas
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by ilovedmymantas »

Interesting. I've never had this problem yet but no doubt it'll come up.
we're at the stage where most fitters are younger than the car !

matt
" It's not rust. It's age-related patina " ;)

1980 vauxhall cavalier MK1 1.6L, 1982 opel manta berlinetta 1.8s, 1985 opel manta 2.0 gte, 1990 cavalier 2.0 gl ,1994 cavalier sri x20xev

-1995 cdx x20xev

---------------
Matt
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ilovedmymantas
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by ilovedmymantas »

ilovedmymantas wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:32 pm Interesting. I've never had this problem yet but no doubt it'll come up.
we're at the stage where most fitters are younger than the car !

matt
That time has come.

I need to replace the rear springs but after days of looking i'm none the wiser. I've been looking at KYB as replacements but the listings are confusing, one says straight and another says straight with top and bottom pigtails. Both have the same part number (RX5408) :scratch
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Edit.
Think I've sussed it now, took me long enough. Why didn't I think of looking at the kyb catalogue sooner https://kyb-europe.com/wp-content/uploa ... -A-ENG.pdf, there are only three listings for the cav!

Image

RX5408 (un-tapered) appear to be correct after all for the 2.0l, -time to find a good price :)

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Can anyone help with front spring suggestions?

The current set up has PI 35mm springs with B4 shocks. Much as I've enjoyed the handling i think the springs are a bit too low for potholes and cobbled streets. When I bought the car it was on standard springs that were very 'wallowy' so I'm looking for something in-between, springs that are firm but just long enough to stop me damaging the top strut mounts with the bump stops. This appears to have happened with the new mounts I had fitted :(
" It's not rust. It's age-related patina " ;)

1980 vauxhall cavalier MK1 1.6L, 1982 opel manta berlinetta 1.8s, 1985 opel manta 2.0 gte, 1990 cavalier 2.0 gl ,1994 cavalier sri x20xev

-1995 cdx x20xev

---------------
Matt
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Mk3alan
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by Mk3alan »

Crikey, a right can of worms. Photo of my original rear springs on my 1990 CD shows tapered spring wire and reducing spring diameter if that helps.
Image

Alan
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Robsey
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by Robsey »

Here are the lowered spax springs (30 / 40 mm drop) fitted in the summer of 2016 to my Cavalier.
Seems so long ago...

They do "taper in" at the ends.

Image

Image
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ilovedmymantas
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Re: Tapered Rear springs

Post by ilovedmymantas »

Thanks guys, you've confirmed my thoughts - I bought the wrong springs, now I've got the hassle of returning them :roll:

I found an older pic of my springs when the rear inner arch collapsed and they're tapered-I'm almost embarrassed to post this pic, both your cars look so pretty underneath :mrgreen:
Image


I've got seventeen tabs open, cross referencing everything and I've come to a conclusion. Manufacturer's catalogues are unreliable (perhaps just for older cars?). KYB are just wrong, kilen (lesjofors) no description of coil type and discontinued anyway.
It's no wonder after sellers quote loads of reference numbers, it's the shotgun approach and includes straight and tapered springs, no distinction. Pics 'for illustration purposes' don't help either!
Luckily there's a handful of sellers (according to my mate three fingered Dave) who go into more detail on coil diameters.

I've also noticed that many once-reliable motor factors searches have become unreliable or unavailable fairly recently :(

-------------------------------------------

Summary.
The obvious :roll: If you're able, check what's fitted.

If you have straight springs KYB RX5408 will be correct.
If the springs are tapered, KYB RJ5103 are the right ones. Ignore the catalogue listing, i'm sure if it's good enough for heavier diesels and astra convertibles then it's ok for the cav.
" It's not rust. It's age-related patina " ;)

1980 vauxhall cavalier MK1 1.6L, 1982 opel manta berlinetta 1.8s, 1985 opel manta 2.0 gte, 1990 cavalier 2.0 gl ,1994 cavalier sri x20xev

-1995 cdx x20xev

---------------
Matt
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