MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

TR parts and Triumph parts, TR bits, Triumph Car Spares and accessories are available for TR2, TR3, TR3A, TR4, TR4A, TR5, TR6, TR7, TR8, Spitfire and Stag and other TR models are available from British car spares and parts company LBCarCo.

Triumph TR6 - Ride Improvements

Anyone have an opinion on which mods had the most impact on improving your tr's ride. I am trying to priorotize future mods; new tires, new shocks all around, new springs. Also, my TR6 has red lines which look great but it sounds like most folks avoid them. Is there a better manufacturer of redlines.
Shawn Daley

Rebuilding the front end had the biggest positive effect on ride for me, followed by tires. But once you start, you'll want even more - springs, anti-sway bars, shocks....
Brent B

Ride improvement and TR6 are sort of mutually exclusive. Handling was fairly decent for thier day, but ride is a different matter. These things pretty much ride like trucks, and as my software buddies joke about some of their handiwork, "it's not a bug, it's a feature."

Most of the modifications out there are for improved handling and they typically come at the expense of ride comfort. If improving the ride is what you are after, about the only real choice you have is to go to a modern tire, run air pressures at the factory minimums and use stock components in any suspension work. If you really meant to say to improve handling, then there is much more to talk about.
SteveP

first things first:
start with new bushings (nylatron or urethane)
springs
shocks (koni up front heavier oil in back)
then tires
matt

Shawn--The TR responds very well when shod with modern tires of the 205/70 variety. The improvement will be dramatic even if the rest of your suspension is tired. If you can afford that in a redline, go for it (I like the redline look too). I read somewhere that you shouldn't ride on tires that are more than 7 years old.

To keep your new tires in good condition, replace every bushing on the front and rear first. IMHO, use urethane bushings everywhere except the diff mounts where you should stick with the more resilient uprated rubber variety. Springs are relatively inexpensive and should be swapped out as well.

Rick Orthen

I think the best thing i did for my tr is replacing the shocks. I put Konis front and because they came w/ the convesion kit, kybs on the rear. The conversion kit is the best alround thing. It takes a lot of harshness out of the ride and controls the rearend. I got it off Ebay for $124 if I remember. Very simple to instal. Remember you really sit close to the rear end. You really don't realize how far back in the car you sit. Open the door and you can touch the rear wheel. You could touch the Differential from the drivers seat. Not many cars have that exagereated (Sp?)(its a prety stupid person who can't spell a word more than one way. H.S.T.) rearward seating arangement. That means for ride comfort you have you have to control the rearend because it is so close everything is amplified compaired to the frontend. Chrysler's "cab forward" was the response to TR's "cab rearward."
skikir

Hi all:
How does the ride of a stock TR6 compare with the ride
of a live axle TR4 or 4A, given an equal degree of maintenance?
Just different degrees of "truckness"?(I've also posted this query on the 4/4A BBS)
Presumably the TR6 ride can be tweaked more easily than the 4.
I recall on an earlier (or maybe even current) thread mention of variably wound springs for the 6 which sounds like a good idea.
D.
dennis

The rear springs from a Datsun 510 wagon can be fitted to a TR6. The wagons were a solid axle car, the coupes and sedans had IRS. The rear springs on the wagon were a progreesive spring. I had forgotten about them until just mentioned. That could be a help in the ride comfort arena, but probably not the hot lick if you are looking at things from a performance standpoint.

And I mean Datsun (in the NA market anyway), think 510, think L16 engine, think BRE and Bob Brock era Datsun 510, not one of those Nissan things they called a 510 in eighties. You have to go retro-grouch to the very late 60's/early 70's for those things, then again this is a TR6 board so we should close if not already there.
SteveP

I agree witk Skikir,

Shock conversion at the rear (In my case also the KYB's) made the best improvement. I also have poly bushings and uprated springs on the front and rear. Drives like a modern sportscar (well, almost than)

Eric de Lange

SteveP:
I know what you mean about the Datsun thing.
In 1970 a buddy of mine bought a new 510 sedan.Of course I was very impressed after my first drive, they were great little cars. But my buddy had already previously been impressed after driving my car, a Signal Red '65 TR4.
However I have to admit that the Datsun came in handy on double-dates.
I would also hazard a guess that there are more TR's around today than 510's.
Cheers!,
D.
dennis

Shawn, I've done most of the mods listed above and they are all good, but the mod that really helped make the ride better was installing Miata seats. Not only
very comfy but they have side bolsters for spirted driving. With the original seats that were completely
restored i could only drive for a couple hours before I had to get out and stretch, with the miata seats I can do 5-6 hrs no problem. Mind you when I was 20 I could sit on cold concrete slab for 5 hrs and think nothing of it. And only another TR guy will know that you have changed over. But Steve is right, It'll still feel like you are driving a small import truck from the 70's.
Chris
Christopher T.o

This thread was discussed between 06/11/2005 and 10/11/2005

Triumph TR6 index