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Got the spring off and the spacer is shot. About a 1/4 of it just crumbled as I was pulling the spring off. This was the small chip I found laying on the garage floor.
I called VB&P and they are sending me a new spacer setup. The way he described it on the phone it seems VB&P have changed the spacer setup since I installed my spring.
I'll post some pictures when I'm done.
I suggest anyone with an older VB&P composite spring to go check the spacer. Luckily I don't run a spare tire carrier so it's easy for me to see it.
Got the spring off and the spacer is shot. About a 1/4 of it just crumbled as I was pulling the spring off. This was the small chip I found laying on the garage floor.
I called VB&P and they are sending me a new spacer setup. The way he described it on the phone it seems VB&P have changed the spacer setup since I installed my spring.
I'll post some pictures when I'm done.
I suggest anyone with an older VB&P composite spring to go check the spacer. Luckily I don't run a spare tire carrier so it's easy for me to see it.
Did he define older vs. newer? I got my spring about 3-4 years ago.
I am glad that VB&P is sending you the parts you need because I did have the thickness measurement...but seeing how you are getting new parts...it is not needed.
Just be careful on your bolt length and NOT let the front two bottom out as you know.
Did he define older vs. newer? I got my spring about 3-4 years ago.
I'll see what is different if anything as soon as the new spacer comes in. Should be tomorrow hopefully. I'll post some pictures.
Added picture of failure. About 10mm of the spacer just crumbled when I took it off as you can see. Since the spacer came taped to the spring from VB&P and I didn't take it off the spring when I installed it originally I am unsure if it was two pieces or just one. There is glue under the portion of the crumbled spacer that is holding the pieces to the spring in the pictures above.
Should know more when comparing the spacers side by side when my new one arrives.
I'll see what is different if anything as soon as the new spacer comes in. Should be tomorrow hopefully. I'll post some pictures.
Added picture of failure. About 10mm of the spacer just crumbled when I took it off as you can see. Since the spacer came taped to the spring from VB&P and I didn't take it off the spring when I installed it originally I am unsure if it was two pieces or just one. There is glue under the portion of the crumbled spacer that is holding the pieces to the spring in the pictures above.
Should know more when comparing the spacers side by side when my new one arrives.
Thanks, I'll watch for your update. And wow, that's not pretty! I just re-torqued mine in prep for an event and it was just slightly below the spec on the 2 rear bolts. The spacer looked OK but I'm going to get back under there and take a hard look at it.
So there are two, I'll call them rubber, thin pieces that you glue to the top and bottom of the spring. That is what you see deteriorated in my above photos. Then the thick spacer goes on top of the "rubber" spacer on the top side of the spring and against the carrier housing.
I think I lost all of one rubber spacer and you see the condition of the other one.
Everything is back together so far so good. I put some small orange paint marks on the bolts so I can see if they back out. It's a quick way to tell by just looking real quick. It does help that I don't run the spare tire carrier right now.
So there are two, I'll call them rubber, thin pieces that you glue to the top and bottom of the spring. That is what you see deteriorated in my above photos. Then the thick spacer goes on top of the "rubber" spacer on the top side of the spring and against the carrier housing.
I think I lost all of one rubber spacer and you see the condition of the other one.
Everything is back together so far so good. I put some small orange paint marks on the bolts so I can see if they back out. It's a quick way to tell by just looking real quick. It does help that I don't run the spare tire carrier right now.
i just emailed VBP about this same issue today. i have an unrelated issue, and when i was crawling around i found the pads were gone, and the bolts were loose. and mines the older style, about 9 years old now.
BE CAREFUL...because if you tighten them more....it is HIGHLY possible that they can damage the actual rear end cover itself and cause for it to start leaking because when you tighten these bolts...they can crack the housing where the bolt is trying to go INSIDE your oil area of the differential. I HAVE seen this happen. So be aware!
I HONESTLY believe this torque spec is for a STEEL LEAF spring...which is entirely different than a composite spring.
DUB
My VB&P is torqued to 45 ft-lbs max.
When I tried to over torque the spring plate will start to bend and then you have a different problem.
05-26-2017, 09:35 AM
Did he define older vs. newer? I got my spring about 3-4 years ago.
My VB&P is torqued to 45 ft-lbs max.