TheHaflinger.com

Took my Hafi "Lurch" and my friend Stephen for the drive up to see Julian and his Hafi's. Drive there was good. No problems other than trying to find gears. Thank you Julian, for the hospitality during the hours we were there!

Highlighted some issues which will need further investigation. Like the fact that Lurch sits much lower at the front than either of Julian's, see photo: Any body got some measurements for springs, either when on the vehicle or off so I can check mine - the safety straps on mine are loose when unloaded and on Julian's they were at or almost at full stretch.

Lurch ticked over very slowly compared to either of Julian's but the Beige one was not as bad as the Green one - that is the one he has just rebuilt the engine on, so it can be forgiven for not being quite right yet!

Julian is lucky enough to have a piece of woodland he can drive in...... We went for a quick spin in there and Lurch disgraced himself by getting stuck and needing a helping tow rope connected to another Haflinger to get out! My own fault for not selecting 4 wheel drive, front and rear diff locks and giving him some beans

When I have worked out how to put a video up on here like Gary did, I will post a short bit of our fun

John

Well done - a nice trio. I would have thought that the check straps need to be slightly loose when unloaded as the suspension does need to move down as well as up - so I would say yours are correct. Likewise at the front your straps should have a bit of slack - so is your Haffie too low or the others up too high?

Any other little issues that popped up?

Hi John,
I believe Garry is on the mark and that you have the correct springs installed on "Lurch".

There were three different spring rates available for Hafs. The lightest spring rate was supplied on all standard pattern Hafs. The medium rate springs were supplied on the US Pathfinder version and I think also on the rear of LWB models. The heaviest rate springs were supplied on Kommunal Hafs and on the front of Hafs equipped with a snowplow blade.

I can see in your photo that Julian's trucks show reverse camber angle on the front wheels so he has the heavier springs installed.

Cheers,
Steve

I'll admit to not knowing which springs I have one either of my machines, but the gap between the top of the rear tyre & the bottom of the platform on John's was exactly the same as on my cream Haf, whereas the fronts were radically different.

What I do know is that on my green Haf the rear wheels angle in significantly. I wonder whether it has springs that are a bit too strong / the wrong ones?

Hi Julian & John,

Does John's truck sit at near level height (front to rear)? If not it may be possible that the spring mount cups have become bent. For reference, here is a photo of my truck with new light rate springs and an original dealer showroom photo from 1967. Notice the clearance between the top of the wheels and the platform.

You would want to have neutral camber angle to give even tire wear. Heavier springs give a pronounced reverse camber when there is no load or no attachments on the truck.

Cheers,
Steve

Julian B wrote:What I do know is that on my green Haf the rear wheels angle in significantly. I wonder whether it has springs that are a bit too strong / the wrong ones?

Certainly my rear wheels are pointed in at the bottom when parked up where the fronts are not - I took it to be to take into account when there is a load. Even with this bottom in stance the check straps still not tight and have a bit of slack in them.

Garry

Hi Garry,

My truck shows a little bit of reverse camber on the rear wheels too after I have used reverse gear. As soon as we move forward the axles settle to level again. The check straps are not tight on my truck either other than from the slight tension supplied by the upper and lower guide clips.

Cheers,
Steve

If I remember I will take some photos of the limit straps whilst Lurch is on flat piece of road. I am just wondering if my springs are "tired". Only way to know that would be to know what the original length of the springs should be.

I wonder if the 3 different "strengths" of springs fitted are actually all the same length but just different in the diameter of the steel used?

John

Steve,

Any chance you could measure the gaps between the rims and the bodywork - that would remove any error caused by worn tyres. Front and back and I will see what mine work out at.

Thanks,

John

John, the distances on my Hafs between the bottom edge of the main "spar" of the body and the top edge of the wheel rim are ...

Green: 23cm front, 25cm rear
Cream: 24cm front, 23cm rear

HTH

Mine are at 24cm for both front and rear as measured today using Julian's measurement points.

Cheers,
Steve

That didn't help much! Just been out to measure mine:-

Drivers side front = 23 cm
Drivers side rear = 24 cm
Passenger side rear = 24 cm
Passenger side front = 25 cm

So I thought it might be that I have a bit of a bent rim which I ruled out by moving the wheel round and measuring again. Then just to make certain I measure to the top edge of the hub center - still get differences of 1 cm and 2 cm!

I am completely puzzled by the fact that both of Julian's had limit straps with were pretty much tight and mine had quite a big bow in them. Unless the limit straps are different lengths?

Obviously it will have to wait until there are a harras of Haflingers to measure.

John

Hi John,

So your platform has been "tweaked", i.e. twisted, as we say in the racing world. This isn't unusual in old Haflingers and is the result of many miles on rough road as well as decaying platform stiffening braces.

Look for other contributors like weak or domed spring seat cups, worn spring bearing points and platform sagging. Don't read too much into limiting strap lengths as older straps will have stretched depending on use/abuse. As you mentioned, your springs may have become a bit tired but don't replace them until you've eliminated the other possibilities.

You didn't mention any comparison of tire size and wear amounts compared to Julian's trucks.

Cheers,
Steve

Tyres on the front of mine are well worn compared to Julian's, that why I suggested measuring to the rim.

Actually, your comment about twist platform has more bearing on the matter probably. The precious owner said it had had an argument with an oak tree on the front drivers side corner where the grey primer is. So possibly that side is down a couple of cm's which would make the gap ~25 like the passenger side.

Still would like to park it up against a harras of Haflingers on flat level ground to take some measurements. In the meantime, I shall carry on driving it!

Having had the front hubs off, other than measuring the unloaded lengths of the springs, every thing else seemed OK. No bent bits, no ripples in the bodywork panels near the mounting points to the chassis.

On a completely separate point. I had a quick look at the Yahoo site and noticed there were 400 plus members - Where are they? This site has stuck at 50 odd for a long time now. Still it has more activity than the others!

John