Triumph Repair: spitfire ujoints & diff, u-joint, axle

Question
I recently changes all the ujoints in my 80 spitfire. When I road tested the car I got a vibration at about 25 mph from the rear of the vehicle. I'm pretty sure I replaced the axles in the correct orientation. I didn't however tighten the spring to upright with the vehicle weight on it. How critical is this and should I do it that way or not? or any other suggestions?

Answer
Did you replace just the 2 on the axles, or did you also change the one or two on the drive shaft?  I take it you didn't have this vibration before you changed the u-joints; usually a problem like this is a wheel out of balance, a bent rim, or bad tire.

Try rotating the tires and see if you get the same result.  See if you can isolate which side it is coming from.

The spring is unlikely the cause of the problem; I would re-check all the suspension bolts you touched to make sure nothing is loose.  I also assume you didn't have any hardware left over after you were done re-assembly.  I've had that happen.

I'd have to research how to check orientation of the yoke of the axle and the corresponding flange; if you marked it before you disassembled, and re-assembled in the same orientation, you should be OK.

Another test, but not for the faint of heart;  If you have jack stands and wheel chocks, and an assistant, what you can do is put the rear wheels up in the air, secure the car so it can't roll or fall off the jacks, start the engine, and put it into first/second and look (from a safe distance) to see what is vibrating in the drive train.

Problems like this are tough to diagnose.  Good luck.