Bedford rear springs and articulation question

[Richie]

Ok, i had it in my head that to get more articulation i was going to go for the bedford rascle rear springs and ruf with astra mk2 shocks all round.

Atm i have standard old and worn springs and 2 inch lift shackles (which i want to put the shackles back to standard and use the rascles to get the +2 inch lift again)

After a 150 mile round trip i finally bought 4 second hand leaf springs (which i thought were all bedford rears)
How ever they are 2 different sizes so im not sure what ones to fit. 2 are 37'' long and 2 are 38'' long.

To make things more complicated yesterday i bought a complete sj 410 as spares and it has the strangest leaf springs....
They look standard length but they are only 1 leaf thick with 1 other helper leaf underneath which is clamped to it with a ball on the end???

How do i articulate a none running truck to see if these new mystery springs have more flex in them than the standard or my other apparant rascle rear springs.

I now have a total of 16 various leaf springs and all im trying to do is find out which ones will flex the most front and rear then bolt them on with my new astra mk2 shocks

Any advice on flexing and articulation and spring dimensions so i could figure out whats springs i have would be great, Thx

[ScottieJ]

The single leaf ones are Spanish parabolic springs basically the longer the spring the more it will flex, but its not quite that simple either as the shackle angle comes into play a bit as well. Also correctly set up bump stops help as they act as a pivot to push the drooping wheel down more.

Did you measure the springs just eye to eye or along the top leaf? I presume you are going rears up front as well?

[Richie]

I measured the springs from eye to eye off the vehicle which i guess was pointless because im missing out the curve lol.
The plan was to put rears up front until u mentioned i have 4 x Spanish parabolic springs? Are they better for ride comfort and articulation? Im abit in the dark on this lol

[ScottieJ]

If you want a bit of lift and as more articulation I would do rascal rears and rears up front, you might want to play with the spring packs a bit though to get them to flex well. I.e. put them on as they are try them and then add/remove leafs to stiffen/soften them up etc.

[felstmiester]

I done rascal rears and ruf. Because I'm running the Isuzu td engine I put a couple of extra leafs in from my old fronts. My suspension is hard as hell! I kinda think your better off starting with new springs tho cos my rascal ones have only been on for around six months and they look flat already