replacement Wildernest spring

[Clutch]

.
Clutch, I don't think your representations of the spring positions are correct. I don't have the shell to take a look and be sure but my recollection is the spring is attached to the main support bar and the bottom section of the shell. The main support only rotates 90 degrees so the spring would also only open and close 90 degrees. I have the rear spring in my hand and in its relaxed position it is in the 180 degree (flat) position that you show. I am guessing the closed position is probably somewhere around 225 degrees closed and 135 degrees open relative to the figures in your drawing. I am probably off some on that because I think the springs are under more tension in the closed position than in the open.

That diagram was only for reference.

Do wonder if the spring is only meant for opening and doesn't assist in closing. Can you tell with the spring out if there is indeed a neutral position...or is it always under tension when installed? Doesn't seem like it rotates enough to have an assist when closing effect. At least to me.


Any guesses what weight the springs are rated as?

 

[gwittman]

I won't have the shell until Saturday so I can't take a look to see exactly how the spring is attached. Going my memory, it is not attached to the lower section of the shell straight up and down. It offset at a slight angle. The spring is a 180 degree spring so when inserted in the main support bar, its neutral position is angled somewhat toward the closed position. So when in the full open position, there should be some tension to initially help start closing it. From there the spring goes though the neutral position and then gets loaded in the opposite direction as it approaches the closed position.
I don't have any idea what the spring rating is. I know it is stronger than I can deflect it without an extension for leverage.

 

[Clutch]

Thanks for the info gwittman.

 

[quetzal]

I won't have the shell until Saturday so I can't take a look to see exactly how the spring is attached. Going my memory, it is not attached to the lower section of the shell straight up and down. It offset at a slight angle. The spring is a 180 degree spring so when inserted in the main support bar, its neutral position is angled somewhat toward the closed position. So when in the full open position, there should be some tension to initially help start closing it. From there the spring goes though the neutral position and then gets loaded in the opposite direction as it approaches the closed position.
I don't have any idea what the spring rating is. I know it is stronger than I can deflect it without an extension for leverage.

Hey there,
I read in another post that you're in the process of refurbishing your 'nest. Can you update us on the status and details? Thanks dude, love your rig!

 

[gwittman]

It ended up taking six weeks instead of two to get it painted. Then my dad died and I had to go back to Kansas to be with my family. So, nothing has been done on the shell after picking it up from the paint shop but I plan to start this coming weekend. That reminds me I need to order some black rivets.

 

[sambo.cox]

Hey all,

I realized this post hasn't been opened for over a year, but figured it be my best thread to start on.
I found a shop that will make some spring replacements. The tool set up cost is outrageous, so doesn't make a whole lot of sense to order just one. I was hoping to find some others out their that would like to go in together. If it get 4 others, we can get the cost down to about $100 a spring. And I priced my box at the post office. I can ship flat rate to most of the US for $17. The company was looking at about an 8 week lead time.
The spring I need is the back one. Mine's busted, I linked some photos for reference. https://photos.app.goo.gl/CU6c6AM7x1WRZmIu1

If your interested let me know. I can front the money if we get enough interest. Once I get them, we can figure out payment somehow (Venmo or paypal or something)
- Sam

 

[DaveInDenver]

Sam, I'll take at least one.

I still have one long and one short spare from the batch made at the machine shop around 2006 in Denver but my current 'Nest has two of the short springs.

Has anyone gotten quotes from Newcomb Spring in Longmont
https://www.newcombspring.com/products/torsion-springs

or AAAA Specialties in Denver?
https://aaaaspecialties.com/what-we-offer/

Wish I could find the invoice from the place I used in Denver. It may have been AAAA, but I might well be misremembering and confusing them with AAA Metric.

Happy to offer the two versions I have as examples for the shop, they've never been installed in a 'Nest so they are exact new replacements with the exception that the cotter pin hole was never drilled.

 

[sambo.cox]

Yeah, I went to AAAA. That spring on the left looks like the mirror of what I need. Must be the front spring.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yup, exactly. That's why I need a short length rear. I could re-drill the strut but since you're making up short rears I'll throw in for one. Just offering to use the spares as examples for the shop if anyone needs those made.

 

[gwittman]

Sam, I am interested in a spare spring but I am a little confused as to which one you intend to get made. The one you are showing is like my front spring and the one that is in Dave's photo on the left is like my rear one. I don't think it is possible to install them in the wrong place. Maybe we have different model Wildernests and the springs are different.

I have never broken a spring since I bought my Wildernest in 1990 but I think having spares is a good idea. If we can figure out if I can use what you are ordering, I am in.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I've personally never seen a long length one used in the back but different 'Nests I've had could either have a long or a short one in front. I can't say with absolute certainty that longs were never used in the back, just that I've never seen it.

What I'm showing on the left is a rear spring and the right is a front. That would constitute a full spare kit for what's in my experience the most common configuration.

However I believe Sam is showing is a short length front spring, the one near the sliding window. That is one spare I do not have and need since my current 'Nest has short ones in both front and rear.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I don't think it is possible to install them in the wrong place.

I think you're right. I suspect that the spring could be installed either way, e.g. on either side of the lower shell strut, however the sleeve on the lid will only line up one way.

 

[gwittman]

Both of mine are the short ones. I did not realize they made a long version. I can see the long one working in the front but not in the back. The fiberglass beam, that the spring hooks into, angles forward and the long spring would not reach it. It is that way on my 6 ft shell. I guess a 7 ft shell could have a fiberglass beam that goes straight down without that angle in it and then the long spring could fit.
When you refer to the sleeve on the lid, are you talking about the tube welded on the center metal frame that the upper part of the spring fits into? I ask because there seems to be different ways they did things. My brother worked for the company that made the fiberglass shell and assembled everything. I can ask him if he knows why they had different designs for the spring system.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yup, I meant the sleeve on the center ridge pole.

 

[gwittman]

OK, that is the same as mine. A picture is truly worth a thousand words.
That has got to be the rear spring unless my mind is playing tricks on me. It appears to be like the one on the left in your previous picture which I think Sam called the front spring. I agree, the one in Sam's photo must be a front spring not a rear spring.
I don't care which one Sam wants to get made because I can use either one as a spare. I just want to make sure it will work for me in the location it was intended.
I am guessing all the small Wildernest had the same springs (with the exception of the long front spring) but the larger Wildernest surely has different springs due to the greater weight of the lid.