my 64 is leaning about 2 inches, I got underneath and saw that one side of the rear leaf still had a nice arc and the other side was pretty much flat, what kind of job is it to replace and do I go stock or aftermarket? any suggestions would be surely welcome, thanks

 

it really is not much trouble to replace. the thing is that if you are like me you never stop with one item. the main thing is to clamp a set of vice grips to the spring and put the jack against that. jack it up to lossen the nut and lower it down. i got a video from Van Steel that was quite helpful in taking the rear apart. one thing they suggested was after jacking the car up, to jack up each wheel and put a 9/16 extended socket under the trailing arm to keep the wheels at ride height. The video was cheap for all the info it gives you.
TL

 

How is your car configured? How old or new is your suspension, what kind of shocks do you have now. Are you looking to change the level of comfort in the ride? If your not concerned with "correctness" you can put the Vette Brakes Products fiberglass spring (possibly the 330 lb.) in with adjustable end bolts and be looking just right. If you want to keep the stock steel unit it can be rebuilt. Contact Eaton Spring in Detroit, MI. The latest issue of the NCRS Restorer has an article on this exact subject of rebuilding a steel spring, but no phone number.
T.L vette described the procedure correctly. Before you take out the four bolts from the rear housing, soak the threads with some kind of rust buster. On the install, chase those same thread with a tap.
Others here on the forum should have other welcomed thoughts.
Dennis

 

I don't know if this is accurate or not, but i heard that the fiberglass springs are prone to fracture when rocks and road debris hit them. This could be completely false as i have never used one. Changing the rear spring is a snap. If you are into driving your car i suggest you get a pair of the longer bolts from one of the parts companies that will allow for more adjustment in the ride height. Not only do they allow you to adjust the ride heigth more, but they also make installing the rear spring a lot easier since you do not have to jack the sides of the spring up as far in order to thread the nuts on. Do as mentioned above for disasembly. Put a large vise clamp on one side of the spring and jack the spring up with a floor jack. The vise clamp is to prevent the jack from slipping. Once the spring raises above the nut on the bolt you can unbolt it. Then once you have the nut off lower the spring and repeat on the other side. Once you have that done you can unbolt your spring mount plate from the bottom of the differential-careful, do not let the spring drop down and knock your teeth out. Once you have the spring out and away simply bolt up the new one and the jack up the sides, rethread the nuts, lower the jack to give tension and hit the road. Simple, and you save yourself about 150-200 doing it yourself.

 

The others have answered your question. I'd like to suggest you do some further checking. You may find that your problem is at the other end of the car (front spring), frame damage, etc. I think a transverse leaf spring design is unlikely to sag on only one side unless it has a broken leaf.

I'm not a fan of longer spring bolts though they will allow some additional adjustment. I view them more as treating the symptom than the cause.

 

Good point-it could very well be frame damage or something else screwy with the suspension. I would get that car on a lift and go over every inch of the frame carefully. keep me updated on the situation and if you run into any serious problems please update us.

 

absolutely no normal for just "one side" of a leaf spring to go south, problem surely lies elsewhere, whther in the rear suspension or in opposite front front corner - even then just one side of the rear spring would not "unload" in such an obvious fashion.

as for the reference to the great article on this in CE, JohnZ can elaborate and can give Eaton contact info

 

If it sits relatively correct at the front and you see that much difference side-to-side (one side of the spring flat, the other arched) at the rear, you probably have a broken leaf. Without actually seeing the condition of all the leaves (corrosion, material loss, etc.), I can't advise rebuild vs. replacement, but the only place you're going to find a correct reproduction 9-leaf spring (top three flat, bottom six arched) is Eaton Detroit Spring, www.eatonsprings.com .

When you install a new spring, only tighten the four spring plate bolts to 15-20 ft-lbs. with the car on jackstands; wait until the car is back on wheels with the full weight of the car on the suspension before you tighten them fully, or you can break the ears off the diff cover.

 

thanks every one, can a bad spring in the front actully make the whole car list almost 2 inches? also if I may what kind of frame damage should I lood for? is there anything else in the rear suspension that could cause this?

 

Your description of the problem indicates to me that one whole side of your car is two inches lower than the other. I don't know if I've ever seen that but it is common to see one corner of the car lower than the rest.

A common place for a bent frame is just forward of the straight side rails, in the dog leg leading forward to the front suspension. Look for a buckle in the side wall of the rail and maybe the suspension to be pushed upward. While you're under the car, look for any obvious clearance differences between left and right.