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Old Nov 19, 2005 | 02:03 PM
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Default Rear Spring

My 81 feels like it bottoms out on some dips in the road. I have been told it was the spring and others said it was the shocks. What should I do?
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Old Nov 19, 2005 | 02:27 PM
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Pop a shock off. If it goes in and out easily by hand or you see leaking around it, say bye bye.

Does the ride height look right? Are the spring cushions in decent shape? MAke sure the mount on the bottom of the differential is intact and bolted up correctly.

I like Bilstien Sports or Edelbrock IAS's but that's me. Also, if you do shocks, do all four.

My .02
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Old Nov 19, 2005 | 02:48 PM
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Originally Posted by 78Vette-SA
Pop a shock off. If it goes in and out easily by hand or you see leaking around it, say bye bye.

Does the ride height look right? Are the spring cushions in decent shape? MAke sure the mount on the bottom of the differential is intact and bolted up correctly.

I like Bilstien Sports or Edelbrock IAS's but that's me. Also, if you do shocks, do all four.

My .02
No leaking from the shocks, spring still has a arch to it but the rear end of the car looks low.
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 08:59 AM
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If you have a cracked leaf, it is possible that your spring rate is much lower than expected, and shocks are not designed to set the ride height of the car. If you have a broken spring, the Billsteins might mask the effect, but they are not fixing the problem.

On the other hand, if your shocks are old, then I can say I just put in Billsteins and I'm glad I did ...might want to make the excuse to install them anyway.

Brian.
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by C3nMe
If you have a cracked leaf, it is possible that your spring rate is much lower than expected, and shocks are not designed to set the ride height of the car. If you have a broken spring, the Billsteins might mask the effect, but they are not fixing the problem.

On the other hand, if your shocks are old, then I can say I just put in Billsteins and I'm glad I did ...might want to make the excuse to install them anyway.

Brian.
81 should have a fiberglass rear spring
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 12:14 PM
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Originally Posted by gator79
81 should have a fiberglass rear spring
For some reason I didn't think they started that until the C4's, but I am sure there is plenty I don't know about the other C3s (as well as my own).

While the leaf could still be cracked, I think the symptoms would be different.

Thanks for the heads up.

Brian.
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by C3nMe
For some reason I didn't think they started that until the C4's, but I am sure there is plenty I don't know about the other C3s (as well as my own).

While the leaf could still be cracked, I think the symptoms would be different.

Thanks for the heads up.

Brian.

they started in 81 my 81 had a factory fiberglass spring
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by 78Vette-SA
Pop a shock off. If it goes in and out easily by hand or you see leaking around it, say bye bye.

Does the ride height look right? Are the spring cushions in decent shape? MAke sure the mount on the bottom of the differential is intact and bolted up correctly.

I like Bilstien Sports or Edelbrock IAS's but that's me. Also, if you do shocks, do all four.

My .02
What is Bilstein sports or Edelbrock IAS
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Old Nov 21, 2005 | 09:02 AM
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The Bilsteins or Edlebrock are Shocks. They are good replacements or upgrades over stock shocks.

However, if the rear of your car is sagging, they will not solve the problem. You will still need to replace the rear spring.
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Old Nov 23, 2005 | 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by 78Vette-SA
The Bilsteins or Edlebrock are Shocks. They are good replacements or upgrades over stock shocks.

However, if the rear of your car is sagging, they will not solve the problem. You will still need to replace the rear spring.

Thanks for the info on the brands of shocks. It is snowing in Michigan today. I will replace the spring and shocks before it comes out in the spring.

Randy
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