longtimedead

Hi Everyone ,Some time ago i changed my old flat leaf spring for a new one which cured my low ride height but it ended up about an inch to high and its stayed that way since then,I have read a lot that new springs come with shipping clamps ,my spring came with some very heavy duty metal clamps with rubber sleeves which were identical to the ones on the original spring so i presumed they were some kind of retainer to keep it in place and to be left on the car .My question is ,should i cut them of in an attempt to lower the car or are they needed to keep the leafs in place,i already have the longer bolts on the end so cant go down that solution ,it also sits slightly higher on the passenger side but i have learned to live with that .
Many thanks
Paul

Revi

A few photos of the rear end, spring and installation would go a long way in helping you.

Alan 71

Hi Paul,
The shipping clamps should be removed.
Because of the way the four bolts are placed that mount the spring the leaves can't 'swivel' out of alignment once the spring is in place.
Your ride height situation is likely caused by the specifications of the replacement spring you installed.
Do you know what the spring's specs are?
Regards,
Alan

longtimedead

Hi ,Sorry i am not sure how to add a photo but this one http://www.1-4u-computer-graphics.com/strut2.jpg from the web looks the exact same clamp, I'm over here in the UK and used a good long established supplier who is a C3 specialist and keeps these parts in stock for his workshop and his customers ,the downside is i do not know the manufacturer but it looked an exact replacement with the same number of leafs and the exact same clamp as the old one i took of and this supplier always uses good parts suppliers .
I dont want to take the clamps of if they are important to keeping the spring in place and from twisting but if thats not the case and people think removing them might allow the spring to settle lower it would be worth doing

Alan 71

Hi Paul,
You can up-load your photos to a site like Photobucket, copy and paste the IMG code for the photo into you're post, we'll see the photo.
The set up in the link you posted is an aftermarket spring of some sort that has different specifications than the original so a long spring bolt is being used to compensate for the problem using that spring creates.
The shipping clamps should come off.
Regards,
Alan

longtimedead

Hi Alan, I'll have to take a photo as i havnt got one on my computer of it on the car ,in your opinion does the clamp in the photo look like a shipping clamp as thats exactly whats on mine

Alan 71

Hi Paul,
I'm not aware of any 68-82 rear leaf springs that use those clamps once the spring is installed.
Regards,
Alan

It seems to me that depending on how tight the clamps are they are forcing the first 2 leafs to react in unison. There's no reason for that in normal driving.

bradleyb66

You might already know this, but longer bolts at the end of the leaf spring will lower the rear also. If you have the stock 6" bolts, then installing an 8" bolt kit would give you more length to control the height (and if you want to level out the side-side-side difference, that could be done also - but I recommend investigating why there is a difference). Simply tightening or loosening the nut on the bolt will adjust the height.

Here is an 8" bolt kit from Ecklers: http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1963-1982.html

I'm not sure about the clamp - my 9 leaf spring that I replaced with a composite spring still had those clamps installed - but the 7 leaf spring on a parts car I bought did not have them. Personally, I don't think they would affect ride height very much.

MelWff

as the spring compresses and rebounds the leaves of the spring move against one another, the clamps prevent free movement, remove them

Metalhead140

I find this interesting too, my '79 has similar clamps on it's gymkhana rear spring that I thought was original to the car. As for the free movement argument, I find that hard to believe when pretty much every conventional leaf sprung car uses similar clamps? I do agree that the clamps shouldn't be necessary on our springs though.

DABall

Remove the shipping clamps. I swapped out my old leaf spring for a new one that had the shipping clamps, and the stance was too tall. I popped off the clamps and it settled to a perfect ride height.

longtimedead

I took the clamps of today and then went for a 25 mile drive ,it might not have been far enough but the ride height is still the same ,the clamps did not appear to be that tight around the spring so i suspect it wont make any difference but i guess time will tell