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My VanSteel composite spring was worth the wait. The car handles better and rides better with the new spring. I also replaced the rear shocks with QA1 single adjustable at the same time.
thank you, the car is supposed to get here tomorrow, been searching online and appears nobody has a rear leaf to ship out be it steel or composit... looks like a wait no matter what.
I thought I should at least get the car here before ordering but plan to right away, I will adjust left and right height on the car now (got the 8" bolts) just to get by till I get a spring, will probably order composit and keep the original spring, maybe have it repaired just to have the original.
I plan on reaching out to Vansteel when the car is here in case they need any measurements etc from the car so i get the right one for me.
The car is well documented 46k miles, docs since day one and very correct original all over however side pipes were added, it has been altered so not a huge concern to keep with 100% correct.
My VanSteel composite spring was worth the wait. The car handles better and rides better with the new spring. I also replaced the rear shocks with QA1 single adjustable at the same time.
what spring weight did you go with... I'm thinking 330lbs
I went its 330 from Vansteel for a soft ride in my cruiser car. It is fairly soft, so I don’t think going to 360 would be too harsh for a street car.
Also, the rear needed the longer bolts to fix a 3/4” height difference side-to-side. The difference was the same with the new spring, so my car has that much difference in the frame, which could also be fixed with shims at the body mounts.
Charlie
I went its 330 from Vansteel for a soft ride in my cruiser car. It is fairly soft, so I don’t think going to 360 would be too harsh for a street car.
Also, the rear needed the longer bolts to fix a 3/4” height difference side-to-side. The difference was the same with the new spring, so my car has that much difference in the frame, which could also be fixed with shims at the body mounts.
Charlie
thanks Charlie, my issue is definitely in the spring, i could see it when i got under the car, passenger side lost a bit of its arch at the very end... probably gonna go with the 330 as well with upgraded shocks, will order tomorrow once the car is here.
I have a 68. It came with a 7 leaf rear spring. Being new to the C3 I thought I would change the ride. I got a new 9 leaf, it didn't change the ride a bit.
I thought I needed something to keep me busy so I restored the 7 leaf. Old springs can get rusted and the spacers can be totally gone. I would think this alone could change the ride. Any new spring would probably improve the ride. It isn't that hard to restore the old spring. Take it apart, clean up the metal, paint it with gray galvanized paint, get new spacers, reinstall. Easy peasy,,,, unless your spring is really bent.
I did lower it a bit from the picture.
II have a 68. It came with a 7 leaf rear spring. Being new to the C3 I thought I would change the ride. I got a new 9 leaf, it didn't change the ride a bit.
I thought I needed something to keep me busy so I restored the 7 leaf. Old springs can get rusted and the spacers can be totally gone. I would think this alone could change the ride. Any new spring would probably improve the ride. It isn't that hard to restore the old spring. Take it apart, clean up the metal, paint it with gray galvanized paint, get new spacers, reinstall. Easy peasy,,,, unless your spring is really bent.
I did lower it a bit from the picture.
thank you, I do have a bit of a bend on one side but now that the car is here I discovered the drivers side front coil is the culprit, ordered new coils and will be here tomorrow, once installed I will move to the rear but it's the front drivers side with the sag.
Good catch. We were wondering about the rear spring being bent. Be careful removing the front springs, there is a lot of energy there. Also make sure the new coil springs are correct for the engine you have. Way to many C3's that look like they have 4 wheel drive. The external spring compressors that I tried don't work.
good catch. We were wondering about the rear spring being bent. Be careful removing the front springs, there is a lot of energy there. Also make sure the new coil springs are correct for the engine you have. way to many c3's that look like they have 4 wheel drive.
Good catch. We were wondering about the rear spring being bent. Be careful removing the front springs, there is a lot of energy there. Also make sure the new coil springs are correct for the engine you have. Way to many C3's that look like they have 4 wheel drive. The external spring compressors that I tried don't work.
thanks so much... I got small block no AC and I have some external spring compressors that work well, just replaced the ones in my 64
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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I'm a bit late to this party, but we put a composite spring on our '78 back in 2000 and it's the best thing we ever did! It just made it so much more comfortable. We had had the original spring refurbished once, but that did not last and it sagged pretty quickly.
We di fit Koni adjustable shocks all round when we changed the spring, which I think improve the ride.
We use our car for touring and longer runs ,so we did not need a high poundage, but I recently rode with a friend in his Vette that does have a higher poundage, but more importantly, the Gymkhana suspension that includes a sway bar. That seemed to make big difference and certainly, his car had less tendency to roll/lean that our can display at times.
I disagree with the original spring proponents. My initial impression of my VBP install was that all the harshness of the steel spring was gone. I can't however say how the present aftermarket springs feel, but the fabrication tech ain't really be all that different from my what is now a 20 year old spring. I would expect new fiberglass composites feel the same today.
The two things you need to be aware of are the spring rate and installing a simple aluminum panel over the spring where the exhaust crosses under it. It functions as a heat shield. Even there, I never been all that sure it was really needed, but it's a cheap piece of insurance.
Last comment is I did not like the TRW spring at all, although I don't remember why. It has/had kind of an odd shape which may have something to do with its impulse response or linearity or I don't what else governed the design.
You didn't say who is projecting a month wait but I would bet that's optimistic if they're waiting for somebody to start a production run, so that's the only downside if you feel something HAS to be done now. And it doesn't sound like it.
Just looking at the rear suspension. How long are the end bolts on your spring? If you get a flat tire will the bolts hit the ground?
