If I did I would sure be livin' fat and happy. Lord knows there is no shortage of them. Wish this horse would DIE!

The 'Burg (1,100 people) is in SW Michigan.

 

Your problem is you have the TRW style spring which is now manufactured for Muskegon Brake and sold through many catalog and other parts dealers. Send that spring back to wherever it came from!!

It you want composite, go with the VBP composite spring. It supposedly has less arch and therefore ride height is proper. Many have testimonied that it works "out of the box" so to say. Vette Brake and Products has a website and is linked to this forum.

If your still unsure, get a new steel spring, install it and let it settle, get longer bolts. Just be sure the bolts dont get too close to your tire sidewall,as they can catch them and eat your tire.

Good luck

Brent..

 

The 'Burg (1,100 people) is in SW Michigan. [/QUOTE]

Kid-vette:

I'm on the other side of the state from U. I manage to get over to Kalamazoo (the zoo) about once a year (@ the NSRA street rod nats north).

Yeah........I know what 'ya mean about beatin' a horse to death. I've already decided: I'm "dumping" the TRW spring & going for a stock steel leafer. I got my spring from "Fast Corvette" & when I inquired about returning it 'cause I said it "sucks", they graciously informed that there would be a 20% restocking fee, plus I'd be paying shipping to get it back to them. Well, with that said, I'm looking at losing about 75 bucks or so on this "crummy" deal. And, get this.......even though I purchased it from "Fast Corvette", the spring was "drop-shipped from Muskegon Brake. And, I actually got it cheaper from "Fast Corvette" than what Muskegon Brake had it for on their web site. So. I may end up keeping the spring & try to sell it locally. I read the other thread which U supplied me with & on that thread there were guys who like the TRW spring, so although alot of us don't like it, there are some that do & that's Y I should be able to get rid of it. Thanx for your help. I only wish I would of read all of those posts before I got this spring. If there was a way to de-arch the spring, that would be the "trick" take care!

 

I just installed the VBP 330# setup and my ride height is the same as with my old tired 9 leafer. 28 1/4. I am satified. Good luck I know this issue sucks for a lot of owners.

 

How'd U get it to do that?????????????????

 

From reading this thread, apparently at least one of the TRW spring fans from the other thread has changed his mind.

The VBP composite spring is not the same as the TRW spring. I have a dual mount and have no issues with ride height.

 

Ever hear of eBAY? They buy anything there...even stale air for big bucks...

 

I have a 300LB VBP composite with 8" bolts currently set at 6&1/2". The VBP has a shallower arch then the TRW.

 

HEY. All this stuff about suspension height is a NO BRAINER.

With a fuel load and a driver, the rear axle half shafts should be parallel to the ground!!!! If the half shafts are not parallel, you're going to get U joint wear problems. Also, If your half shafts aren't parallel to the ground then something is wrong.

My 1968 Convertible, with VBP #360 spring, is really low to the ground. The trailing arm/spring bolts now at the 10 inch setting. They will be at the approximate 9 1/2 inch setting to make the half shafts are parallel to the ground.

 

Post your dimension from pavement to center of your rear wheel well (to underside of well lip) Just curious where you are at.

 

bttt

 

I just installed it and then used the supplied 8-inch bolt and adjusted it until it was the same as when I started. Granted I changed everything else under there. New offset t-arms from Van steel etc. I also installed smart struts, which may have made a difference.

 

Thanks...........I pretty much did the same thing, except for the offset T/A's & I've got the "smart struts" too. Can't seem to get the rear as low as I want........maybe I'm going lower than stock ride height, but that's where I want to be.

 

bibttp

 

The offset T/A's and the "smart struts" have absolutly no effect on the ride height. The rear spring and the length of the trailing arm/transverse spring attachment bolts determine the ride height. (Well...there's a few other considerations, but for a first level converstation about ride height, what I said is correct.)

As for my "smart rods"... I sent them to graduate school and replaced the ends with heim joints.

...my apologies if I sounded a little bit abrupt here. Just trying to express my feelings. Didn't mean to express anything with regards to an "attitude." Actually I'm a little sensitive about this because like you I've got a lot of the stuff on my car (smart rods, offset trailing arms, composite fiber transverse springs, etc..) I'd like to make it all fit to meet expecations, but I have a feeling that it's not going too...

 

I know that offset T/A's & those smart struts don't affect ride height or have anything to do with ride height. I only was telling the other guy what was under my car when he said that he had offset T/A's & smart struts on his Vette.

What I'd like to do is fugure out a way to motorize those smart struts, so that they could actually pull the rear tires toe-in & toe out as the car was lowered & raised. If I could figure that out, I'd be "bagging" the whole car for sure.

The problem, as it is right now, with the C3 independent rear suspension, is that with "bagging" this rear, when the car is "dropped" the rear tires will "squat" & the whole stance will look like crap!

 

So, this whole discussion got me thinking about my setup. So, I walked through the falling snow to the garage and took some measurments and photos.

Right now, ride height is:
Left Front: 27 7/8"
Right Front: 27 7/8"
Left Rear: 28 1/8"
Right Rear 28 3/8"

I have the TRW 340# spring. We did have to use longer bolts on the install. It has been on the car for about 9 years now and I just added the Smart Struts last fall. The front coils are VB&P 460# with 1/2 coil cut off.

Rear end pics:



Yeah, I know the bolts are long but there is enough clearance to the tire and I probably have about 35,000 miles on this spring.

 

SteveG75, you have a great looking Vette and this post is not to knock you or your car. But I think this really illustrates all the problems with Muskegon's TRW spring. First off, even after installing 10" bolts it looks like your car is a little high in back. As 68/70Vette stated earlier the half shafts should be parallel to the ground, in the pictures it looks like your's incline toward the center. Muskegon ships 7 1/2' bolts with the spring. That means your car would be sitting 2 1/2 inches higher with their bolts. I think we would all agree that is way too high! Why should you have to automatically shell out another $20 bucks for 10" bolts to bring your car back out of the clouds?

Also as your pics clearly illustrate, the 10" bolts bring the spring and bolts down below the level of the lower wheel rim. In most states its illegal for any part of the suspension to extend below the rim. This is for safety reasons. If you have a flat tire, having your suspension dragging on the ground makes a bad situation worse. Your pics also show how the spring end is right in line with the tire sidewall. I know you've been lucky for 35,000 miles but there are several guys on the Forum who haven't been so lucky and had the sidewall punctured by the spring end. There is a reason VBP doesn't advertise the 10" bolts for a C2 or C3 Vette.

Like I said I'm not slamming you, I just hate to see so many people dealing with all the problems these springs create.

 

Yeah Kid, I would like to lower it a little all around.

Right now, I can barely get a jack under the sidepipes. The half shafts are actually really close to level, the angles you are seeing is just from the photo angle (lying on the garage floor).

After I get the paint job paid off, I am going to think about going to the dual mount spring. Just a $$$ issue right now.

 

Look at SteveG75 photos of the rear spring and the trailing arm attachment bolt. When he drives along the street this attachment bolt will only be 2 1/2 inches above street leve(???)l. If the tire drops into a 3 inch pot hole this bolt will dig into the pavement. I think someone who earlier posted some photos had this problem when their trailing arm bolt bit into the pavement.

I'm a little sensitive about this because this is exactly the same situation with my 68. I have a VBP 360 pound spring and 255/R50/17 tires. I have a 10 inch trailing arm/spring attachment bolt. The end of my spring attachment bolt and the associated nut is only about 2 1/2 inches above the pavement.

With my VBP spring, there's perhaps a two inch plastic block spacer between it and the differential. If this spacer were thinner, it seems that the attachment bolt/nut could be elevated up to avoid road hazards.

Look at SteveG75's photo of the the proximity of the rear spring to the tire sidewall. I don't have that problem since I ordered my VBP composite spring 1/2 inch shorter than the standard length. You can order the spring 1/2 inche shorter or 1 inch shorter (on each side).