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Composite Rear Spring

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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 07:06 PM
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Default Composite Rear Spring

TRW Corvette Composite rear leaf spring has just been installed.. and right away it's raised the old lady's rear end up about two inches!! I used a 340lb rated spring and so far it seems to be doing a good job.

One point to note was that the bolts holding the original spring (which this week decided spring had sprung and it turned itself into sheet steel) were jammed on entirely on the passenger side... meaning they had to be cut off!

Next job is to swap out the shocks... those nice people at the parts store gave me a box that has rear springs written on it and fronr springs inside... not to worry. We can't all be normal...

Looking forward to seeing how the spring changes things relative to the rear end vibration... and then how the shocks alter it as well.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 07:16 PM
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I believe most people recommend that you use gas shocks when installing a composite spring.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 07:37 PM
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the parts guy just phoned - someone put a wrong order in then corrected it overnight and my new gas shocks are as we type... sat on a counter in a parts dept. waiting to be collected!
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 08:34 PM
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Originally Posted by pipervette
TRW Corvette Composite rear leaf spring has just been installed.. and right away it's raised the old lady's rear end up about two inches!! I used a 340lb rated spring and so far it seems to be doing a good job.
You want it that high????
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 10:03 PM
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You may want to change your spring bolts for some longer ones. Not sure about the 75 but my 69 used 9/16 in dia. bolts. Find a local Cat diesel parts supplier and you can buy new 8 or 10 inch long bolts for less than $4 ea. I am using 8 in. long bolts with a TRW mono and they work out good for my car.
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Old Mar 23, 2007 | 02:22 AM
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it's not so much that it's high... more that this morning it was way low.... almost like a nice expensive silver freeway plough!!!
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Old Mar 23, 2007 | 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by pipervette
it's not so much that it's high... more that this morning it was way low.... almost like a nice expensive silver freeway plough!!!
Are you saying that the spring settled overnight?
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Old Mar 23, 2007 | 12:23 PM
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no. the new spring is wonderful. the old one, and original to the car from '75 had turned itself into a flat piece of steel recently. the car has been sat for a while and since i bought it it gets driven every day.

I noticed last night from the reciepts I have from work over the last ten years or so that the front suspension was rebuilt but no shocks were listed... also the rear suspension has no listing on any reciept.


Makes me wonder what the last guy did - he spent lots on rebuilding the engine and brakes but not so much on the suspension or rear end as far as i can tell. I'm beginning to get a picture of what needs to be done to make this a nice car...
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