Rear Leaf Help
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 361
From: Monson MA
Rear Leaf Help
This is concerning a 1968. Is a 7 leaf spring used on a BB car only or was it also part of a HD set up on SB? Why I ask is I have available to me a new 7 leaf that was bought for a 1969 and never installed. I need to replace mine during the rebuild and would like to take advantage of this. My car is a SB. I will be installing a 1 1/8" front bar and 3/4" rear bar. I believe is is 550 lb. spring.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 31,270
Likes: 4,362
From: Westminster Maryland
Hi tp,
I believe the F-41 suspension option was available on any car in model years 68 and 69. It used a rear spring with 7 leaves.
The re-sway bar that was part of F-41, and standard with bb cars, was 9/16". In both years sb cars didn't have a rear sway bar.
In both years the front sway bar was 3/4" for sb cars and 15/16" for bb and F-41 cars.
Is your spring a GM service part or an aftermarket part?
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Alan
I believe the F-41 suspension option was available on any car in model years 68 and 69. It used a rear spring with 7 leaves.
The re-sway bar that was part of F-41, and standard with bb cars, was 9/16". In both years sb cars didn't have a rear sway bar.
In both years the front sway bar was 3/4" for sb cars and 15/16" for bb and F-41 cars.
Is your spring a GM service part or an aftermarket part?
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Alan
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 361
From: Monson MA
Hi tp,
I believe the F-41 suspension option was available on any car in model years 68 and 69. It used a rear spring with 7 leaves.
The re-sway bar that was part of F-41, and standard with bb cars, was 9/16". In both years sb cars didn't have a rear sway bar.
In both years the front sway bar was 3/4" for sb cars and 15/16" for bb and F-41 cars.
Is your spring a GM service part or an aftermarket part?
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Alan
I believe the F-41 suspension option was available on any car in model years 68 and 69. It used a rear spring with 7 leaves.
The re-sway bar that was part of F-41, and standard with bb cars, was 9/16". In both years sb cars didn't have a rear sway bar.
In both years the front sway bar was 3/4" for sb cars and 15/16" for bb and F-41 cars.
Is your spring a GM service part or an aftermarket part?
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Alan
Thanks for any input and suggestions.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 805
Likes: 5
From: Naperville Illinois
You can adjust the rear ride height with longer bolts between the spring and trailing arms.
I would search the forum for rear sway bar threads. It's your call but when I rebuilt my rear suspension I decided against a rear sway bar for the small block.
I would search the forum for rear sway bar threads. It's your call but when I rebuilt my rear suspension I decided against a rear sway bar for the small block.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 31,270
Likes: 4,362
From: Westminster Maryland
Hi tp,
I'm not a knowledgable suspension person at all.
I'll only add that when I wanted to add a rear sway bar to my 71, just for the appearance, (yes, I'm that loco), I installed the 7/16" bar that was available on sb cars later in the 70s.
Regards,
Alan
It looks pretty dinky compared to the bars I see on real cars.
I'm not a knowledgable suspension person at all.
I'll only add that when I wanted to add a rear sway bar to my 71, just for the appearance, (yes, I'm that loco), I installed the 7/16" bar that was available on sb cars later in the 70s.
Regards,
Alan
It looks pretty dinky compared to the bars I see on real cars.
Last edited by Alan 71; Nov 13, 2010 at 02:27 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,353
Likes: 72
From: Graceland in a Not Correctly Restored Stingray
I highly suggest the F41 rear spring sans rear bar until you actually determine the front/rear balance, as it's prudent to work on solving from the understeer end of the equation than from oversteer. If you find additional anti-roll stiffness in the rear in lieu of softening the front bar desirable to shift balance towards the rear, the 7/16" one should be your first step since you only need add as much bar as is necessary to tune driveability and balance to your liking. IMOE a rear bar isn't requisite to a well sorted shark.
In any event, keep in mind that what may feel "neutral" when you're only driving at 7-8/10ths of your car's cornering capacity doesn't necessarily indicate how it's going to handle when pressed to 10/10ths or should you otherwise run out of margin. Bottom line: Roll control isn't the holy grail of handling, just part of the overall solution. My $.02
TSW
In any event, keep in mind that what may feel "neutral" when you're only driving at 7-8/10ths of your car's cornering capacity doesn't necessarily indicate how it's going to handle when pressed to 10/10ths or should you otherwise run out of margin. Bottom line: Roll control isn't the holy grail of handling, just part of the overall solution. My $.02
TSW
