Took the cover off my 74 Monday and the body was almost touching the drivers side rear tire. Thought I had a flat and then realized the rear composite spring was shattered (must have happenned while setting in the garage?).
Since the spring had been changed to composite by the previous owner, I don't know if its worthwhile to spend the extra $ for another composite or go back to the original 9-leaf metal spring. I'm looking more for a good ride rather than perfromance.
If you have changed your C3 to composite, I'd like to know your thoughts.
Gary


[Modified by dogr74, 9:35 PM 4/24/2002]

 

I'm not sold on my composite spring. It feels a little soft, and the butt end scrapes a lot. If I replace, it will be with a steel spring.

 

hmm you know i havce always wanted the comp spring. but i think i will stick with my steel one for now!!! my vote is for steel

Rod :cool:

 

To a post on Ride & Handling someone posted that most of the ride quality comes from rear spring. He said that cleaning & lubing the springs & plastic inserts made a big improvement! I am interested in your question, Which is better? New Vetts use composite, what do they know that we don't?

 

First I think it depends on how you plan to drive the car.

I use my cars as drivers. I've installed TRW's heavy duty spring on a mid-year and 2 C3s. All the cars are small blocks, but I still get the heavy duty spring, as advised by a guy I know who helped design such springs for TRW.

I'm on my second spring on my 71' Roadster. The first one was ~10 years old. I re-did the whole suspension recently and I got a free spring from the same friend above. I decided to install the new one even though I was not sure the old one was bad, because I wanted the whole suspension to be new. My theory was that an aging part might cause premature aging on other new parts of the system.

I'll admit that I have no evidence to prove this theory though.

The cars with composite springs drive less like trucks. Longer trips are more enjoyable, yet the rear-end feels tight when I need it to handle well. Never sloppy. Again, I dirve my cars regulary and rarely race.

Good luck!

 

This topic has been debated many times in the past and I really don't think you'll find many people changing their opinions. I think that if you properly set up the suspension, you will like the composite spring much better. But if you have the wrong shocks, the car will bounce a lot and you'll hate the composite. You also need to protect it from the heat of the exhaust because that is a major cause of breakage. I currently have the 9-leaf spring, but I plan on changing to composite when I replace the suspension. The composite spring absorbs the minor road bumps rather than transferring it to the chassis and eventually to your butt. You should talk to the company you plan to buy from and tell them what suspension and shocks you have now (including front) and they should be able to recommend the correct spring (and shocks if necessary).

Good luck. My vote is for composite.

 

One issue not mentoned so far is the problem in getting a correct rear spring. If you got the original spring with the car, then you can reinstall it. But in the aftermarket, there appears to be no such thing as a correct rear spring. Have seen the issue of replacement metal springs debated here and over on the NCRS forum. Apparently all after market spring make the rear ride too high. So you end up having to tourch the spring to get something close to the correct arch.

Me, I would go with a composit spring.

tom...

 

Many topics on this & many are very happy w/ the VB Composite. Less wt., lasts longer, etc.
Composite !

:cool:

 

Ive had a TRW spring in my BB for 3 years now, lots of miles. Yes it is bouncy, however, I have been told gas shocks are the way to go as they rebound much faster that compensates for the bounce. Im not running gas shocks as of yet

I cant say why I have heard some shatter. No telling. Maybe due to heat from exh, I cant say.

Myself, Ill never go back to springs. Take out your springs and compare the weight to composites. About a 40pd diffrerence

I recommend composite springs to anyone, but dont go cheap on the rear shocks

 

I just installed the Vette Brakes 330# with the reworked KYB GR2 shocks that VB sells for the composites. Got about 120 miles on them and believe the ride quality is greatly improved over the stock spring.

 

LAST winter , I put a composite rear spring on my 66 big/block..the stock spring had a broken leaf.. :smash: did the job myself & took my time & had a few :cheers: , very satisfied with outcome, sits nice ,rides nice handles excellant , wieghs about 40 LBS less than metal spring...went with Muskegon , as they manufacture the TRW design composite spring, $259 great price & quality produc, went with 340 rate part # 600-103. NO BOUNCE , if you have bounce , Vette brakes has a specially calibrated rear shock for composite springs...........worked for me :)


[Modified by StrayDog, 9:35 AM 4/25/2002]

 

There are two distincly different composite springs: the VB and the TRW (OE replacement for 80-82).
I have tried both and for general driving, I greatly prefer the TRW. The design is different and seems to have less rebound, less "bounciness".
The TRW is more forgiving of the wrong choice of shock. The VB will bounce without the correct shock (Bilstein Sport, IMHO).
If you are a suspension tuner, the VB can be dialed in for very satisfactory performance. In fact, I use the VB front composite spring with my TRW rear.

 

I think the problem with composite springs is that most people install them & forget them. They need to be inspected more often than the steel ones. In a perfect world, composite is better than the steel. But in the real world, if a composite spring has any impact damage, it will begin to seperate.
I broke my steel 9 leaf about 5 years ago. I bottomed out at high speed & it had enough rust in it to let go. The clamps held it together enough to get home, but it damaged a u-joint in the process. I install my spare half-shaft (it's a good idea to keep a coupe of spares) & went with a 7 leaf TRW steel spring. Ride is a little stiffer than the 9, but not that bad.

 

I was looking at the Eckler's catalog and they show a 360 lb composite spring which appears to be the VB spring. They also offer a complete kit with a 355 lb spring, which looks different in the picture. Does anyone know if the 355 lb spring is the TRW?

Hmmmmm... found my own answer, kind of. Muskegon Brake sells the 355 lb spring and they say it is the TRW. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the Eckler's kit!


[Modified by zymurgist, 2:17 PM 4/30/2002]

 

I have an 82 with stock comp spring an I have no problems and is very suttle when cruising. The steel leaf spring is much harsher but has a variable rate and the comp doesn't
Paul

 

I've had a double mount vette brakes composite spring now for a little over a year and I have no complaints. I dont have the typical heat issue either because of my side pipes. I never drove the car with a good metal leaf either because almost all of the leafs were cracked in half so I cant really compair the two.

 

composite :cheers:

 

I've been seeing a lot of posts about 'broken' monosprings...

I think the main thing is setup...if you drop in a composite, then get the shocks to match.

I stayed steel. but replaced a flattened one..(original). I think many people maybe comparing old steel ones to their new composite and seeing a GREAT difference...when the fact that the steel one was around 30 years old is not taken into affect !!!

:cheers:

 

I replaced my original 9 leaf with a new (supposedly) 9 leaf and it flattened out in less than 6 months. Installed a TRW from Muskegon, no problems and love the ride improvement. :D

 

Go with the composite from Vette Brakes in St. Petersburg and you will never look back.