Rear Spring Positioning

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Oct 27, 2013 | 01:04 AM

wayneyada

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From: Visalia CA

Rear Spring Positioning

I am new to Corvettes and this forum, so please bear with me <g>.

I just replaced the rear spring mount bolts, bushings, washers, and nuts on my buddy's 74. I'm concerned about the front-to-rear lineup of the mounting holes in the spring ends and the wheel assembly (see pictures). It appears to be a good 1" difference with the spring being further back than wheel assembly. I couldn't see any way to move the spring assembly forward. Maybe it will get better when I put the wheels back on it and drop them to the ground???

Any thoughts/direction would be most helpful!!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Wayne

Last edited by wayneyada; Oct 27, 2013 at 01:10 AM. Reason: Pix aren't working

Oct 27, 2013 | 01:42 AM

Mike Ward

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Quote:

Originally Posted by wayneyada

Maybe it will get better when I put the wheels back on it and drop them to the ground???

Yes it will.

Oct 27, 2013 | 08:15 AM

Alan 71

Team Owner

Joined: Sep 2006

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From: Westminster Maryland

Hi w,
WELCOME!!!
First post, and a question that MANY people have wondered about.
Mike's right...the bolt alignment will improve.
Remember the rear of the t-arm moves in an 'arc', so the mounting point for the spring bolt moves forward as the t-arm drops far below or goes high above the position it's at when the car is just sitting on the ground.
Hope to see more of you and your car here.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

Oct 27, 2013 | 08:56 AM

redrdstr72

Burning Brakes

Joined: Jan 2009

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From: Lake Norman, NC

Hi and welcome, Wayne. As Mike and Alan have already offered, the alignment due to arcing should improve with weight on the wheels. At least it did on mine. I was very worried and even had to remove one shock to get enough arc when R & Ring my rear spring.

I did notice, however, in your photos how you didn't peen the new cups over once installed through the trailing arm (upper cup) and through the spring itself. The factory peened them both, thereby "locking" them into position.

Does the group here think this will be alright over time, or is there a worry that the cups could come out of position due to not being peened over?

Oct 27, 2013 | 09:02 AM

Alan 71

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From: Westminster Maryland

Hi rr,
Nice eye!
Raises the question... where the cups peened because of the reason you suggest, or because they came to the line as part of an assembly so had to be peened to hold them in place until the bolt and bushings were installed?
Don't know!
Regards,
Alan

Oct 27, 2013 | 10:30 AM

Mike Ward

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Quote:

Originally Posted by redrdstr72

Does the group here think this will be alright over time, or is there a worry that the cups could come out of position due to not being peened over?

Probably not one person in a hundred has taken the time to peen them over, never heard of a problem and can't imagine how one could occur.

Oct 27, 2013 | 11:50 AM

redrdstr72

Burning Brakes

Joined: Jan 2009

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From: Lake Norman, NC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Ward

Probably not one person in a hundred has taken the time to peen them over, never heard of a problem and can't imagine how one could occur.

Uh oh. Guess I'm one of THOSE people.

I replaced my spring a few years back, and when I did, I peened new cups on the new spring. Being able to do it on a bench made it much simpler than I imagine it would be for the trailing arm. I did not have the TA's out, so it wasn't necessary for me to worry about those cups at the time.

I did mine with a large ball peen hammer, struck with a 5 pound sledge, ball side first then the flat side, thereby enabling the cuff to find its way to form without splitting. I was actually proud of myself on that one. To accomplish this in the trailing arm, I suppose a drawing/clamping - type fixture would be required. I think one of those has been devised, as I've read about it on the NCRS TDB.

I do know that the judges take demerits when an "un-finished" cup is observed. I did mine for this reason as well as the old "that's the way it came, so that's how it oughta be" syndrome.

Good to hear that there may be little risk of the cup coming out of position, especially for the 99%ers (

)...

Oct 27, 2013 | 04:10 PM

wayneyada

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From: Visalia CA

Thanks to all for the quick responses and confirmation that there's not something "drastically wrong" <g>. This car was purchased "in boxes", and we're in the process of putting the car back together using those boxed parts plus a few new purchases. As a result, I'm sure I will be back to the forum a lot! Thanks again.